[BL] A Marriage Ruled by Family, Saved by Desire-Chapter 80: You’re Still Married to Me

~Alexander’s POV~

"Alex..." I murmured to myself. "Is this... really the end?"

I sat in the dark of my car, the silence inside the cabin as heavy as the grief in my chest. I didn’t move. I didn’t step out. I just sat there, my eyes fixed on the house, waiting for Andrew to leave.

One hour passed... then two.

Finally, the front door opened again. Alis walked out with Andrew, following him to his car, and they stood there under the soft yellow glow of the porch light. They talked for another fifteen minutes that felt like forever to me. When they finally said their goodbyes and Andrew drove off, I watched Alis turn and disappear back inside.

I waited a few more minutes, letting the neighborhood settle into the quiet of the night. It was almost midnight when I finally stepped out of my car. My legs felt heavy, but my heart was racing as I walked up the driveway and knocked on the front door.

When the door opened, Alis stood there, frozen. The look on his face wasn’t exactly shock, it was the look of someone who hadn’t expected to be seen there.

"Babe?" he whispered, his eyes widening as they swept over my disheveled appearance.

"Can I come in?" I asked, my voice low and strained.

He hesitated for a heartbeat before stepping back. "Sure. Come in."

I stepped inside the foyer. The house was quiet; his mother wasn’t in the living room, likely already asleep. It was just the two of us, standing in the dim light of the hallway. The air between us was thick with everything we hadn’t said.

He didn’t say anything at first.

He just stared at me.

Then finally, he turned slightly. "Let’s go to my room."

I didn’t speak. I followed Alis inside, the silence between us heavy with everything that had happened over the past few days.

As he closed the door, my eyes instinctively went to the bed. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The sheets were slightly rumpled. The pillows are out of place.

It hit me like a blow.

Two hours...

My thoughts spiraled.

What were they doing in here for two hours...?

A sharp thought flashed through my mind, and I quickly shook my head, trying to push it away.

No...

Maybe I’m overthinking.

Maybe it was nothing.

But I couldn’t stop my mind from going there—

from wondering what he had been doing... for those two hours.

I turned to him, my heart pounding in my chest. He just stood there, his face giving nothing away, his eyes following my every move.

"Are you not happy to see me?" I asked.

I’m happy," he replied, but his voice was flat, missing the warmth I used to find comfort in.

"You’re happy?" I let out a hollow, bitter laugh. "In the past, you would have jumped into my arms the moment you saw me. You would have hugged me until I couldn’t breathe."

Alis didn’t flinch. "Why should I jump up and hug you? You’re here. This is you."

I nodded slowly, the rejection stinging like salt in an open wound. "Yeah... you’re right. You don’t have to anymore."

"I don’t have a reason to," he added coldly.

"Alright," I said, trying to hold on to what little dignity I had left. "I came here for something... but I couldn’t just leave without seeing you, even though you told me not to. I couldn’t just pass by without seeing you."

I glanced at my watch, though the numbers were already blurring.

"It’s late," I added quietly. "I’ll leave now."

"Okay," he said. Just... okay.

I stood there for a heartbeat, shaking my head, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. I felt small. I felt erased. I turned toward the door, my hand reaching for the handle to step out into the cold night, when his voice cut through the room like a jagged blade.

"I never knew you were this weak," Alis snapped.

I froze, my hand still on the brass handle.

"I thought I married someone peaceful," he continued, his voice rising with sharp edge. "I didn’t know you were someone who never fights for anything. You just let everything slide."

He shook his head slightly. "You don’t know when to say no... You don’t know when to stand your ground."

His eyes locked on mine.

"Why are you like this, Alex? You make it seem like I’m the problem... but the truth is, you are."

I turned back, the shock fading into a raw confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" he repeated, stepping toward me. "Are you really asking me that? You told me you were leaving, and I said okay. And you were just going to walk out?"

"You told me to leave!" I shouted back, the tears finally breaking free and streaming down my face. "I said I was going, and you agreed! So what do you want from me?"

