The Vendetta of the Returned Wife

FIVE

Max had been smiling at her throughout dinner. The same Max who'd called her a bitch just a few hours earlier. Every time she looked up from her plate, she found his eyes on her. He was staring, analyzing, admiring. The same man who had been choking her earlier was looking at her as if they had been living together all these years like a loving couple. Whatever had changed his mind? In the few hours from when they'd argued about Lisandra to dinner, something had happened to change his view of her.

She couldn't put a finger on it, but he must have seen or heard something to make him act like that towards her. Lisandra, who had insisted on sitting beside him, had glowered at him because he didn't give her the attention she wanted. If she wasn't so angry, Emilia would have slapped Max with divorce papers and leave him to his mistress. But she was angry, so furious that she was willing to fight with that bitch to separate them. Not that she needed to use her energy. Max hadn't stopped staring at her since they sat down for dinner. Only someone as desperate as Lisandra would tolerate his shit. What was wrong with him, anyway?

Or was he acting, for Zander's sake? Otherwise, why would he behave like someone who still loved her? Emilia didn't have any delusions about her relationship with her husband. Nine years ago, she'd left her home knowing that she was leaving her husband and would be alone and vulnerable. She could have stayed and explained everything that had happened. Or she could have come back after Zander was born. But she'd chosen to stay away. For nine good years, she had hidden from him.

He had no idea that she'd kept tabs on him, though. She knew his every move, knew where he was at all times. Which meant she had also known when he'd started sleeping with Lisandra. Granted, he'd resisted her for a while, but he wasn't strong enough. Eventually, he'd given in to her lies and charm and betrayed her. It had felt like a knife straight to the heart. If she hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't have believed Max would do that to her. Not the man she married.

But he'd proven her wrong. And as a woman, as a human being, she was prepared to understand he was a man who had needs. A young virile man who was sexually active and couldn't control some urges forever. It would have been okay if he'd slipped and fell into bed with Lisandra once. That would have been understandable. But that wasn't the case. Instead, he'd moved that witch into the house and even went as far as to give that woman her place.

They slept together in the same room. The same one they'd shared after getting married. He came home to her while she had been out there struggling to stay alive. Alone with a newborn baby, Emilia didn't have anyone to turn to. She had been forced to trust strangers who could have hurt her or her baby if they wanted to. Hendrix and Sawyer had nursed her back to life. If it weren't for those two, she wouldn't have been alive today. Fool her once, shame on her.

It would take a lot for her to even look at that man and smile genuinely. She refused to accept that he made her heart beat faster every time he looked her way. She absolutely refused to accept that she still loved him. The love left in her heart was only meant for one person. Zander. He was the only man she would allow herself to love ever again. So Max could bare his teeth at her all night if he wanted to but nothing was going to change. She would get her revenge on everyone, even if it was the last thing she did.

The real drama began when it was time for bed. Emilia had issued Lisandra a warning for her to move out of the main bedroom she shared with Max. Of course, Lisandra hadn't listened. She'd declined dessert and went straight to bed. The same bed she, as the legal wife, was supposed to share with her husband. Emilia knew what the demented bitch was doing and let her get comfortable first. She would strike after the other woman thought she'd won. When an hour passed, she went up to the room, sure that she'd find Lisandra sleeping peacefully.

Without a second thought, Emilia grabbed Lisandra's hair and dragged her out of the room. Not being able to do anything but hold her head, Lisandra kicked and yelled, waking up the whole house who'd come running to see what was happening. It had felt amazing to put that witch in her place. Max, who had been in the study, came running to see too what was going on. Surprisingly, he'd taken her side, telling his mistress that she should have moved out when she was told to do so. Not wanting to show him how shocked and happy she was that he'd stood by her, she'd gone back to the room and banged the door closed, leaving the couple to argue about sleeping arrangements.