Chapter 4: A Marriage on Fire

When Derek came back, I was still crying. I tried to hide under the covers, but the tremble in my shoulders gave me away.

My eyes were misty, tears refusing to dry. I wanted to be strong, but the ache in my chest wouldn’t let up. The love that had filled my youth, in the end, came to nothing.

Thinking that Derek wouldn’t sleep with me, I simply hid under the covers. I curled in on myself, clutching a pillow to my chest.

"Natalie."

Derek’s deep voice sounded. Before I could react, he lifted the comforter. The sudden rush of cold air made me flinch.

My body stiffened. I braced myself for a lecture, or worse, his indifference.

Luckily, Derek didn’t do anything further—he just sat at the head of the bed. The mattress dipped as he settled in, and I felt the distance between us like a chasm.

After a rustling sound, I didn’t know what he picked up. For a moment, there was just the hum of the ceiling fan and my own unsteady breathing.

Suddenly, the iPad started blaring a steamy scene from one of those rom-coms I’d been watching. My face went up in flames as I scrambled to snatch it away. The sound was unmistakable, and my face burned with mortification.

"Give it back…" I reached for the device, but Derek raised his arm, holding it out of reach. My momentum sent me sprawling against his chest.

Looking at my embarrassed, flushed face, he chuckled: "I almost forgot, Natalie isn’t a little girl anymore." There was a hint of something warmer in his tone, a softness that didn’t last.

He seemed to have been drinking. His usually sharp eyes now looked gentle and ambiguous, his gaze lingering a little too long.

Derek watched the entangled figures on the tablet, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Then he slid his hand under my pajama hem. The contact made me shiver.

His palm was warm, caressing my waist now and then. It should have felt intimate, but it just made me want to cry harder.

My body softened, my eyes hazy as I looked at him. But suddenly, I caught a faint whiff of roses on him. My stomach flipped. That rose scent—Aubrey’s signature—clung to him, sweet and sickening.

Derek whispered seductively in my ear: "Natalie is a grown woman with needs too."

"Let me satisfy you tonight, okay?"

When my nightdress was torn, instead of the excitement I’d always longed for, all I could think of was Aubrey… That rose fragrance was the one Aubrey always wore. The images flashed: the torn black tights, those smooth thighs, and that pale white skin…

I used all my strength to push Derek away, then ran barefoot to the bathroom to throw up. My knees hit the cold tile, and I clung to the toilet, shaking.

He didn’t follow me in, just stood at the door, watching coldly. His silhouette was sharp in the hallway light.

When I came out, Derek’s face was dark. "You really find me that disgusting?"

"Last time, and now again—I don’t get it."

"If you hate me so much, why did you marry me?" His words echoed off the bathroom tiles, harsh and unforgiving.