You Buried Your Wife, Mr. Hayes. Now Beg.

Aysha POV

I woke up to giggling.

Not just any giggling, the kind that's too comfortable, too familiar, the kind that doesn't belong in a married home at this hour.

I sat up slowly, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

The sound was coming from across the hallway.

Adrian, My husband's study.

I tied my robe and padded toward it, telling myself I was probably imagining things.

"Oh Adrian, you're so funny." The voice said again.

I stopped dead in front of the door.

That's Mira, his personal assistant .

My stomach twisted upon realization .

I pressed my eye to the keyhole, because I wasn't allowed near the study. Adrian made that clear a long time ago.

"That room is for important people and important things," he had said one night, not even looking up from his desk. "Unfortunately, Aysha, you are neither." That felt like a knife to my skin.

I looked through the keyhole and what I saw made my chest cave in.

Mira was sitting on his lap. Right there, comfortable and relaxed, like she owned the place, like she owned him.

Her head was thrown back laughing at something he said, her hand resting on his shoulder. Adrian didn't push her off. He didn't even flinch. He just sat there, smiling, holding her like she was the most natural thing in the world.

"I've never once seen him smile at me like that before." I thought.

I pulled back gently from the door.

My hands were shaking. My throat was tight. I told myself to just walk away, go back to my room, pretend I didn't see anything, because what was I going to do anyway? Nothing.

I turned to leave but then my elbow hit the vase near the door. The sound it made when it hit the floor was the loudest thing I'd ever heard in my life.

Porcelain breaking everywhere, sharp pieces scattering across the floor. I dropped to my knees immediately, hands shaking as I started grabbing the pieces.

"Adrian is so gonna kill me, what I'm I going to do." I kept hoping that maybe there's a tiny chance that he might not have heard it.. but,

"What the hell did you do, woman?" Luck was definitely not on my side.

My whole body froze.

He was already at the door, eyes cold, jaw tight, the way he gets when he's about two seconds away from making my life very difficult.

"Adrian, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just passing and I accidentally.."

"That vase," Mira cut in from behind him, voice sweet and poisonous at the same time, "is worth millions. Sir Adrian won it at a Paris auction and you just shattered it like it was nothing."

She wasn't even talking to me. She was talking at me. Like I was entertainment.

Adrian grabbed me by my hair before I could say another word. I felt the pull first, sharp and sudden, then I was stumbling upward, my knees scraping the floor.

"Adrian, please,"

"That vase is worth more than your entire existence." His voice was low, controlled, which was somehow worse than screaming.

He shoved me back down, hard, and my hand landed directly on a broken piece.

The pain shot up my arm immediately.

"Ow, Adrian!" I cried, grabbing my hand.

Blood was already coming through my fingers, warm and fast. "My hand, look at my hand,"

"You're lucky it's only your hand. Clean every single piece of this up before I'm back." He straightened his shirt, didn't even look at my hand. "Or next time you won't be so lucky."

Mira slipped her arm through his as they walked away. She looked back at me with this slow, satisfied look, and whispered something to him that made him breathe out like a laugh.

I sat on the cold floor, hand bleeding, chest burning, and listened to their footsteps disappear down the hallway.

The silence they left behind was worse than the noise.

I pressed my robe against my hand and looked at the mess around me. Broken pieces everywhere catching the light, sharp little reminders of everything I couldn't fix.

My eyes were stinging, my throat was thick, I kept swallowing against it because I told myself I wasn't going to cry again, I cried last time too and it never helped anything.

But the tears came anyway.

I thought about calling my mother. I picked up my phone, stared at her contact, then put it back down. What was I going to say? What was she going to do from that far away?

Adrian controlled everything here, the house, the money, the way people looked at me when I walked into a room. My mother would just worry herself sick and feel helpless, I couldn't do that to her.

I started picking up the bigger pieces with my good hand, slow and careful.

