On The Border - Marry Him Or Die

26

Alex’s POV

As soon as I stood up from the bed, I saw her flinch away from me and stand shakily at the adjacent wall from the bathroom door where she was standing before.

Her entire body was visibly trembling and her face was plastered with fear plainly for the first time. Her green eyes were shining with terror.

I realized at that moment that she was almost certain I will make good on my promise and punish her because I caught her lying to me and doing something behind my back. She was afraid of me, wholeheartedly.

Don’t get me wrong, I was raging mad after I saw that message on her phone. I felt a little betrayed, if I didn’t know about their morning meeting before hand plus her reaction to his visit and her throwing him out, I would have been a lot more angrier right now. I would have assumed right away that she was in contact with him secretly because she was planning something against me and nothing she would have said was going to convince me otherwise.

That’s exactly what she is thinking right now. That’s why she found herself unable to speak or open her mouth at all. Her fear of me was controlling her.

I was suspicious of her from the moment I walked through the half opened door just before dinner. I heard her phone ringing and entered just as she answered it with her back to me. I stood there and watched as she instantly hung up the phone the second she saw me. I caught her terribly obvious lie when she said it was her mother. I wanted to confront her right there but it wasn’t the time for it. I planned to get my answers; calmly, from her when everyone settles in their rooms for the night.

But when I came inside and saw her phone left unlocked on the dresser, I couldn’t resist not checking the call log. And just when I saw an unregistered number, a message was delivered to her then from the same exact number and I discovered it was Simon again.

I wanted all my questions answered tonight, all her mysteries revealed, but I also wanted to make sure that things don’t intensify between us. That her illness will not get in the way or cause her to be sick again. I promised myself to be on my best behavior tonight. Because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her because of me.

I stared at her and I felt a little slash of pain go through my entire body as I saw how scared she was of me just because I stood up from the bed. I didn’t take one step towards her, I didn’t say anything to her, I just stood up and she immediately flinched away in terror, assuming the worst.

I tried to speak steadily to her and lessen my aggressiveness a little “I don’t hurt first then ask questions later. I’m giving you the chance to speak for yourself. I’m willing to listen to you but you need to tell me everything Jennifer. I mean everything, without hiding or lying”

I wait for her to find her voice. I saw that my words calmed her down a bit as her trembling lessened a little.

I gave her all the time she needed and stood in my place, afraid of making one little move and scaring the shit out of her again.

She finally manages to say in a shaky tone “It’s not what you think”

I say calmly “Ok, what is it then? Tell me”

She takes deep breathes and then blurts out in a rush “Yesterday afternoon, when I finished unpacking my stuff, my phone rang. It was Simon, my cousin. I rejected the call and blocked his number. And this mo…”

I cut her off as I ask curiously “Why didn’t you want to speak with him?“

It takes her a while to answer as she admits in a small voice “Because I hate him. I hated him ever since we were little kids and I wanted nothing to do with him”

I wanted to ask why all that hate from a long time ago but it wasn’t our main topic right now so I let it slide “Carry on”

She takes another deep breath and continues as her eyes focus on the floor “This morning when you dropped me off at the house, Simon knocked on the door two minutes later. I think he was watching the house, waiting for me to visit. He wanted to talk and I didn’t want to listen, so I tried to shut the door in his face but he forced his way inside and refused to leave before he talked to me. He….. said that he would have never allowed this marriage to happen if he knew about it and apologized then he left the house”

She stops talking and looks at me.

I raise my eyebrows “That’s it? That’s everything he said?“

Her face paled a little, she was afraid to lie to me again but she also didn’t want to tell me everything that happened between them.

Why? Was she afraid I might not believer her? Was she protecting him despite her hatred of him? Or was she hiding her possible involvement with him as they conspire against me?

Too many questions and I needed a damn answer. So I speak to her calmly again trying to ease her into doing the right thing “Look, I told you I will listen to everything you have to say. I won’t do anything to you, just talk to me and stop hiding stuff”

She mumbled in a low voice while avoiding looking directly at me “That’s everything”

I shook my head at her, she was really testing my patience here.

She was such a terrible liar. It made me wonder whether it was just me she was incapable of lying to or the fact that she’s not used to lying at all, that she totally sucks at it.

Then again, she managed to lie to everyone about witnessing my brother at her house, and no one suspected her then.

I decided to cut the crap and rattle her with the truth.

“If that’s everything he said to you in there, then why did you drag him out of the house kicking and screaming at him to leave you alone?“ I asked in a deadly tone.

Her eyes opened wide as she looked at me with utter shock and asked nervously “How did you know about that?“

I answered with exasperation “Because I had Mathew watching over your house the moment I dropped you off. He told me everything that happened. Simon’s appearance, your attempt to close the door in his face, him rudely making his way inside, and then you kicking him out angrily. I’m aware of everything except for the conversation that had you losing your shit on him. I suggest you speak the whole truth Jennifer because you are really starting to test my ability to control myself here”

She gulped as her fear returned in full force and her eyes focused on the floor again instead of my face.

She was really afraid of saying what happened in there that even the threat of me hurting her to get the truth wasn’t going to make her say it.

I try again quietly “I will believe you if you say everything that happened. I’m really trying to help you here, believe it or not, so how about you take a chance and try to trust me with the truth”

I give her some time to ponder this and wait for her to pull her shit together and out with it.

She finally gathers her courage and looks at me again with uncertainty as she speaks “He wanted my help to spy on you. He’s planning to make a move against you with someone’s help from out of town. He asked me to gather information about your smuggling business and get back to him with everything I hear here. I adamantly refused and told him to stand down because I will end up paying the consequences if you find out about this. He wouldn’t take no for an answer despite my refusal to help and kept trying to convince me but I stood my ground and declined his offer…. He pressed on my nerves and I dragged him out of the house to get this over with once and for all”

That traitorous bastard decided to seek lord Z’s help to end me?

