Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Helena ushered Beatrice away with a triumphant smile on her face. Her eyes follow Beatrice's movements so that when the secretary turned around—Beatrice did it several times, maybe, because it was too hard for her to let go of the opportunity—Beatrice would see her happy expression also the scene of Aaron still holding her hands. She even waved her hand the last time Beatrice looked at them before leaving the restaurant.

Only when Beatrice had completely disappeared, her attention was returned to the man in front of her. She cast a sharp glare at him as if that man was the suspect. But, it was true, wasn't it? Aaron was the source of the problem here. If her husband wasn't the man behind Beatrice's bold attitude, sure, she wouldn't feel this way. It felt like she was going to explode right away!

The object of her annoyance could only be silent. Aaron knew that she was angry. The previous situation had clearly provoked her and made his wife's mood worse. He would react the same if he was in a similar situation.

He shifted his gaze from her sharp eyes towards his wife's hand, which was still in his. Once again, he kissed the back of her hands lightly and hoped that her anger would subside.

"Let go of my hands!" She did not ask but gave an order. Her tone was firm and conveyed her irritation.

He pretended not to hear that. He actually increased his kisses there—on Helena's fingers. Even when she tried to pull her hands away, he still didn't let go. This was the only physical contact he could have in their situation. In fact, he could have done more like hugging her, for example. However, he did not dare take that risk and made her even angrier. His wife looked scary when she was furious.

But, when a waiter came to bring their order, he couldn't help but let go of his grip. It was said that food was the best friend when someone was in a bad mood. Eating could lift up a person's bad mood. Perhaps, this also applied to Helena, considering that one of her hobbies was dealing with food.

Their lunch, this time, was awkward. Helena was silent. Likewise, Aaron let silence dominate their time.

"Do you love Beatrice?" She asked with eyes focused on the food in front of her.

Her question almost made Aaron choke because it came out of her lips just as he was downing his drink. He stared at his wife, half in disbelief at what had just entered his ears. "Huh?" Spontaneously, he put out that expression as a shock.

"Do you love Beatrice?" She repeated, clearly showing her displeasure. Oh, who liked to repeat the same question to their partner.

His eyebrows knitted together. His mind was wondering where their conversation was going. "Why asked that?" He asked back. Honestly, he was at a loss on how to answer her question.

Helena tried to keep her demeanor as calm as possible, though sparks of fire were growing inside her. She continued to eat as if she was not disturbed. "Didn't you see? She showed her love for you right in front of my eyes, which, incidentally, is your wife," she said, putting emphasis at the end of her sentence. "So, I need to know how you feel about her so I can determine the next step." She added.

He would admit something. In fact, it had been quite a while since he had known about Beatrice's personal feelings for him. She was not ashamed to show her love. Like normal people in love, she often stole opportunities to be close to him, sent him messages outside of work, and many other things to get his attention.

However, he already had Helena. He had placed Helena in his heart since before Beatrice worked for him. Not that he would fall for his secretary if they met first. Aaron had never considered his relationship with Beatrice worthy of turning into more than just a co-worker. After all, he had never once responded to her feelings.

Hence, he was so surprised by Beatrice's recklessness. He had wondered why she did it. Her actions made him avoid her more instead of feeling attracted to her.

His eyes narrowed as a thought entered his mind. "Are you accusing me of having an affair with Beatrice?"

Hearing that, Helena immediately turned her gaze towards her husband and looked at him dramatically. "No. I never thought about that. I just want to make sure what kind of relationship you two are in," she replied, slightly offended. It turned out that getting accusations was never fine. Her trust was felt like being betrayed. "But if you feel like I'm accusing you of having an affair with her, then there might be a possibility." She continued with something that had never even crossed her mind. She hated to say that. But perhaps she could use it to warn him that this was a serious matter.

"If I tell you all the possibilities are true, what will you do? Divorcing me?"

Her forehead wrinkled as if to question a question that had an obvious answer. "Of course. Who do you think would want to live with someone who's been caught cheating?"

There was no one. No one voluntarily lived under the same roof with the partner who cheated on them, including Aaron. Although he loved Helena very much, that feeling would be covered by disappointment and maybe hatred. For him, cheating was the biggest mistake, and he would no longer tolerate it. This involved commitments and marriage promises that could not be kept. And what was worse, this behavior would destroy the trust in their relationship. Like broken glass, no one could fix it like the origin.

"Then, if I answer that I have no special feelings for Beatrice and our relationship is nothing more than co-workers-"He took a deep breath before continuing, "-will you believe that?" The image of Helena, who no longer believed in him, burst into his mind.

Aaron and Helena looked at each other in silence. She looked for the truth in those two eyes while he expected the trust in the look in her eyes.

"I'll believe that," Helena said after a long silence in her thoughts.

Her short answer that came out of her lips slowly brought him relief and a hint of surprise. He thought it would take extra effort to convince her. So his brain had strung together words that, though not beautiful, contained facts about his feelings for his beloved wife.

He smiled. He inevitably was glad that his wife trusted him. He gently pulled her hands, then united them into one in his grip. "I'm glad you believe in me. But, I still want to say this to calm you down," he began to reveal what was on his mind. "I love you. There is no one else I let fill my heart but you. And I will continue to keep our wedding vows. You can keep my words." The statement came out with confidence.