[BL] A Marriage Ruled by Family, Saved by Desire-Chapter 31: Between Lies and Love

~Alistair’s POV~

He lunged across the table, his hand clamping down on my phone before I could even see the screen.

I blinked, startled by his sudden aggression. "Alex? Who is it?"

He didn’t hand it over. His eyes flicked to the screen for a moment, jaw tightening, before he swiped the red icon to end the call. With a sharp toss, he sent the phone landing on the sofa, just out of my reach.

"It’s nothing," he said, his voice tight with barely restrained anger. "It was my mother again. I hung up."

He stared at me, chest rising and falling with each ragged breath, as if waiting for me to protest. But I didn’t move. My eyes stayed on the phone. He hadn’t asked if I wanted to speak to her, he’d made the choice for me, a man desperate to silence a ghost that refused to stay buried.

I sat there, watching his fingers tighten around the edge of the coffee table. The pizza on my plate lost all appeal, the cheese stiff and uninviting, just like the cold dread settling in my stomach.

"You should’ve let me decide if I wanted to talk to her, Alex," I murmured, my voice low and tense.

"I’m protecting you, Alis," he said, his eyes burning with a fierce, desperate worry. "She won’t ruin another night. Not tonight."

He stood up abruptly, the movement jarring enough to make the remaining slices of pizza slide on the tray. "I’m going to go take a walk. I need some air."

I watched him go, the front door clicking shut with a finality that made the house feel cavernous and empty. The second I heard his footsteps fade into the driveway, I lunged for my phone.

I ignored the missed call, I already knew it was her. Instead, I reached for Alex’s laptop, left open on the sofa. My heart pounded fiercely in my chest as I opened it and went straight to his synced messages.

My breath caught in my throat.

Mother: I’ve seen the doctor’s report from Singapore, Alex. You can’t hide the truth from Alis forever. If you don’t tell him why you’re really rushing back, I will. He deserves to know what kind of future he’s actually tied to.

My hands trembled so badly I nearly dropped the laptop. Doctor’s report? What was he sick with or was it something else? I scrolled frantically, searching for an attachment or a sent file, but the screen went black. The laptop had timed out.

I heard the grand front door click and settle into place. Alex was back."

I shoved the laptop back into place and sank onto the sofa, clutching a decorative pillow to my chest. The front doors swung open, and Alex stepped inside, his hair tousled by the wind, his face unusually pale. His gaze locked on me instantly, searching for any hint that I’d been anywhere but where he left me.

"Babe," Alex murmured, his voice dipping into that deep, protective tone. "Tomorrow... I’m going to the office alone."

I lifted my gaze from the sofa, frowning. "Why? I usually go with you."

"I want you to rest, Alis," he said quickly, his gaze darting away from mine. "These past few days have been stressful for you. Stay home, sleep in... just relax. I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone."

"I’m okay, Alex," I insisted, my suspicion flaring. "I’ve been resting all weekend. I’d rather be with you."

He hesitated, a shadow crossing his face before he forced a smile. "Alright, baby... if that’s what you really want."

The rest of the day was spent indoors, a quiet, stifling sort of peace. We existed in the same space, but it felt like a pane of glass had been lowered between us. When night finally fell, we climbed into bed. Alex drew me close, his arms tight around me, almost desperate, as if clinging to me would keep him grounded. Slowly, his breathing steadied, and the weight of sleep finally claimed us both.

In the dead of night, I woke to the bed shifting.

The room was silent, save for the low hum of the air conditioner. My eyes stayed closed, but my heart began to race as the space beside me grew cold. I expected the sounds of the bathroom door or him moving toward the room door, but instead, the soft creak of the sofa in the corner caught my attention. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Carefully, I shifted my head just enough to peek through my lashes toward the dim light of the window.

Alex was sitting there, hunched over, his face buried in his palms. Even in the shadows, I could see his shoulders shaking. He began to run his hands frantically through his hair, over and over, his lips moving in a frantic, silent prayer or a curse, I couldn’t tell which. He looked utterly lost, a man drowning in a sea of his own secrets.

Watching him like that hurt more than his lies. In seven years, I had never seen him this disturbed, this broken. The fact that he was suffering right in front of me and refused to let me help made the distance between us feel like an ocean. I wanted to go to him, to hold him, to tell him that whatever had happened in Singapore didn’t matter. But I stayed where I was, motionless. I couldn’t let him know I was watching.

Eventually, he dragged himself back to bed, and I faked sleep until the morning sun began to bleed through the curtains.

When Alex finally nudged me awake, his face was a mask of exhaustion, though he tried to hide it with a smile. "Time to get up, babe. We should get ready for the office."

I glanced at him, then tugged the duvet higher around my shoulders, slipping easily into the role of a sleepy, unbothered spouse. "Babe... I think I’ll stay in," I murmured, my voice heavy with fake drowsiness. "I want to sleep a little longer. Go on without me."

I expected him to persuade me, to tease me about being a sleepyhead or to insist I come along like he usually did. Instead, he just nodded.

"Okay, love," he said softly. There was a flicker of relief in his eyes that he couldn’t quite hide. He leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. "Sleep well. I’ll call you at lunch."

I lay perfectly still, listening to the steady rush of the shower, then the soft rustle of him getting dressed. I didn’t move until I heard the door open and his footsteps fade down the stairs. Even then, I waited, letting a few more minutes slip by, making sure he’d truly left the house, before I finally exhaled and sat up.

The moment the house fell completely silent, I pushed the duvet aside, stood up, and I moved to the sofa, the same spot where I had watched Alex break down just hours before. I sat there in the quiet, the weight of the unknown pressing down on me.

I needed to talk to someone, but who? I thought of my mother, but I stopped myself before I could dial. She would only tell me to be patient, to wait for him to come to me in his own time. I didn’t have any more patience left.

I thought about calling my friends, but I could already hear their voices in my head, telling me I was being insecure, warning me that my suspicion would be the very thing that drove him away. I couldn’t handle their judgment right now.

Then, there was Roman. I considered him for a split second, but the memory of his words, the way he looked at our marriage like it was a house of cards, made me shiver. Calling him felt like inviting a wolf into our home to help me tear it down.

I sat there, trapped in my own head, dying for answers but terrified of where to find them. The silence was beginning to feel deafening when a soft knock at the bedroom door startled me.

"Sir?" the maid’s voice muffled through the wood.

"Yes? What is it?" I called out, pulling my robe tighter around my chest.

"There is someone downstairs looking for you, sir," she said.

I frowned. It was too early for visitors, and Alex had only just left. "Who is it?"

"A lady, sir. She said her name is Sarah."

Sarah.

The name hit me like a sudden jolt. Sarah. The woman from Singapore, the one my mother-in-law had been so eager to weave into Alex’s life.

"Okay," I called out, my voice tight. "Tell her I’ll be down in a minute."

I moved with sudden, frantic urgency, tugging on a sweater and raking a hand through my tangled hair. My heart pounded fiercely in my chest. Was she here to tell me what Alex couldn’t? Or to finish what his mother had started?

I hurried toward the stairs, but as I before reached the landing, I froze.

A voice drifted up from the foyer, deep, sharp, and laced with an anger that made my blood run cold. It was Alex.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?" he demanded.