Contract Marriage: I Will Never Love You
Chapter 175: Don’t Cheat

Chapter 175: Don’t Cheat

Rebecca

Oh, hell no!

Words cannot describe how utterly pissed I am.

Here I am, being the perfect girlfriend, bringing my so-called boyfriend lunch. And what do I see?

Some bimbo with legs so long they seem to have their own gravitational field straddling him in a white robe that’s barely clinging to her shoulders. For a second, my vision goes fish-eye. The world narrows down to their faces—his, impassive as always; hers, flushed and hungry, like this is the most natural thing in the world.

I want to scream. Or smash the glass. Or set the whole goddamn studio on fire just to see if anyone would notice.

"What do we have here?" I snarl.

The bimbo looks up from her pose, eyes sparkling with mischief as she slowly straightens, the silk robe slipping just a little more off one shoulder.

Marcus barely blinks, but his jaw tightens.

"You are interrupting," the bimbo says.

I step closer, voice low and cutting. "Oh, I am sooooo sorry."

Marcus finally meets my eyes. "Rebecca, this isn’t what you think."

I laugh, sharp and bitter. "Oh, really? Then what is it, Marcus? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re cozying up with some ho."

"Hey!" the bimbo exclaims.

I step right up to her, voice low and fierce. "Are you going to get off my boyfriend’s lap, or what?"

God, I want to claw that smug, glossy-lipped look off her face.

"Annika, for fuck’s sake. Get off," Marcus says, voice calm but his body rigid, like he’s bracing for a punch.

The woman slowly stands up. "You need to take a breath, honey. This isn’t your business."

I see red. "Marcus—" I jerk my head at him.

He meets my gaze, his face stoic, but his hands twitch where they rest on the edge of the desk. He looks at Annika. "Annika, this is my girlfriend, Rebecca. Annika, you need to get back to the set before I am forced to remove you from the building."

Annika’s smile fades for an instant. She flounces to the door in a way that’s probably supposed to look effortless and unbothered. "Whatever. Good luck with everything." She yanks the door shut behind her with a bang that rattles the glass in the frame.

For a second, the silence is absolute. I realize I’ve curled my fists so tight that my nails are digging half-moons into my palms.

Only Marcus and I are in the room now, the air still vibrating with the echo of her exit.

"Well," I say, loud in the quiet, "that was fun."

He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger. "Rebecca, what are you doing here?"

I swallow hard, trying to steady my voice, but it cracks anyway.

"I brought you lunch," I choke out, the tears falling now. "I thought maybe... maybe you’d want to eat with Megan and I. Together."

He looks at me like I’m some fragile thing breaking apart right in front of him... and maybe I am.

"Rebecca, I—"

I step back. "I told Megan to hang out with Hailey for a moment. Good thing I didn’t bring her over here, huh?"

Marcus’s face twisted as if he is in pain. "Becca, sweetheart..."

I let out a loud sob. I don’t even care that I am crying like a little bitch anymore.

He is across the room in two steps, catching me up before I have time to flinch. His arms clamp around my shoulders, almost lifting me off the ground, and I can feel the shuddering force of his heart against my cheek. I try to pull away, but he holds me tighter, burying his face in my hair.

"I don’t want anyone else," he says, voice rough. "I swear to God, Rebecca. What you saw—I didn’t want it, and I sure as hell didn’t invite it."

I shake my head, my voice breaking at the edges. "Why didn’t you push her off?"

He tilts my chin up, his grip strong and trembling. "You’re right. I should have toss her to the floor right away. But you think I care about her? About anyone but you?"

"I don’t know what to think," I say, every word sticky with humiliation. "She was gorgeous. She was on your lap."

He closes his eyes, like the admission physically hurts.

"She was nothing to me. Just a mistake from a long time ago. She doesn’t matter." He wipes the tears off my cheek with a thumb that’s surprisingly gentle for the rest of his body, which is in full fortress mode.

I drag in a shaky breath. The room smells like leather and printer paper and his cologne. "You have to tell me the truth, Marcus. If you’re just using me to get over her, or Hailey, or—Christ, whatever model you want, just tell me now. I can take it."

He laughs. "Rebecca..."

"I am seriously asking," I mutter.

He lets out a strangled noise, half-laugh, half-animal. "I am not using you. I need you."

I want to hit him and also never stop letting him hold me.

He pushes the hair out of my face, all business. "You listen to me, Rebecca." He leans in, his breath hot on my cheek. "I want you. God help me, I think I want you for the rest of my stupid, messed up life."

My heart is hammering so hard I can’t decide if I want to cry again or laugh.

"You’re not allowed to cheat on me," I whisper, anger melting into exasperation. "Ever."

He gives me that lopsided, infuriatingly sincere smile. "I’d rather cut off my own dick."

"Good...I mean, no, don’t do that. I want that...um...intact," I murmur.

Marcus chuckles, a deep, broken sound that rumbles through his chest and into mine. "Noted," he says softly, his forehead resting against mine. "The dick stays. For you."

I shake my head, laughing through the tears, half-horrified, half-relieved. "God, you’re such an idiot."

"But I’m your idiot," he murmurs, and suddenly the anger doesn’t feel so volcanic anymore—just tired. Bruised. Like it’s still there, curled in my ribs, but no longer looking to destroy the room.

We stand like that for a moment, tangled up in each other.

"I hate that she touched you," I say after a beat, quieter now. "I hate how she looked at you. Like she knew something I didn’t."

His jaw tightens again, but he doesn’t pull away. "She doesn’t. She wants to think she does, but she doesn’t know me."

I pull back just far enough to look at him, really look at him—his tired eyes, his clenched jaw, the way he holds me like I’m the only real thing left in the world.

"I want to know you more," I whisper.

"You will," he promises instantly.

I sigh and lean into him again. "Just... be honest with me. That’s all I ask."

His arms tighten around me. "Then there is somewhere I want you to go with me."