His Unloved Wife

Chapter 6

Carl walked into the room to see Angela still dressed in a casual outfit while sipping tea and reading a new book she had picked from his study. His brows furrowed and his face contorted in rage as he looked from the nonchalant woman to the gorgeous blue dress sitting on the bed still untouched from how he had left it.

"Why are you still not dressed?" He demanded coldly while standing at the foot of the bed glaring at Angela. Without looking away from the book, Angela gave a reply, "Why do I need to get dressed?" She added with a calm tone making Carl's anger reach a new anger.

"What do you mean by why I need to get dressed? I told you I have an event to attend tonight and as my wife, you will be attending the event as my plus one!," he explained.

"Oh, Is that so?," She asked and finally acknowledged his presence by looking up at him, "I don't remember agreeing to go with you though. You can't decide those kinds of things for me," she added daringly.

"Angela! You are pushing my buttons. Do I need your opinions when deciding things?! All you have to do is follow orders as I have given them, is that too hard for you to comprehend?," Carl demanded, and Angela sneered.

"It is as hard for me to comprehend as it is for you to understand that I am my own person and I don't need you butting in and ruining my life all the goddamn time!" She yelled angrily, her hand flying around as she spoke. "I don't want to marry you! I don't even want to see you! And I don't want to be a plus one to any event you want to attend. Why can't you understand?"

"You expect me to answer you, follow your every damned rule like I don't have a mind of my own! I do! I can't think on my own! I have a life to live and my own goddamn dreams that have no space for you in it! So stop forcing me to do things I don't wanna!" She screamed in his face.

All her bottled up frustration and anger seeping out the longer she spoke. Carl glared at her and stomped off into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Seeing him gone, Angela let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto the bed with her head buried in the pillow. Soon Carl walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist while he used another towel to dry his hair.

Angela went back to reading her book, completely ignoring the piercing glare she was getting from Carl while he got dressed. "I'm letting you off today, don't expect such treatment ever again", he gritted out coldly and walked out of the room fully dressed.

Angela's subsiding anger once again flared up as she yelled after him, "If you are not comfortable with me, just cancel the goddamn marriage contract, no one is forcing you to marry me!"

****

Carl's nerves were still frayed from the intense argument with Angela as he stepped into the extravagant hall where the banquet was being held. Camera lights flashed as several journalists swamped around him, throwing a barrage of questions at him.

"Congratulations on becoming the CEO of SRN! Are the rumors about you getting married true?"

"Why is your wife not here with you tonight?"

"What about your corporation with YEX ? Is it true that your marriage to their daughter is to seal the partnership deal?" The spectacle of the camera flashes did not phase Carl in the slightest.

His status as a billionaire made him a familiar face in such high society gatherings; the bright lights of cameras and the clamor of reporters were nothing but a familiar backdrop to his life. Despite the furor surrounding him, Carl carried himself with the same dignified composure that had earned him his achievements. The media swarmed around him like vultures, but Carl moved through the throngs with ease, his practiced smile and charming demeanor deflecting any potentially intrusive questions.

As he stepped into the banquet hall he took a flute of champagne from the waitress passing by and took a sip, trying to ease his nerves, but as if the world and everything in it was against him, the person he never wished to see walked up to him with a cold smile, "I can't believe you're really going through with this sham of a marriage, do you think anyone would not know that your marriage is a fake?" Carl's identical twin, Damon, hissed, sidling up to him with a sneer. "You would tie yourself down in a marriage just to take what isn't yours."

Carl tensed, his fingers tightening around the stem of his glass. "Damon, not here," he muttered, well aware of the prying eyes around them. "This is neither the time nor the place. Can't you read the room for once?," He gritted out.

"Oh, but it's the perfect time," Damon countered, his voice dripping with contempt. "You think you can just waltz in and take everything that should have been mine? The company, the spotlight... even a beautiful wife? It's always been about you, hasn't it, Carl? It's like you've made it your life goal to spite me till death!" Damon sneered angrily, getting a glare from Carl.

Carl gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to snap back at his brother. "You know it wasn't my decision. Father chose me as his successor because you showed no interest in the business, you were always busy frolicking about while I had to work my butt off, doing what we were supposed to do together. And as for Angela," he hesitated, his frustration briefly bubbling to the surface, "she's far from enamored with the arrangement."

Damon's eyes narrowed, he could not hide the undisguised bitterness in his eyes "How convenient for you, Carl. Always the golden child, always getting everything you want. But let me tell you, brother, I won't stand by and watch you take everything that should have been mine. Mark my words, you'll get what's coming to you."

With that, Damon turned on his heel, disappearing into the crowd. Carl let out a sigh, his appetite for social niceties all but gone. He set his untouched champagne on a nearby table and made his way toward the balcony, hoping to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the party.