**Alone**
**Emptiness**
**Pitifulness**
That's what I've been feeling for the past two months.
I became a slave in my own matrimonial house, not allowed to say, act, or do anything about it.
It's not that I couldn't do anything, but who would listen to me?
Nobody. I have nobody to tell about my dilemma. My twin brother has been busy for the past month. I can't even reach him by phone; it always goes to voicemail.
No one cares if I'm dead or alive in this world now.
Marriage is supposed to be a union where husband and wife love and complete each other, but I can't even define mine.
I've been living under the same roof as Xavi, and worse of all, I don't see him at all.
We stay in different bedrooms, far from each other. Xavi owns a 3-story building, too large, with 6 bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool on the second floor, an outdoor swimming pool bigger than the inner one, a mini cinema, and a gym theatre.
My room is on the first floor while Xavi's room is on the 2nd floor, and I'm not allowed under any circumstances to go to the third floor. The second floor is my limit, and there are certain rooms I'm not allowed to enter.
He leaves for work before I wake up and comes home late when I'm asleep. This is how my so-called unique honeymoon was spent.
To the outside world, I'm the daughter-in-law of the Wrights, the most feared family, and the wife of Xavi Wright, nothing more. I have no personality of my own.
He's avoiding me like a plague.
Today, I decided to wake up early before he leaves for work.
Confused about what to prepare, I decided to make a simple breakfast: toast and coffee. But there's a problem—I don't know how he prefers his coffee.
The truth is, I don't know anything about my husband, and it was too early to disturb our maid, Mrs. Adams. To my surprise, she was already awake.
"You're up early?" I greeted her with evident shock on her face.
"Do you usually wake up at this time every day?" I asked her.
A young lady was standing beside her, and it was not hard to notice. The young lady just bowed her head to me in respect, not saying anything.
"Today is different; I have to teach the new maid the dos and don'ts of the house."
"Xavier likes his coffee black with a teaspoon of sugar, not too sweet," she said, noticing my struggles with deciphering the kind of coffee Xavi likes.
"Thank you," I replied, waiting for her to introduce the stranger.
"This is my granddaughter, Rose. She'll be here with me until we get a new maid. She's on holiday and decided to stay here with me."
"She's here temporarily." Mrs. Adams finally cleared the air.
"Hi, I'm Layla. Sorry about how rude I was earlier."
"No, ma'am, I should be the one sorry for not properly greeting you."
"You should be around my age, so please drop the formality."
I was happy about having someone to talk to, and the house wouldn't be as quiet as it used to be daily.
Just then, I heard footsteps. There could only be one person in this house with such dominance—my husband, Xavier.
My back was facing him, but I could tell it was Xavier. I couldn't miss the sudden quietness from Mrs. Adams. As I turned to greet him, I was faced with Xavier's scowling face.
"I... I made... I couldn't even complete my sentence. Where the hell did my voice go? Why couldn't I form a proper single sentence? My inner thoughts sounded confident, but saying them out seemed tough."
He downright ignored me and faced Mrs. Adams.
"Prepare the room close to my room; I have a special guest today." That was the first thing Xavier said this morning when he came down, accompanied by Mrs. Adams, with a calm expression on his face.
"Won't you have your breakfast?" Mrs. Adams asked Xavier. There is this invisible mother-and-son bond between the two of them, and Xavier cares for her a lot, even though he appears cold sometimes.
"Who prepared the breakfast?" he asked.
I couldn't bring myself to say it was me, and the young lady standing with Mrs. Adams beat me to it.
"It was your wife, and she made it with love. This is so cute," she replied innocently.
Now I involuntarily got his total attention because of the one simple reply from the young maiden.
"Good morning, wife," he said sarcastically, then continued taking menacing steps towards me with eyes shooting daggers.
"I thought we made it clear and established the rules in the house. Am I to repeat myself because you are deaf? Or are you suffering from amnesia?" He asked me, a deadly tone dripping from his words as he repeated the rules word for word like he had memorised them.
Of course, yes! My subconscious mind spoke back. After all, he was the one who came up with the rules without giving me the chance to reject or accept them.
I have no choice in this.
1. I hate people invading my privacy or touching me without my approval, which you have broken countless times.
2. We are married only on paper; you are not needed to act as my wife except when we are outside, and only on occasions do I need you as my wife.
3. Your orders are just like mine within the walls of this house. You can ask the maid or chauffeur for anything, but don't let it affect me.
4. You don't have the choice of divorcing me because not only do you have something to lose, but I also have something to protect, and this marriage is my only way to protect it, and I'm never giving you a divorce.
5. You can't do or have anything that would tarnish my reputation outside.
6. Stay within your limit, and I stay within mine. We don't have to see each other every day. This breakfast should not be a thing between us; Mrs. Adams can take care of that very well. You don't have to do anything.
"You just have a way of spoiling my mood," he added.
"Never or ever fall in love with me because I won't reciprocate your feelings. I'm already in love with another, as you know."
"And it's not my fault that your family chose money over you and decided to sacrifice you. Everything was legally signed by your father, and he very much knew about my relationship with your sister."
That got me. I was surprised by this new revelation. My father knew about Xavier and Melissa's relationship. Why did he then make me marry Xavier? What was the real reason for this union?
"Then what did you want me to do all day, Xavier?" I did not notice a drop of tears had slipped from my eyes.
"All I need you to do is just sit at home, darling wife. Nothing more," Xavier replied, dead serious and scary, as he took his bag and left, just like that.