Chapter 75
Zabelle pushed the mansion’s front doors open and she entered the mansion was quiet with no helper around, and she sighed.
Due to the fight she had with Antonio minutes earlier, she had stayed back at the garden so she could calm down.
Martha, as always, was the exception, as she appeared out of nowhere just as she was about to begin ascending the stairs and greeted her softly.
“Good evening, ma’am. Dinner is ready. Will you be having it dinstairs or should I bring it up to your room?” She inquired.
“No, Martha,” she replied curtly, her tone sharper than she intered. “I’m not hungry,” she then spoke in a softer voice, as she didn’t want to be rude to the helper, who was just doing her job.
“Is there anything else I can assist you with?” The helper asked just as she was about to take a step.
Zabelle stopped mid–step, her fist tightening. “Yes,” she said, her voice steely.
“I want all my things moved back to my room by the end of tomorrow,” she instructed, giving the helper and whoever would be with her ample time to do so.
Before Martha could respond, another voice cut through the tension.
That won’t be necessary,” Antonio said, his tone firm and unyielding.
Zabelle turned sharply to see him approaching them, and all of the anger she thought she had gotten rid of returned, this time with twice the force as his dark eyes locked on hers.
His presence filled the space, and his authoritative aura left no room for argument. That was what he thought! Zabelle muttered in her head.
“Martha,” he said without taking his eyes off Zabelle, “You’re dismissed for the evening
Martha glanced between them, sensing the brewing storm, and odded quickly before retreating to her quarters, as she didn’t want to be caught in whatever crossfire was about to happen.
Zabelle immediately turned her attention to Antonio, her expression a mix of disbelief and anger.
“I want my things out of your room,” she told him.
“That won’t be happening; you’ll be staying with me!” He deadpanned.
The fight they had been having was not what he wanted to happen when he was hoping for her to open her eyes back in the hospital, but Zabelle was bent on making things difficult.
“You don’t get to dictate where I stay, Antonio,” she snapped. “I’m moving back to my room.
Antonio didn’t waste any more time in closing the gap between them. He stopped when he was a step away from her, and he looked down at her.
“You are my final”
wife now,” he said, his voice calm but laced with authority. “You’ll stay in our room as it’s meant to be. That’s
Zabelle didn’t miss the fact that he had referred to his room as their room, but she was barely fazed due to how upset she
was.
Chapter 75
Dec 28
Her eyes harrowed, and the crossed her arms, her frustration taking over.
“Wife or not, I’m not obliged to stay in the same room as you, you are not the boss of me. I want to move back to my room, slie told him..
Antonio’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, the tension between them crackled like electricity.
“You can try to argue all you want. Zabelle, but the decision is final. You’ll be staying in our room henceforth,” he deadpanned, his voice calm and steady, a contrast to how Zabel felt.
Her chest heaved with anger, and she cursed the doctors for saving her, as she wouldn’t have had to deal with this as she was dead.
“Why would you want to stay in the same room as me when you ate me? Are you bipolar?” She cried out, not understanding what was going on in his head.
Today it was sleeping in the same room, and tomorrow it was him asking her to fulfill her ‘duty‘ to get intimate with him.
She would crush his balls if he ever dared to ask her that.
Antonio’s gaze
softened, just for a moment, but his resolve was ill the same. He didn’t hate her anymore, but Zabelle didn’t know that, and if he told her, she wouldn’t believe him.
“Call it what you want,” he said quietly. “But you’re staying in our room. You’ll thank me later when you realize the danger you’re in. This subject is over.”
Zabelle’s lips parted to argue, but something in his expression, a flicker of genuine concern, masked by his usual coldness made her hesitate.
She hated how he always managed to twist her emotions, to make her second–guess herself even when she wanted to
scream.
The fact that he had amazing self–control and managed to remain calm even while he was angry just made her feel like a fool, as she was the only one yelling.
Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, her frustration evident in every step.
Antonio watched her go, his expression unreadable, and he sighed heavily.
There was a selfish reason he had told her that she was going to be staying in his room.
This was due to the fact that for the first time in a long time, he had gotten sleep, and it wasn’t one when it was filled with nightmares about that woman or one where he had to take multiple pills to get him to sleep.
His suspicion went to Zabelle, as she was the only thing that had changed in his room. He liked the feeling of that, and he wanted more, even if he wondered why it was so.
Meanwhile, as the door slammed behind Zabelle, she threw herself onto the bed she now had to share with Antonio.
She couldn’t even use the fact that it was big to comfort herself, as he had rolled over to her side this morning-
Sleeping on the sofa seemed like a nice option, but having slept on the soft bed, she didn’t think she would be comfortable on the sofa
Her hands clenched the covers, and her thoughts filled with fury and confusion.
Why did he win every time? What spell did he cast on her to actually let it go?! Zendaya asked herself.
She broke out of her thoughts when she heard the door open, and she saw Antonio walk in. Couldn’t she have time to
Chapter 75
herself? She yelled in her head.
“Dinner is ready,” he said simply, his voice calm but firm.
“I already told Martha that I’m not hungry,” she stated.
“Skipping meals won’t solve anything, Zabelle. It will only make you weak, and your bullet wound won’t heal properly,” he
told her.
Zendaya stood abruptly, the movement sharp and defiant. “Tell the something. Antonio, why do you seem different? Shouldn’t you be happy that I have a bullet wound?“.
Antonio’s gaze darkened, but he didn’t move from his spot. “Enough of this, Zabelle. You can hate me all you want, but you’re part of my family now, and you’re not going to starve yourself. You’ll come downstairs and sit at that table with me. End of discussion.”
“I’m not your family?!” Zabelle cried out, her voice rising
“Yeah, the assholes who maltreated you and supported your ex–boyfriend getting together with your sister are!” He retorted, and Zendaya was immediately rendered speechless.
Antonio straightened, stepping closer until he was only a few feet away. Even though the fire burned in his eyes, he was calm.
outside.
“I might have started out hating you, but things are different now. If you didn’t want it to be so, then you shouldn’t have take a bullet for me and made me grow a heart,” he told her, and she felt her heart flutter.
“Whether you like it or not, you’re my wife. And I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, even if it means making decisions you don’t agree with.”
Zabelle shook her head, not wanting to give up. “Protect me. By controlling me? By forcing me to.
“By keeping you alive and with a healthy body” Antonio interrupted, his voice quiet but cutting.
For a moment, her words faltered, caught off guard by the raw honesty in his voice. But she quickly masked it with another glare. “You can’t just decide what’s best for me. I’m an adult”
“Yet you still behave like a child,” Antonio argued. “But I have an obligation to keep you safe, whether you think I do or not, as you are my wife. And that starts with you coming to dinner.”
Seeing that she had nothing to say, she let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” she said, brushing past him toward the door. “But don’t think this changes anythi
Antonio watched her go, his expression unreadable. “Noted,” he said simply, following her out into the hallway.
