Chapter 7: My husband is Jealous
1413 Words
The problem with kissing your husband was that afterward, breakfast became unbearably awkward.
Not because I regretted it.
Quite the opposite.
I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Every time Cassian looked at me, I remembered his lips against mine.
Every time he walked past me, I remembered his hand around my waist.
And every time he leaned close, my brain conveniently forgot how to function.
Unfortunately, Cassian seemed perfectly capable of functioning.
He sat across from me at breakfast as though he hadn't kissed me twice in the last twenty-four hours.
Calm.
Collected.
Composed.
I hated him.
A little.
Mira leaned toward me.
“You're staring.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I’m eating.”
“You've been holding the same piece of toast for five minutes.”
I looked down.
She was right.
Across the table, Adrian laughed.
“She's distracted.”
Cassian's eyes lifted.
“By what?”
Mira smiled.
“Your brother.”
Adrian nearly choked.
I glared at her.
“Mira.”
“What?”
Cassian's expression remained unreadable.
But his eyes moved toward me.
“Is that true?”
I lifted my chin.
“Perhaps.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Perhaps?”
“Maybe I have been distracted.”
“By Adrian?”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
“Then by what?”
I smiled.
“You.”
The table went silent.
Adrian slowly looked at Cassian.
Then at me.
Then back at Cassian.
“Oh.”
Mira covered her mouth.
Cassian's gaze didn't leave mine.
“You seem unusually honest today.”
“I thought you'd appreciate it.”
“I do.”
His voice dropped.
“Very much.”
My stomach fluttered.
Then the doors opened.
And the mood changed.
Seraphina walked in.
---
She looked beautiful.
Of course she did.
She always did.
Her dress was pale pink.
Her hair was loosely braided.
Her expression was soft and slightly concerned.
The perfect picture of innocence.
“Good morning.”
Adrian smiled immediately.
“Seraphina.”
Cassian nodded.
“Good morning.”
She walked toward them.
Then stopped beside Cassian.
“I hope I'm not interrupting.”
I smiled.
“You're not.”
Her eyes moved toward me.
A tiny pause.
Then she smiled.
“I'm glad.”
She turned to Cassian.
“I wanted to speak to you privately.”
There it was.
The beginning.
In the original story, this was how she always started.
Privately.
One conversation.
Then another.
Then a secret.
Then a misunderstanding.
Then another.
Until the husbands and wives barely spoke.
I looked at Cassian.
He looked at Seraphina.
Then he looked back at me.
“I'll speak with her later.”
Seraphina blinked.
“But—”
“I'm having breakfast with my wife.”
Her smile froze.
I almost dropped my fork.
Mira kicked me under the table.
I kicked her back.
Seraphina recovered quickly.
“Of course.”
She smiled.
Then walked away.
I watched her leave.
Cassian returned to his breakfast.
I couldn't help myself.
“You just rejected Seraphina.”
His eyes lifted.
“I didn't reject her.”
“You did.”
“I postponed a conversation.”
“That's how it starts.”
He frowned.
“What does?”
I smiled.
“Nothing.”
He studied me.
“You know something.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
“You've said that twice now.”
“Because you're suspicious.”
“Because you're behaving strangely.”
I leaned closer.
“Perhaps you make me strange.”
His gaze dropped to my lips.
“Perhaps.”
---
Later that afternoon, I went riding.
Mira came with me.
We were halfway through the estate grounds when she suddenly laughed.
“What?”
“Your husband.”
I looked behind me.
Cassian was riding several meters away.
I frowned.
“Why is he following us?”
Mira grinned.
“Protection.”
“From what?”
“Other men.”
I rolled my eyes.
“He's jealous.”
“Yes.”
“It's ridiculous.”
“It's adorable.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I looked back.
Cassian was watching us.
More specifically—
he was watching me.
I turned forward again.
My cheeks warmed.
Mira laughed.
“You like it.”
“I don't.”
“You absolutely do.”
“I like being wanted.”
She smiled.
“There's nothing wrong with that.”
I didn't answer.
Because she was right.
There was something intoxicating about the way Cassian looked at me now.
Like he had finally noticed something he'd been missing.
Like he couldn't quite understand how he'd lived without it.
---
We stopped near the lake.
A few other riders were already there.
One of them was Lord Everett.
The same man I'd danced with.
He smiled when he saw me.
“Lady Aria.”
I returned the greeting.
“Lord Everett.”
He dismounted.
“May I walk with you?”
Before I could answer—
Cassian appeared beside me.
“No.”
Everett looked startled.
“Your Grace?”
Cassian's expression was calm.
“She won't be walking with you.”
I stared at him.
“Cassian.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“You can't decide who I speak to.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because I don't like him.”
“You don't know him.”
“I know enough.”
Everett wisely decided to leave.
I waited until he was gone.
Then turned to Cassian.
“You're being unreasonable.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
“I have no intention of pretending otherwise.”
I crossed my arms.
“You're jealous.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He stepped closer.
“Do you really need me to explain?”
“Yes.”
His eyes darkened.
“Because every time another man looks at you, I want to remind him you're mine.”
My breath caught.
“That sounds possessive.”
“It is.”
“Very possessive.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
Then whispered,
“I don't hate it.”
His expression changed.
His hand settled gently around my waist.
“Good.”
He leaned closer.
“Because I don't think I can stop.”
I looked at his lips.
“Maybe I don't want you to.”
For a moment, we simply stood there.
Then he kissed my forehead.
Not my lips.
My forehead.
Somehow, that was worse.
Much worse.
Because it felt intimate.
Tender.
Like something that belonged between two people who were already deeply attached.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time, I wondered if I was making a terrible mistake.
Not because Cassian might kill me.
But because I might actually fall in love with him.
---
That evening, Mira burst into my room.
“Adrian is jealous.”
I laughed.
“So is Cassian.”
“No, you don't understand.”
“What happened?”
She dropped onto my bed.
“I spoke to a man.”
“And?”
“Adrian stared at him for ten minutes.”
“That's all?”
“He asked me who he was.”
“What did you say?”
“I said it didn't matter.”
Mira grinned.
“Then Adrian said something very interesting.”
“What?”
She leaned closer.
“He said, 'It matters to me.'”
I smiled.
“That's possessive.”
“I know.”
“You like it.”
She groaned.
“Unfortunately.”
We both laughed.
Then Mira's smile faded.
“Aria?”
“Yes?”
“What if this isn't just attraction anymore?”
I looked at her.
She looked nervous.
“What if we actually fall in love?”
I was quiet.
Because I'd been thinking the same thing.
We had entered this world intending to survive.
We had planned to manipulate the plot.
Seduce our husbands.
Change their feelings.
Prevent our deaths.
But somewhere along the way—
Cassian had started looking at me like I mattered.
And I had started caring about what happened to him.
That was dangerous.
Far more dangerous than attraction.
Because attraction could be controlled.
Love couldn't.
And if we truly fell in love with the men who were supposed to kill us…
then changing the ending was no longer just about survival.
It was about keeping them too.
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