Chapter 2 I'm going to see my wife

The two parties involved will have to act intimate in the public eye? She stared at the words blankly. The thought of acting all lovey-dovey with Julian made her annoyed. She just breathed in, closed her eyes, let out a breath before opening them again to read on. Both parties have to attend important social or family events together. Both parties cannot separate at public events without a reasonable explanation. And lastly: No information regarding this agreement should be disclosed to anyone else other than the two parties, even if they were family. With me in mind? Tch, she thought. He had obviously drawn this up thinking only about himself and his public image. Adele took the pen from the woman and signed the contract. After all, this whole façade would end in six months' time, then she'd strike. "Take this back to your master," she said, handing the contract back to the woman.

"Your wife is quite the insolent type," the lady in the suit remarked. Her hair was packed neatly in a bun and she wore thin-framed spectacles. Her hands were folded behind her and her expression was faintly unimpressed. The corner of Julian's lips curled upward, and he let out a quiet chuckle. That was the first time she had seen him laugh, even more so genuinely. She glanced away for a second before turning back to him. "She doesn't seem to like you very much," she stated again. Julian sighed a heavy one. "What can I say? She's probably mad at me for not bringing her to work with me." Then he looked up at Naomi. "I was wondering if you could help me find something to cheer her up with. She's quite the stubborn type." She stared at him blankly, wondering if he was joking or not. She had no idea he could be this way, and even worse, overnight. Since he had gotten married to Adele, he had never spoken of her at work or even let any of his business partners meet his wife. It almost felt like he was hiding her, but now this? She wasn't sure if he had been like this for a while and she just hadn't noticed, but the one thing she knew was that she had definitely started noticing it from that morning. That morning, when she read the reports to him, he seemed a bit distant. "Are you okay, sir?" she asked to confirm if everything was fine. He only nodded. Though she had her doubts, she still continued reading the report. She even noticed that he had been staring at his phone occasionally, which made her think he had some appointment, but when she asked, he only gave her another vague reply. Was it his wife who had changed him? If so, then why hadn't she noticed these changes before? Why was she only noticing them now? Did something happen between them that he couldn't share? Normally, he wasn't the type to talk about personal things at work, but knowing him, his attitude would have given him away. "As much as I would've loved to help you with that, I don't really know much about things like that." Her face remained calm. She was lying. Julian knew that but he still decided to brush it off. From what he had seen so far, he could tell that Naomi didn't quite approve of his wife, so he concluded that he would watch her from now on to make sure she didn't do anything to provoke Adele. "How is my wife doing?" His eyes returned to his phone screen, where her contact was still open. "I don't know why you would ask me that, but she seems to be doing quite alright." She paused for a second. "Though your butler, Vincent, told me to inform you that he had seen her snooping around your library." Snooping? He thought. What could she have been looking for, and was she able to find anything? He would have to go home to find out what she was up to. Julian looked up again. He suddenly stood like he had made up his mind about something he had been contemplating for a while. "If I still have any meetings today, move them." He took his coat from the hanger that hung beside her and made his way to the door. Naomi was a bit startled by his abrupt movement but maintained composure. "Where are you going, sir?" For a second there, her tone was a bit desperate. She wondered why he was suddenly leaving and cancelling all his meetings. Did he have something urgent that came up? She would've been glad to accompany him. He tilted his head slightly backward, a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm going to see my wife."