Mira's laugh kept replaying in my head, the way she looked sitting on him, so comfortable. The way he didn't even try to pretend.

Like I wasn't real enough to perform for. Like I wasn't even worth the lie.

That hurt more than the hand.

I'd gotten used to being ignored. I'd gotten used to being spoken to like I was a staff.

But there was something about tonight, about seeing it with my own eyes, that made something inside me shift into a place it hadn't been before.

Not just hurt. Something else. Something quieter, darker and more dangerous than hurt.

I sat back against the wall, knees pulled up, hand wrapped in my robe, tears drying cold on my face.

I thought about leaving. Somewhere far from this life and everything suffocating me. I thought about someone coming to save me but I know it's nothing more than a fantasy that will never happen.

He'd built a cage so carefully that I hadn't even noticed it being built.

I was still sitting there when I heard footsteps in the hallway.

My whole body stiffened.

I looked down at the floor, still half covered in broken porcelain, my hand still bleeding, my eyes still swollen.

If he'd come back and this wasn't cleaned up he would....

The footsteps stopped right behind me.

My stomach dropped to the floor.

I turned around slowly, holding my breath.

And then a familiar voice spoke.

Aysha POV

"Ma, what have you done?"

Martha's voice broke through everything. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Ma, you're bleeding, come on, get up, let me help you to your room."

She reached for me but I pulled back gently.

"It's okay, I have to clean this up first, he said before he gets back,"

"Ma." Her voice was firm but soft, the way only Martha could manage. "That's my job, let me handle it, please."

I looked at the mess, then at my hand, then back at her face. She wasn't moving until I did.

"Fine," I whispered.

She helped me up slowly, one hand supporting my back, the other careful around my injured hand. We walked to my room quietly, the hallway feeling longer than usual.

"Why do you keep letting him do this to you?" she said as she sat me on the edge of the bed, already reaching for the first aid kit she knew I kept in the bathroom cabinet. "He keeps downgrading you, insulting you, embarrassing you right in front of that woman. Why can't you just leave, go back to your family, start over somewhere,"

"Because I love him, Martha."

She paused. Didn't say anything for a second, just stared at me.

"I've put in so much into this marriage, I can't just walk away from it like that." I continued.

She sighed. "But Ma,"

"Let it go." I said gently because she meant well, she always did. "I'll be fine. It's just a small cut, it'll heal before you even blink." I smiled a little, trying to lighten up.

She laughed despite trying not to, shaking her head as she cleaned the wound carefully.

Martha has been with me for three years now. I employed her during one of the hardest seasons of her life, against Adrian's wishes of course, but I didn't care. She became less of a help and more of a little sister somewhere along the way, the kind you don't plan for but can't imagine life without.

"Okay, I'm going to make breakfast," she said after wrapping my hand neatly. "What do you want?"

"Surprise me."

She smiled and left me alone with the silence.

And the silence, as always, brought everything rushing back.

I got up before my mind could settle into it. Shower. Get dressed. Stay moving. That's my thing, keeping busy so my thoughts don't catch up with me.

After the shower I pulled out my favorite black sundress. I needed something that felt like a good mood even if it had to be faked.

When I came downstairs Martha was plating breakfast with unnecessary ceremony.

"Okay so," she announced, straightening up, "we have scrambled eggs, croissants with cream cheese, turkey bacon, a cold fruit bowl, freshly squeezed orange juice, made by yours truly." She did a full dramatic bow.

"Merci beaucoup," I laughed, settling into my chair.

"Stay, eat with me," I said before she could disappear back into the kitchen. "Please, you know I hate eating alone."

She pulled out the chair beside me without argument.

We ate and talked, and for a little while the morning felt almost normal. Then I remembered.

"My tenth wedding anniversary is tomorrow," I said, setting my fork down. "I want to do something special for Adrian. A romantic dinner for just the two of us with proper decorations. I want the whole thing. Will you.... help me?"

