HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 111

Chapter one hundred and eleven

Bianca

Max looked around the room one more time, his eyes lingering on me for a second longer than necessary. “See you next time,” he said quietly to me, and he walked towards the door.

The moment the door closed behind them, I felt my legs give out slightly, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, my hands shaking in my lap. Emma rushed over immediately, wrapping her arms around me, her own body trembling just as much as mine.

“Are you okay?” she asked, pulling back to check my face, her eyes still wide with fear. “Should I call the doctor?”

“I’m fine.” I said, even though my voice didn’t sound very convincing, even to my own ears. “Are you fine? Did he hurt your neck?”

She shook her head quickly, rubbing at the spot where his hand had been. “I’m fine, just a little shaken.”

Tll be right back.” Felix said, looking at me one more time before he stepped out with the other man, pulling the door shut gently behind him.

The room felt too quiet after that. I turned to Emma, who was still rubbing her neck, her eyes red like she hadn’t fully decided whether to cry or not.

Im sorry you had to go through that,” I said, my voice cracking on the last word even though I tried hard to keep it steady

She looked at me, confused and hurt at the same time, “How do you even know someone like that? Bianca, he grabbed my neck like it was nothing to him.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the tears came before the words did I wiped at my face quickly. embarrassed, but they kept coming anyway

“That’s my ex boyfriend, I said finally, my voice small “Max I caught him cheating on me In our bed. In the house we shared

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth “What? Bianca, why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” I said, shaking my head. “You had enough going on with your own health, I didn’t want to add my mess on top of that.”

She sat down beside me on the bed, still staring at me like she was trying to piece together a version of my life she hadn’t known existed. “Was he like that while you guys were dating too? Like, this angry? This controlling?”

I thought about it for a second, really thought about it, because even I hadn’t stopped to ask myself that question properly before. “No,” I said slowly. “He wasn’t like this before. He only became like this after I caught him and told him to get out. I paused,

“Before that he was normal, very charming. That’s the annoying part. I keep asking myself if I missed

Max looked around the room one more time, his eyes lingering on me for a second longer than necessary. “See you next time,” he said quietly to me, and he walked towards the door.

The moment the door closed behind them, I felt my legs give out slightly, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, my hands shaking in my lap. Emma rushed over immediately, wrapping her arms around me, her own body trembling just as much as mine.

“Are you okay?” she asked, pulling back to check my face, her eyes still wide with fear. “Should I call the doctor?”

“I’m fine,” I said, even though my voice didn’t sound very convincing, even to my own ears. “Are you fine? Did he hurt your neck?”

She shook her head quickly, rubbing at the spot where his hand had been. “I’m fine, just a little shaken.”

“I’ll be right back,” Felix said, looking at me one more time before he stepped out with the other man, pulling the door shut gently behind him.

The room felt too quiet after that. I turned to Emma, who was still rubbing her neck, her eyes red like she hadn’t fully decided whether to cry or not.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said, my voice cracking on the last word even though I tried hard to keep it steady.

She looked at me, confused and hurt at the same time. “How do you even know someone like that? Bianca, he grabbed my neck like it was nothing to him.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the tears came before the words did. I wiped at my face quickly, embarrassed, but they kept coming anyway.

“That’s my ex boyfriend,” I said finally, my voice small. “Max. I caught him cheating on me. In our bed. In the house we shared.”

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth. “What? Bianca, why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” I said, shaking my head. “You had enough going on with your own health, I didn’t want to add my mess on top of that.”

She sat down beside me on the bed, still staring at me like she was trying to piece together a version of my life she hadn’t known existed. “Was he like that while you guys were dating too? Like, this angry? This controlling?”

I thought about it for a second, really thought about it, because even I hadn’t stopped to ask myself that question properly before. “No,” I said slowly. “He wasn’t like this before. He only became like this after I caught him and told him to get out. I paused,

“Before that he was normal, very charming. That’s the annoying part. I keep asking myself if I missed something, some sign, but I don’t think I did. I think this is just who he became when he lost control over me.”

Emma reached for my hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry you had to see that side of him too. And I’m sorry you had to deal with him alone all this time.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but something in my face must have told him not to push it. I didn’t want him knowing where I lived now. Not because I didn’t trust Felix, but because I knew that whatever Felix knew, Adrian would eventually know too, and I wasn’t ready for that.

I put the phone down, “Even if I go with him, it is just dinner.” I said to myself as I tried to sleep.

I knew it was risky, I knew there were still things unsaid between us, things about Victoria, how he had looked at me in that hospital room like I was something he couldn’t afford to lose, and yet things he hadn’t fully explained either.

He picked the restaurant this time, somewhere quiet and tucked away from the busy area, the lighting was low enough that no one really looked twice at anyone else. No staff who would recognize him, no cameras, no risk of anyone connecting the dots between Adrian and the woman sitting across from him or even the sneaky journalist roaming about for headlines.

He was already seated when I arrived, standing briefly to pull out my chair before I could do it myself. He looked good, too good, in a simple dark shirt that somehow still made me want him more.

“You look well,” he said once we were both seated, his eyes moving over my face like he was checking for any leftover trace of the headache.

“I feel better,” I said.

He ordered wine for the table without asking what I wanted, then seemed to catch himself and asked if that was alright. I told him it was fine. The waiter left us alone, and for a moment neither of us said anything, the quiet between us not exactly uncomfortable, just full of things neither of us had said yet.

“So,” he said eventually, swirling the wine slightly in his glass before setting it down. “Tell me about your parents.”

The question caught me off guard. “My parents?”

“Yes,” he said simply. “I want to know.”

I laughed a little, unsure why that was where he wanted to start, but I answered anyway because truly that felt like a better question to ask first in all of this.

I told him about my mother, how she is and how she always wanted the best for me and my sister. I told him about my father, about how he was the first person to endorse my design skills and also how things changed after they passed, how Emma and I had to learn to lean on each other in ways children usually aren’t forced to.

He listened the entire time, his eyes steady on me, never once looking bored or distracted, occasionally asking a small follow up question that somehow pulled even more out of me. Before I realized it, I had been talking for nearly twenty minutes straight, my food barely touched, the wine in my glass mostly untouched too.

I finally stopped, slightly embarrassed, aware suddenly of how much I had said. “Sorry,” I said, laughing a little. “I didn’t mean to talk that much.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said, “I asked for it.”.

“You do this all the time,” I said slowly, bending my head, my eyes locked with his, “You ask questions that make people say too much.”

He didn’t say anything at first, he just leaned back a little in his seat, his eyes still not leaving mine, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Only you,” he said.