A Second Chance In The Billionaire's Embrace

"Ma'am, Sir Lewton just returned." A servant informed Adria of her husband's arrival. "Thanks," She got up from where she was, heading downstairs to carry out her planned surprise. "Is everything set?" She asked an old man, Jerry, who was standing by after watching the other servants arrange the dishes on the dining table. "Yes ma'am," He nodded with a smile. He was the oldest worker in the mansion; he had been working there almost his entire life. With a smile, Adria waited for her husband to walk in. Jacob stopped in his steps when he saw his wife standing right in the middle of the wide hall-like living room. "Jacob, I've been waiting for your arrival. I...I made dinner, I know how much you love when I cook for you," Adria put on her most charming smile, expecting one from him too but all she got was a burning stare. "Look, I made all of your favorites..." She trailed, pointing to the dining room which wasn't far from where she stood. His eyes went in the direction she pointed to, returning to her with a more angry stare. Adria's heart missed a beat, he was giving her a look she was almost familiar with; he was giving her this look like he was disgusted by her actions, if not her. Despite his disapproving stare which was accompanied by silence, Adria chose to remain confident. This was one of her biggest shots at getting her husband back. She cooked. Jacob loved her meals, he used to... "Did I ask you to cook?" His voice seemed to make everywhere quieter than it already was. Jerry had to hold in his breath when his master's voice echoed, he was about to witness another of his master's nonchalant attitude towards his wife. "I know you didn't, I just wanted to..." "We have helpers here!" Adria's eyes blinked involuntarily when he cut her words, tears were about to escape her eyes as always whenever Jacob spoke back to her. "I know, it's just that you haven't been returning home lately and when I got info that you will be coming home today, I thought you would like to eat something I made." She managed not to stammer while talking with his contemptuous eyes fixed on her. "You shouldn't have," His voice was low this time. He didn't spare her another look before going for the stairs, his assistant quickly following behind. "Won't you have any of it? A little? I spent hours making them." She heard herself pleading. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, turning his neck and looking back at her, then at the table filled with a variety of dishes. Adria heard his footsteps behind her. Was he coming back? She smiled when he walked past her towards the dining table. A little joy took over her heart, she was happy for the first time in a while. She also went to the dining room, expecting him to take his seat and ask her to dish a plate for him to eat but he did something that didn't surprise her but got her disappointed, as usual. He held the edge of the tablecloth, pulling it with a force that had all dishes crashing to the floor. Jerry gasped, not that he was surprised, he wasn't but he didn't expect that his master would do that after Adria just mentioned that it took her hours to prepare all of those. "Here, take it that I ate the food you made," Jacob said and walked over to the mess he had just made in the dining room. Tears in her eyes, Adria watched her husband walk up the stairs and towards his office. A tear dropped from her chin after it had slowly rolled down her cheeks. She just stood there in the dining room after Jacob left, saying nothing and doing nothing. Just like her, Jerry stood there too but unlike her, his eyes weren't tearful although he also felt bad after what his master did. He had been there all the while Adria made those dishes, he saw how happy she was making them, taking her time to perfect them and his master just put all of that effort to waste. He shook his head slowly, an inaudible sigh escaping his nostrils. He pitied her; he pitied his master's wife, she didn't deserve how she was treated by her husband. Still, in his thoughts, he saw Adria start up the stairs, slowly and almost noiselessly. When she was gone, he had the other servants clean up the place. Adria sat on the bed in her room, tears were still rolling down her cheeks but she wasn't making a noise; she couldn't cry, she had become tired of crying because it was mostly all she did these days. Her husband wasn't what he used to be anymore, he had changed. When they got married, he was the sweetest person there could ever be. He always returned home, and if he couldn't, he always let her know. He used to love her food although he didn't want her getting in the kitchen and cooking every day, and whenever she did cook, it would make his day. He would never stop praising her, how good her meals were, and how much he loved them. Adria sighed after remembering the good times when he was addicted to her. She missed him, his kisses, his hugs, his every touch, she missed those. She couldn't help but wonder what went wrong, she had tried almost everything to get him to be what he used to be but none of those turned out fruitful. He was depriving her of the love he promised when they got married. With another sigh, she wiped her tears. She didn't want to cry anymore; she always got depressed whenever she cried all alone like this, she didn't want that. She didn't want that but the more she tried to stop her tears, the more they flowed. She didn't have anyone to go to, Jacob was all she had in her life now. She had abandoned her family for him, going against her parents and everyone else who advised her to keep away from him. Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard footsteps behind the closed door. At first, she assumed it was just one of the servants but then knew it wasn't when the door knob turned. She immediately pulled the duvet over her, pretending to be asleep before the door opened. It was Jacob coming in but she didn't want to have to face him. He pretty much ignored her anyway but she didn't want to be IGNORED, so she pretended to be asleep. As she expected, he didn't even look in her direction. He just walked in front of the tall mirror next to the changing closet and took off his sleeved shirt. Adria opened her eyes and saw him shirtless, she swallowed. She missed this man more sexually than she thought; just a view of his tattooed back was making her want his touch. The detailed drawing on his back was one of the things she loved about him when she first met him. She had been in a minor accident, her arm bleeding and there came Jacob, taking off his shirt to tie her arm so the bleeding could stop. He had carried her to the hospital nearby that day. It was after he kept her on the hospital bed like a doctor asked him to, that she saw his beautiful tattoo; a snake wound around a sword. Jacob turned in her direction and she closed her eyes again. She heard him walk to where she lay, and her eyes started to flicker because she thought he was going to find out that she wasn't actually sleeping and was just pretending. Jacob just came to keep his phone on the bedside table beside her before he went to have a shower.