Martha looked at me for a moment, something moving behind her eyes, but she nodded.

"Of course, Ma. Whatever you need."

"Just handle the food side, I'll get the gifts and decorations tomorrow when I go out. Oh, and once everything's set up and done, I'm giving you two full days off. Go see your family, your friends, whoever you've been missing."

She screamed. Actually screamed.

"Ma, thank you so much, you have no idea,"

"It's fine, it's fine," I laughed, waving her down. "I want the house to just be me and Adrian for those two days so honestly, you're doing me a favor. I know you're tired of seeing my face anyway."

We both cracked up.

The rest of breakfast was easy and warm, we mapped out the menu, talked about flowers, candles, the whole vision. By the time we cleared the table everything was planned and I was actually looking forward to tomorrow.

I wandered around the house for a while after that, trying to think of a gift. The problem with buying gifts for Adrian is that he has everything. Everything expensive, everything curated, nothing with any sentimental gap I could fill.

I was still thinking when I realized where my feet had taken me.

Right back in front of the study.

"Oh, are you serious right now." I whispered to myself, stepping back instinctively.

I turned to walk away, I genuinely did, but then a thought stopped me. He wasn't home. Maybe if I just looked around in there I could find something, a hint, an idea, something that could tell me what to get him. Something personal.

I stood there biting my lip, running every possible version of how this could go wrong through my head.

"Forget it." I pushed the door open quietly.

The room felt different when he wasn't in it. Still intimidating, still full of his things, but quieter. I stepped in carefully, eyes scanning the shelves, the desk, the cabinets.

His laptop was open on the desk.

I wasn't going to look at it. I really wasn't.

But I looked.

The wallpaper on the screen was him and Mira. Not a candid, not something accidental, a proper photo, the two of them close, comfortable, smiling at each other the way people smile when they don't know anyone else exists. He set that deliberately. He looked at that every single day.

I stood there longer than I should have.

Then I heard his car pull into the driveway.

I spun around too fast and my arm caught the stack of papers on the edge of the desk. They scattered everywhere, sliding across the floor in every direction.

"Not again, why am I like this,"

I dropped to my knees, gathering them fast, stacking them back as neatly as I could, hands moving quick. But one page stopped me cold.

The header was bold, unmistakable.

Divorce Letter.

The room tilted. My chest locked up completely. I read it again just to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Divorce Letter.

Downstairs I heard Martha's voice, bright and unsuspecting, greeting Adrian at the door.

I grabbed the papers, shoved them back onto the desk, ran out of the study, pulled the door shut behind me without making a sound, made it to my room, closed my door and pressed my back against it.

My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat.

I slid down to the floor slowly, knees pulled to my chest, the whole room spinning around me.

Then came a soft knock on my door.

"Ma?" Martha's voice came through quietly. "Sir Adrian is asking for you downstairs. He said it's urgent."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"What the hell did I just see."

Aysha POV

"I see you finally got that place cleaned up." Adrian said as he walked through the door.

I nodded, still a little shaken up.

"Good. Well I need you to get dressed, there's an event this evening and unfortunately you'll be going with me. Don't embarrass me with your plain Jane look. Try to look less ugly. Be ready in two hours." With that he went out of the room.

I checked the time on my phone, it was almost four. I quickly went to take a quick shower to get a fresh look. I already had a dress in mind.

In less than two hours, I was finally done getting ready. My husband hates waiting, so I knew I had to be quick before he leaves me.

I had on a black strapless gown, with a slit at the side. It was a present from my mother. For my look, I went with a little more flashy makeup, definitely not my style but it will do for tonight. I curled my hair, put on my LV heels, sprayed my perfume and I was ready to head out.

"Took you long enough." He said as I walked down the stairs.

"I was ready in under two hours like you asked." I said quietly.

He looked me over once, slow and unbothered, like he was checking inventory.

"You actually don't look terrible." He said, fixing his cufflinks. "Don't go thinking that's a compliment."