I narrowed my eyes at her and inspected her coldly.

“Did he tell you the name of the person who’s trying to help him?“

She shook her head.

I’m surprised that she refused his tempting offer to get rid of me.

I know without a doubt that she hates the very ground I walk on, along with Lucas and Jacob.

Did she really decline his offer though or was she lying?

I didn’t catch a hint of deceit when she spoke just now but that doesn’t fully reassure me.

She has every reason to help them.

She couldn’t stand my scrutinizing gaze on her and she cast her eyes down again, waiting for me to speak.

“Look at me” I order her curtly.

I need her to look me in the eyes when I ask her because I’m certain that if she lies about her answer now, I will instantly know her true intentions.

She stares up at me as I ask her “Why did you refuse his offer?”

Her eyes betray her hurt and anger as she snaps at me “Because I’m not that person Alex. You are well aware of my immense hatred to you and your brother, I would want nothing more than to get out of this trap I put myself in by getting married to you trust me, but I would never stoop so low as to stab you in the back and betray you like this. Despite your harsh behavior and your cruelty and hatred towards me, I would never agree to be a part of that wretched game, because I’m not that kind of person. Because I’m not my father”

She said that last sentence with every ounce of disgust within her.

Two things dawned on me then with undeniable certainty. First, she was telling the truth about everything. Second, she hated her father with every fiber of her being.

It caught me off guard. It just occurred to me that she wasn’t as affected by his death as she should have been if she truly lost someone she cared about. There was no sliver of sorrow in her eyes when she spoke of him.

But what about all the crying and red puffy eyes from this morning then? Who was she grieving for if not the loss of her father?

Still so many mysteries inside that confusing head of hers. Still so many questions to seek answers for.

“What about the phone call I walked in on before dinner? Why did you lie about it and told me it was your mother when it clearly was Simon on the other end? Why didn’t you come clean about everything then?”

She answered in a small voice “I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me or listen to the whole truth. That you would assume I’m conspiring against you with Simon. I was coming after dinner to block the new number and block all incoming calls from any unregistered numbers to put an end to it without risking you finding out and misinterpreting everything”

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

I caused her to lie to me and hide things. I intimidated her too much, conveyed how much I distrust and dislike her, that she was certain I would never believe her if she tried to talk to me. It was all my fault.

I started to take a small step in her direction and froze mid step as I saw her flinch and back further into the wall behind her, her eyes staring up at me with a painful dread and her hands slightly shaking at her sides.

I continued to walk towards her slowly until there was no more space between us.

I put my hands against the wall on either sides of her head and leaned down as I spoke with immense calmness, while her lower lip slightly trembled and her eyes; which never wavered away from my face, glistened with unshed tears.

“Like I said to you at the beginning. I don’t hurt first then ask questions later. I realize that you couldn’t have known that because you don’t really know me yet and I didn’t give you a chance to. But I want you to know this, next time something like this happens again, I want you to come to me first before I discover it. I will listen to you and I will believe you. But you have to be honest with me and never hide anything or lie for fear of me. I’m not the soulless beast you think I am. I’m not going to hurt you or punish you for my own amusement and pleasure. I will not wrong you on purpose just to watch you suffer. As long as you stick to my rules and keep yourself in check, we will be able to coexist in this room and in each other’s lives without having to hurt each other. Do we have an understanding?”

She nods her head and slowly lowers her gaze down.

I could see up this close how ragged her breathing was, and how fast her heart was beating inside her chest.

With that issue cleared and put away I move on to other important questions.

“Why did you lie about witnessing Jacob at your house? He killed your father, didn’t you want revenge for his death?” I asked curiously, still keeping her trapped between my arms.

She looked up at me in defiance.

Here we go again, her walls going up once more and her stubbornness taking over her fear of me.

“I told you, my reasons are my own I don’t want to say them to you” she said tightly.

“They’re not your own Jennifer. This concerns me because it concerns my brother’s safety. I need to know why”

She counters “You brother is safe. If I was going to say his name I would have said it from the beginning but I didn’t say it then and I’m not going to say it at all. You don’t have to worry about that. My reasons have nothing to do with you or your brother”

I narrow my eyes at her as I ask “You hated him, didn’t you? Your father”

Her eyes widen a bit and I knew I struck a raw nerve.

She stammers “That’s… none of your.. business”

I inspect her a little bit more before I continue “If you hated him so much, why were you crying this entire morning? Mathew told me you were crying from the moment you left your house, my mom said the same thing when you came back here. What brought that on all of a sudden? You weren’t like this yesterday, what changed?”

She gulps and stares at me with a little anguish.

I just put my hand on a really touchy subject, apparently.

She was hiding something else and I had to resist the urge to threaten her again.

When she refuses to say anything, I lean closer to her face and whisper coldly “Didn’t I just tell you to stop hiding stuff from me? I don’t want to discover it on my own later Jennifer. I’m giving you the chance now to come clean, so I suggest you do the wise thing and take it”

She holds her breath and turns her face to the side to get some space away from me.

Her tears start rolling down for the first time as she keeps her mouth shut.

She was willing to accept the risk of me finding out whatever she was hiding and punishing her for it rather than speak the truth to me.

It only enticed me further.

I hold her chin to turn her head back towards me and she instantly blanches at my touch.

“You’re tempting me into taking a dangerous step here, one last chance Jennifer” I say coldly to her.