My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 297

Riyana had never felt so trapped in her life.

This wasn’t just a difficult situation. This was a dead end. No way forward, no way back. She had never imagined that Jabco would force her like this, corner her until marriage became a weapon. The thought alone made her chest ache.

“What’s wrong with this man?” she muttered under her breath, anger and helplessness mixing together.

She stood outside, staring at the tall iron gate for a long moment. That gate had always symbolized power to her. Control. Authority. Today, it felt like a warning. If she walked in through there, she wasn’t sure she would be able to walk out on her own terms.

Her gaze shifted to the main entrance of the house.

She knew this place too well. Every hallway. Every corner. Every quiet space. She had spent years here, working, walking behind him, managing his life. Yet today, the house felt unfamiliar. Larger. Colder. Almost intimidating.

She swallowed hard.

In the end, she didn’t have the courage to choose the gate.

Instead, she turned and walked toward the front door.

Each step felt heavy, like her feet were sinking into the ground. She opened the door and walked in slowly. The house was silent. Too silent. No sign of Jabco anywhere.

Maybe he had gone to his bedroom.

She took a step toward the stairs.

Then she heard it.

Footsteps.

Her body stiffened instantly.

Riyana looked up.

Jabco was walking down the stairs.

Her heart skipped, then slammed hard against her chest. She hated him right now. She really did. Every nerve in her body was screaming with anger. But the moment her eyes landed on him, her thoughts scattered.

He had changed his clothes.

He wasn’t wearing his usual sharp suit anymore. Instead, he was in a simple dark tshirt, loose trousers.

His hair was still slightly damp, like he had just showered. He looked calm. Too calm. As if nothing serious had happened.

That calmness hurt more than his anger.

Riyana didn’t realize she had stopped breathing until her chest started to ache. She forced herself to inhale, but her eyes betrayed her. She couldn’t look away.

Damn it.

She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. She hated herself for this weakness.

After everything he had done tonight, after threatening John’s company, after forcing her into this situation, she should have been able to glare at him. To shout. To walk away.

But her eyes followed him anyway.

Jabco stopped a few steps above her. His gaze fell on her slowly, dark and unreadable.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy, filled with things neither of them wanted to say out loud.

Riyana finally broke it, her voice tight.

“So this is it?” she asked. “You drag me here, destroy someone else’s life, and now you act like nothing happened?”

Jabco’s expression didn’t change. He continued walking down until he stood in front of her. Too close. Close enough for her to smell his familiar scent, close enough to make her heart race despite herself.

“I told you,” he said calmly. “Say yes.”

She took a shaky breath and continued, afraid that if she stopped, he would interrupt her again.

“I only know him because we went to the same university. After I left your company, I went to meet my professor. He runs an art gallery. That’s where I met John. It was my professor who suggested I work with him. That’s all. There’s nothing else.”

She looked straight at Jabco as she spoke, as if trying to force him to believe her with sheer honesty.

For a brief moment, Jabco didn’t respond.

Something shifted inside him.

As she stood there explaining herself, anxious, panicked, almost pleading without meaning to, he felt a strange pull in his chest. He realized it then, in a way that unsettled even him.

He liked her like this.

Not the sharp, composed secretary who stood beside him at meetings. Not the confident woman who challenged him with her calm eyes and unshaken tone. No.

He liked her when she was flustered. When her guard was down. When she looked at him like this, uncertain and vulnerable, trying desperately to make him understand.

That realization was dangerous.

Jabco stepped down the last stair slowly, never breaking eye contact. Riyana’s breath caught as he closed the distance between them.

“Mr. Grey…” she started, but her voice failed her.

Before she could say anything more, his hand came up, firm against the back of her neck. His other hand settled at her waist, strong and unyielding, pulling her closer before she could react.

Then his lips came down on hers.

Riyana’s eyes flew open in shock.

For a second, her mind went completely blank. Her body stiffened, fingers twitching uselessly at her sides. She hadn’t seen it coming. Not like this. Not so suddenly.