"I wasn't going to."

"Good. Any minute longer and I would have left your ass at home." With that he walked out.

That was it. No compliment. Nothing.

I walked out after him and got into the car.

An hour later, we pulled up to a high rise hotel. Cameras flashing in our faces, people screaming and pushing to get a shot of us. It was a lot. I wasn't used to this type of attention.

We finally headed inside to the ballroom. It was beautiful. The ambiance, the people, everything was beautiful.

In no time, we were occupied with different people and pulled into different conversations. Though Adrian did more of the talking and I was just a pretty handbag. All I did was smile and reply a few times.

Eventually I got left out. I guessed he got tired of pretending to be a lovely couple, so he sent me on my way with a "You know what dear, I'm sure you're tired and bored with all this work stuff. Why don't you go have fun with the rest of the ladies over there. Get a drink and relax. I'll come get you later baby." Excuse.

He kissed me, making the old couple in front of us smile.

"Aww, young love."

"I love you." That word felt strange to me because he never says that unless we're in front of other people like right now.

"I love you too." With that I walked away to go get a drink. I really needed one anyway.

"Oh Madam Aysha. What an unexpected surprise seeing you here." Of course, she would be here.

"Hi Mira. I didn't think I'd see you here." I forced a smile.

"Well, I was meant to be Sir Adrian's plus one to this event but I had an emergency, that I thought I couldn't make it but surprisingly I did." She smiled, slow and deliberate. "But I guess since Sir needed a partner so bad because according to what was required, he needed to come with his wife. He settled with taking you instead.... Oops! So sorry I forgot you're his wife. My bad Madam."

"It's fine." I said, keeping my voice flat.

"You're not upset are you?" She tilted her head like she was genuinely concerned. "I mean honestly Madam, I feel terrible about the whole mix up."

"Do you?"

"Of course." She pressed her hand to her chest.

"The last thing I would ever want is to cause problems between you and Sir Adrian. You're his wife. I respect that completely."

"Then maybe you should act like it."

She blinked, then smiled wider. "You're feisty. I like that. Sir Adrian always said you had a temper."

"He talks about me to you?"

"We talk about a lot of things." She shrugged lightly."I mean, you have to understand how these things work. Sir Adrian has certain... needs. And certain standards."

"I'm his wife, Mira."

"Of course you are." She smiled again. "That's exactly why he brought you tonight. Rules are rules."

She mockingly apologized before walking away.

I was so mad that all I could do was laugh.

He was meant to come with his wife but yet I was made a second option. I can't believe he was really about to present her as his wife to his business partners.

I kept picturing how the whole situation would have gone if Mira didn't cancel on him.

I poured my drink angrily down my throat. A tear threatened to drop as my throat burned from the taste.

Ready to leave, I walked up to him and Mira talking.

"I'm tired, can we leave already?" I said to him.

He looked at me like I had just interrupted a very important conversation.

"If you want to leave, then go. Besides I don't need you anymore since Mira is here."

"Adrian." I lowered my voice. "Don't do this here."

"Do what?" He frowned like he was genuinely confused. "I'm simply saying you're free to go. Isn't that what you want?"

"I want my husband to take me home."

He stared at me for a second, then laughed softly like I'd said something mildly amusing.

"And by the way, don't take the car. I need it to take Mira home. Order a ride or better still walk. You need the workout anyway."

Mira laughed beside him, putting her hand on his chest like it belonged there.

"Sir! Don't be mean."

He stared at her smiling.

"But it's true." He said, walking away with her.

I stood there quietly, trying to control the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

I needed to clear my head so I decided to walk.

A few minutes later, heavy rain came pouring down. There was nowhere to hide from it, so I just stood there crying my heart out and letting the rain wash it all away.

I finally gathered myself together and got a cab home.

"Hopefully, tomorrow will be better for both of us." I said, smiling sadly.