Enraptured

Chapter 86

My eyes widened in surprise at her outburst.

A picture of me kissing another woman?

Since when did I kiss someone else...

Tears fell from the corner of Belle's eyes as she looked at me brokenly. She whispered lifelessly, "I saw the picture of you kissing Rose... I knew she had feelings for you and never wanted to tell you for fear that you might someday realize she was better than me... But it seems like you finally realized it all by yourself..."

Rose?

When did I...

Oh god... That time she came into my office on the day of...

"I knew that I should've expected it... She had devoted her entire life to you... There was no way someone as kind as Demetri could ever overlook such devotion... It's selfish of me to say this, but I was hoping you would overlook her efforts... That's why I never said anything..." She roughly yanked her hand out of my grasp and pulled her hands closed to her chest. Lowering her eyes, she muttered, "I knew that I was the outsider, but I couldn't bring myself to let go of you... You were the best person I had ever met in my life... You had shown me what it meant to be loved... Even though I knew she was better for you, I wasn't able to let you go... But I guess I don't really have much of a choice anymore..."

She tried to push my arm aside, trying to escape from my grasp.

But I refused to let go.

Instead, I tightened my arms around her, pulling her flush against my body despite her struggles. There was no way I was going to let the love of my life walk away with such a nonsensical misunderstanding.

"Demetri, what are you doing? Let me go. I'm letting you—"

I abruptly scooped her off her feet, eliciting a startled yelp from her as I walked out of our bathroom.

"Demetri! Stop it! You don't have to try to hide—"

I dropped her onto our shared bed, effectively cutting off her protests. Situating myself between her legs, I pinned her hands to the bed above her head, forcing her to look straight up at me with no place to hide.

"What do you think you are—"

I cut her off and bluntly told her, "I was never cheating on you with Rose."

She pursued her lips as she failed to struggle against my firm hold. Huffing, she grumbled, "Pictures don't lie, Demetrius."

I sighed and explained, "The day of your accident, before Theo had called me about your fall, I had finished work early, but Rose visited my office and caught me on my way out to pick you up. She said that she needed to tell me something, so I gave in and let her into my office to talk. I admit that I was surprised when she confessed her feelings, but I rejected her."

She frowned, still not believing me. "Then why is there a picture of you kissing her?"

I corrected, "I did not kiss her. She kissed me without my consent. I pushed her away the moment I realized what was happening."

"How can I be sure you're not lying? It still doesn't explain why you keep coming home in a different shirt."

"I can show you to security tape from my office if you don't believe me. And, as for the shirt thing..." I sighed tiredly. "I honestly didn't realize you would be able to notice the difference, but I can explain that too..."

She diverted her eyes and grumbled unhappily, "How could I not notice that my husband kept coming home in different clothes than he left in? The cuff and collar styles were completely different even though you kept the same shade of white."