"Just leave then!" Alis yelled, his eyes flashing with a mix of anger and something that looked like grief. "Go! And if you walk out that door, I’m going to divorce you. I’ll send the papers. It cannot continue like this. Never."

The word divorce shattered whatever was left of my composure. I stood there, broken, the tears soaking into my collar. I looked at him and saw the distance I couldn’t bridge.

I said the words, but my hand wouldn’t move. I just stood there, frozen, staring at the door as everything around me seemed to close in. Then I heard the soft creak of the mattress as Alis sat down on the bed.

"Is he better than me?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Alis didn’t hesitate. "Yes," he said, the word slicing through me. "He is... in every way."

"Am I... did I mean so little to you?" I turned around, my vision blurred by tears. "Did I mean nothing... that you could just replace me like this?"

"What is there left to hold on to, Alex?" Alis snapped. "You won’t even fight for what’s yours. You sat outside for hours because I told you not to come in... Andrew wouldn’t do that. He knows how to stand up for himself. He doesn’t just follow rules blindly."

He stood up, his eyes flashing with a cruel intensity. "You want to know what happened for those two hours? He kissed me. He touched me. Everything you’re imagining in that weak head of yours is exactly what we did. He fucked me, Alex."

A roar of pure, raw agony ripped through my chest. I couldn’t hold it anymore. I lunged at him, pushing him back onto the bed with a force I didn’t know I possessed. I pinned him down, my body shaking with a violent, uncontrollable rage. I leaned down and bit into his neck, not a kiss, but a deep, punishing mark, desperate to claim a space that I felt I was losing.

I held him there, my hands trembling as I gripped his shoulders, my breath coming in heavy sobs. I was shaking on top of him, the anger and the grief colliding until I didn’t know how to breathe.

Alis didn’t fight back. He just lay there, taking it. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and cold.

"Andrew is better than you, Alex... but you are my husband. I want you to be better."

"Andrew is better than you, Alex... but you are my husband. I want you to be better."

"You slept with someone else while you’re still married to me?" I cried, my face inches from his. "We aren’t even divorced! How could you?"

"And what are you going to do about it?" he challenged, shaking his head. "Nothing. You’re not going to do anything... just know that."

He looked at me, something like pity and frustration in his eyes.

"If you loved me, you wouldn’t have stood there and watched another man walk into this house with your husband," he said. "If you weren’t weak, you wouldn’t have stayed outside for six hours."

He held my gaze.

"If you loved me, you would have stood up to your mother and told her, this is my decision. This is final. If you want me as your son, then you accept the man I choose."

He pushed me off slightly so he could look me in the eye.

"You’re weak, Alex," he said. "If it wasn’t for your father, I would’ve sent the papers already."

His gaze hardened. "I used to think it was sweet... the way you said yes to everything I wanted. But then I realized, you don’t even know when to say no."

He shook his head. "You say yes at the wrong times... and no when it doesn’t matter. You’re just getting worse."

"Believe whatever you want," Alis said, his voice turning cold again as he sat up and straightened his shirt. "But the truth is... I’m tired of your weakness. I’m tired of being the only one with a spine in this marriage."

I sat on the edge of the bed, the room spinning, but a new, darker heat was beginning to drown out the grief. I looked at him, my vision tunneling until all I could see was the man who had just admitted to throwing our vows away.

"Is that why you cheated on me?" I asked again, my voice low, vibrating with a frequency I didn’t recognize. "Tell it to my face. For the third time, Alis. Look at me and say it."

My eyes darkened, my pupils widening with a sharp, unsettling focus. Alis started to speak, but the words stopped when he looked at me. He saw the change. He shifted back slightly on the bed, his confidence faltering.

I didn’t say another word. I stood up, my movements slow and deliberate. I walked to the bedroom door and reached for the handle.

Click.

I turned the lock, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the silent room. I pulled the key out and pocketed it, then turned back to face him. The "weak vessel" he had been mocking was gone.

"Now," I said, stepping toward the bed, "answer my question. And don’t you dare lie to me again."