Stuck in The Marriage Pact
Chapter 33: feel trapped

Chapter 33: feel trapped

"Why can’t I sleep?" Hunter asked as he lay back down, then turned towards Isabella.

"You owe me an explanation," Isabella replied.

Hunter smiled faintly.

"So, you’re still curious?"

"Of course!" Isabella pouted. "Please don’t leave me curious. Do you want me to worry all day?"

"No, baby..." Hunter pinched Isabella’s nose for a moment, then placed his hand on her waist. "I don’t want you to be curious. I thought my calm demeanor already showed that everything would be fine."

"I suspected that, but I still need some clarification... I want to know how you handled Davin, your mom... how you managed everything when he had that bad photo of me..." Isabella sighed. "I need the entire story!" she emphasized.

"Well... I told Davin that Joe was your ex. I told him we fought after he gave me that picture. He said I should leave you, but I refused... I told him I love you, that I couldn’t be selfish with you because I couldn’t give you what you need... I said that because he thinks I’m impotent and paralyzed," Hunter explained, raising his eyebrows and smiling faintly. "Then I begged him to delete the photo. I told him that he could laugh at my misfortune, but not to add to my burden," he continued.

"You humbled yourself," Isabella said with a disappointed look.

Hunter nodded. "But you know that’s not the truth, right? You see I’m not that miserable, right? I can even make love to you anytime... I can give you what you need!" he reassured her.

Isabella sighed. "But in the end, he sees you as weak. This act makes you always look weak in his eyes... He deleted the photo because he felt sorry for you," she said, her face crumpling as she glanced at Hunter’s strong, broad chest and stroked it with her fingers.

Hunter was silent, watching Isabella, who looked sad as if she didn’t want him to be belittled by Davin.

"I’m sorry," Isabella whispered.

"Why?" Hunter smiled, furrowing his brow. "There’s nothing I need to forgive you for... You’re not at fault; he’s the one who’s wrong for taking your picture... And honestly, even without me acting humbly in front of him, he would’ve deleted that photo."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"How could he do that? I thought that sending the photo to your mom meant he wanted to cause problems for us. What if he sent it to your grandfather or father, or..." Isabella furrowed her brow and shook her head. "I don’t understand him."

"There’s no point in trying to understand such a guy like him," Hunter said, staring at Isabella’s lips but thinking about the photo of Sarah on Davin’s phone. "He always wants to cause trouble for me. I don’t know why... He’s just like his mom, who doesn’t like my mom... And now I’m worried," he continued.

"Worried about what?" Isabella asked.

"You," Hunter said simply, then stroked Isabella’s cheek. "I’m worried he’ll steal your heart," he added.

"Hahaha!" Isabella burst out laughing. "How could you think that?"

"Because you’re beautiful." Hunter grinned.

"That’s not going to happen. He seems annoying and mean to me... I don’t think he’ll like me the way you do," Isabella said, but her smile faded as she remembered that Hunter hadn’t yet said he loved her. This made her feel it wasn’t time to believe he liked her. "Um... I mean... He’s so annoying, and there’s no chance he’ll like me... From the way he looks at me, it’s clear he’ll hate me just as much as he hates you," she added awkwardly.

Hunter furrowed his brow. "How did you come to that conclusion? When he looked at you here, there was no hatred in his eyes at all."

"Yeah... but we accidentally met last night."

"Met?"

"Yeah... After I left Joe at the park, I rushed here and accidentally bumped into him on the sidewalk. I fell, my butt hurt so much, but he just laughed at me," Isabella explained, pouting as she recalled Davin’s face. "He’s so annoying," she continued.

Hunter let out a frustrated sigh, turning his gaze away for a moment, then lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

"So, it’s possible he was following you last night... And maybe it’ll happen again if he wants to mess with me through you," he said worriedly, turning back to Isabella. "Can you stop seeing Joe?" he asked.

Isabella froze.

"He said he didn’t care about our marriage, even treating last night as a joke. But I’m sure he’ll keep stalking you," Hunter continued.

"Um... Maybe I’ll talk to Joe about it," Isabella replied, frowning, then sat up. "I need to go to the bathroom," she said, getting up from the bed.

Hunter remained silent, letting Isabella put on her robe and walk toward the bathroom door.

’She didn’t immediately say she could stop caring about her ex... Does that mean the pleasure we’ve had isn’t enough to make her stop wanting him?’

...

Isabella didn’t go to the bathroom right away; she stopped in the dressing room. She grabbed her phone from the drawer, noticing many messages from Joe, even 20 missed calls.

It made her anxious, and she quickly opened the messages one by one.

Isabella...

Where are you?

I’m already in Seattle... Now I feel far from you, I’m afraid we can’t be together again... This is torturing me...

I miss you.

Why aren’t you answering my calls? Is your husband still awake?

Damn it! It even hurts to call him your husband while I’m just your ex.

It hurts... Hurts so much.

If I weren’t poor... I wouldn’t have let us end up in this position!

Isabella... I miss you, call me when he’s asleep.

Isabella sighed deeply, her chest tight as Joe’s face flashed in her mind. She even got another new message, this time a picture showing Joe lying on a pillow, his eyes red as if he’d been crying.

"Joe..." She immediately covered her mouth, her legs weak and trembling, sitting down as she looked around in frustration. "I’m sorry... I’ve been having fun with Hunter... I thought you never really thought about me, but it turns out..."

She looked at Joe’s photo again. "You’re suffering... I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do... Now I feel like I’m going crazy... Yeah, I’m crazy, I can’t bear to see Hunter disappointed, but I also can’t stand seeing you like this. Who’s the right one for me, you or him?"

Without realizing it, tears began to fall. Isabella cried, her mind haunted by images of her affection with Hunter, mixed with the photo of Joe crying, making her feel so guilty, like trapped.