Free Web NovelChapter 20: Delulu Husband
Roxanne stared at his profile, her heart hammering a chaotic rhythm of deep disappointment and unsatisfied lust against her ribs. Realizing he was serious, she grabbed her folders, pushed the passenger door open, and stepped out into the damp night air. freeweɓnøvel.com
The moment her heels hit the pavement, the door clicked shut behind her, and the black Mercedes seamlessly glided away into the dark.
She remained rooted to the driveway, the cold night wind whipping strands of hair across her face as she watched his red taillights disappear around the corner. Her mind was reeling, her skin burning with an unfulfilled fever, and her core throbbing with a desperate, agonizing ache for the man who had just left her behind.
Roxanne’s feet felt like lead, pinning her to the damp concrete. Even the files clutched against her chest felt impossibly heavy as Richard’s parting words reverberated ruthlessly in her mind.
Make a choice. Who you’ve been, and who you want to become
She exhaled a sharp breath. How could he expect that to be an easy choice? She had spent six agonizing years bound to Christian. She had endured a lifetime of invisibility, burying her own brilliance to build his stage, only to be tossed aside for a parade of mistresses.
Now she was just supposed to snap out of it? Shake off the rot without making Christian get a taste of what she had endured?
A sharp creak shattered the silence behind her.
Roxanne stiffened. Turning slowly, her gaze traveled up the stone steps to where Christian stood framed in the bright light of the open doorway. His silhouette was rigid, his chest heaving as his eyes bored into her, screaming a volatile mix of suspicion, terror, and bruised ego.
Roxanne deliberately cast one last look down the empty road, watching the final trace of Richard’s crimson taillights bleed into the dark, before she turned to her husband. She tightened her fingers around the file, steeling herself against the biting nip of the night air, and began a slow, deliberate march toward the house.
Christian didn’t budge. He stayed anchored in the threshold, his broad shoulders blocking her entry as his jaw hardened into an iron scowl. "I have exactly one rule for you going forward," he hissed, his voice trembling with a desperate need for control.
A bitter laugh escaped Roxanne’s lips before she could stop it. "Get out of my way, Christian. I am entirely out of patience for your little games tonight." Without waiting for his compliance, she used her shoulder to forcefully brush past him, stepping over the threshold into the warm foyer.
Christian slammed the door shut behind her, his footsteps furious as he pursued her into the living room. "You are not permitted to bring your little side pieces to my front door!" he barked, his face flushing a mottled crimson.
"Your front door?" Roxanne scoffed. "Don’t make me laugh, Christian."
"I am dead serious, Roxanne! If I am expected to keep my private life away from this house, then you are damn well bound by the same standard. You will not humiliate me on my own property. And that is final!"
Roxanne’s expression turned utterly lethal, her voice dropping into a dangerous, chilling register. "Well, then it’s a good thing he isn’t a side piece."
Christian froze, the blood draining from his face until he looked ghostly pale under the chandelier. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You listen to me, woman!" he demanded, lunging forward to point a shaking, aggressive finger directly at her chest. "There is only one man allowed in your life. Me! Do you understand? Me!"
"I genuinely do not have the time or the energy for your delusions tonight, Christian," Roxanne murmured, her complete lack of fear throwing him off balance. "Trust me when I say you have bigger things to worry about right now than who I am spending my nights with."
She turned on her heel to leave him behind, but Christian’s frantic gaze caught the edge of the heavy manila document in her hand. "What the hell are you talking about? Don’t you dare walk away from me, Roxanne! What is that?"
Roxanne paused at the base of the grand staircase. She closed her eyes, exhaling a heavy, exhausted breath before slowly turning around to level her gaze at him one last time.
"What I am trying to say, Christian, is that if you had focused even a fraction of the energy you waste on keeping track of your mistresses, and apparently impregnating one of them—" She stopped, a slow shake of her head cutting through his sudden gasp. "If you had put that exact same focus into your job at Vance Enterprises, I am certain you would have been named CEO years ago."
Christian’s features twisted into a grotesque mask of defensive confusion. "I am going to be the next CEO," he stammered, his voice rising with a pathetic certainty. "That is already carved in stone. Management is announcing my promotion by the end of the week. I’ve worked myself to the bone for it!"
Roxanne let out a soft, mocking laugh that echoed sharply off the high ceilings. "You are completely deluded," she whispered. She turned away, leaving the venomous words to hang in the air as she began her ascent.
"What do you mean by that?" Christian yelled after her, taking a panicked step toward the stairs, his voice cracking with a sudden, suffocating dread. "Who the hell were you just out there with? Roxanne! Answer me!"
But Roxanne kept moving, her heels clicking a steady, unbothered rhythm against the hardwood stairs, refusing to grant him even a single backward glance. She entered the master bedroom and clicked the lock.
The moment she was away from him, the adrenaline crashed. She pressed her back flat against the heavy wood of the door, her chest heaving as Richard’s warning rushed back to consume her.
The next time you come back to me, I want there to be absolutely zero confusion about who you are choosing.
The overwhelming weight of the realization hit her like a physical wave, sending a sudden, intoxicating rush of heat straight to her core. Her knees went momentarily weak.
For years, she had thought Christian was the center of her life. The terrifying truth was that he wasn’t. Maybe he hadn’t been for a very long time.
The choice Richard wanted wasn’t between two men. It was between the woman she had been and the woman she wanted to become. And for the first time in six years, she knew exactly which woman she wanted to be.
Roxanne began to pace the length of the bedroom floor, her mind spinning as the decision settled deep into her bones.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and she looked at the screen. It was a message from Richard.
When you’ve made up your mind, I will be at Vance Enterprises.
Roxanne stared at the screen. A slow smile curved her lips as an idea dropped into her mind. Her eyes snapped to the walk-in closet, then back to her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen, her mind racing as she typed.
I know exactly what I want. I’m coming to you. Her hand hesitated for half a second before pressing send.
