A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

I was awakened by the sound of my alarm going off, causing me to groan before reaching out for my phone. As soon as I got a grip of it, I began pressing onto the screen with my eyes half-opened. My head was throbbing as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight. What happened last night? I think I drank too much. I was never the one to let myself become vulnerable, but I guess I spoke too soon.

When my eyes wandered to the glass windows and the curtains, immediately realized I was not in my room but in Matteo's room. My eyes widened at the sight of his room because I wasn't supposed to be in here.

He was going to be upset. Even worse, kill me.

I pushed the covers away from my body, looking down at a different clothing than last night. I wasn't in the skimpy pink dress but an oversized black shirt. My hands went up to my face as I ran to the mirror, seeing my makeup removed. Did he help remove my makeup, too? Because I didn't remember washing my face or even coming home.

How did he find out about where

I was, anyway?

Charters and laughter were heard from downstairs which caused my ears to perk. My eyebrows furrowed at the familiar voices-was there someone else in this house?

I didn't waste any time as I stepped out of the room and walked down the stairs.

I followed the source of the sound; I saw my sister conversing with my husband. He had his back facing her while he fried eggs as she sat near the kitchen island.

When he turned around to serve the eggs, his eyes met mine.

Ana turned to look at me before smiling widely, "You're awake!"

I made my way towards them, taking a seat beside Ana. "What are you doing here?"m

"Good morning," Matteo greeted before leaning in to kiss my temple in which I let him-Ana didn't have to see the cold treatment I was giving him. Then, he went back to the fridge to grab us a fresh orange juice. "Apparently, clubbing last night was a bad idea. We got really drunk."

"I can't remember most of it."

"Neither can I. It's a good thing that Matteo has your location, so he came to the rescue," Ana continued to speak as she took a sip of her drink. "I swear to God, you were there for one second and the next thing I knew, you were gone. I sort of panicked." Matteo had my location. How was it possible for him to have my location? We weren't sharing our locations on our phones and there was no way for him to trace me unless he still had people following me around.

Like Angelo. I never caught him lurking, but I knew he was there in the shadows.

"Mm... it's good to know that you're safe, too." I muttered.

Matteo was listening to our conversation, but he wasn't saying anything. He just served us bread which had been spread with margarine. Ana was smiling and being impressed by her brother-in-law's treatment while my head began thinking about

him knowing my location

But I did remember a stranger running his hands all over me. I swear, I thought it was my own husband. Well, until he came to punch that man after he dragged him away from me.

I immediately looked down at his knuckles, they were red and slightly bruised. They were bruised with cuts from the beginning before he dropped me off but now, they were even more red. He didn't seem to be bothered by it, anyway.

"Where were you yesterday, by the way? I didn't see you anywhere." Ana asked, taking a bite of the bread and eggs.

She seemed to be enjoying the treatments she was getting but I didn't blame her. I enjoyed those sweet treatments, too before I found out about Matteo's wife. I was still contemplating about whether she was still his wife or an ex-wife but until I found out about her, I was going to keep giving him the silent treatment.

Being distant and cold, it was something he didn't like.

"I don't really remember, Ana." I replied, it was a half-truth.

I couldn't remember much about what happened last night after I exceeded my limit. I remembered dancing on the dancefloor as I took small sips of my drink but then a man came, and everything went on like a blur. I remembered following him to a secluded area where he ran his hands all over my body.

I didn't push him away when he went further to kiss my lips because I swear, I saw Matteo. I thought I was kissing Matteo. My head was playing tricks on me and that was all I could remember.

After that, it wasn't as clear as I thought it would be.

"Okay, well... we should definitely go clubbing again but we need to have someone to watch over us. Like Alexei or even your husband, Matteo."

I was going to choose the latter. There was no way in hell Alexei was going to get near me-I was silently hating him after what happened. Then again, what if he was right?

!

My mind was a mess and Ana didn't have to know that.

"It was fun. The last time I went was years ago,"

"Well, the next time we go, you have to slow down on the drinking. Even though you're way older than me, you're not a good drinker."

I cleared my throat, taking a sip of my drink.

"Does it taste okay?" Matteo asked, taking a seat from the opposite side as he stared directly into my eyes.

I shifted in my seat, "What does?"

"The food."

The 100

"Oh, it's fine." I stuttered, taking another bite.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Ana didn't seem to be bothered by us as she continued to eat. She took large bites of her bread because she was starving but overall, she was minding her own business too. She didn't bother to pry about my marriage, and I appreciated that. "Do you think it's okay if I take a nap after this before I go home?" She asked, looking at Matteo.

I frowned, wanting to stop her because all I wanted was her to go home. If she spent another minute in this house, she was going to get comfortable but before I could say anything, Matteo cut me to it. 24

"You can stay another night if you want to."

"I'd love that, but I have classes tomorrow, so I'll head back once feel more well rested," I grabbed a fork to eat my eggs, ignoring them. They began to talk and laugh while I kept quiet in my own bubble. It was good to see Matteo and Ana having a conversation like normal people, as if they were already comfortable. It was a nice feeling to see her being treated good by him.

Alella?

I looked up, seeing both of them staring at me. Ana was waiting for my respond as she smiled, as if I wasn't answering anything she asked me.

I blinked a few times, "I'm sorry. Did you say anything?"

"Yeah, I asked if you're working tonight."

"I

am. I have a sixteen-hour shift." Matteo

listened, eating his own meal. He didn't know if I was working tonight unless he managed to find out that information from a different source. Well, we didn't have a proper conversation since last night when he came home.

"I don't know how you do it. You're a wonder woman,"

"So is everyone in the medical field, then."

No doubt. No doubt at all."

We continued to finish our meals. I was keeping quiet as usual while Matteo and Ana were talking-he had asked her about university and her studies while she asked him about his work. He gave her the answers she needed without exposing too much about the mafia and I knew better to understand that. He was protecting his men.

I helped Matteo in the kitchen to clean as Ana left to take a nap upstairs, in my room. She was probably going to take a four-hour nap-her naps were always long. I never considered them naps but she insisted on saying they were naps.

Matteo hasn't said a word as he wiped the plates dry.

I was wiping the counter with a

a kitchen towel before taking a sip of my water.

"Can I ask you why you were at the nightclub last night?" He asked, breaking the silence between us.

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow

"You heard me, Alena. Just answer the question,"

I leaned back on the kitchen cabinet, "Since when do you have control over my life?"

He

put the plates back in the drawer before turning to look at me. We were facing each other now and I could feel the tension-he wasn't his usual self. The one with a smile whenever he saw me or the one with soft brown eyes whenever he gazed at me. He was angry but he was trying his best to hide his anger. "I don't have any control over your life. I just have to remind you that you're my wife. You told me you were going out drinking with your sister but the next thing I knew, you were on some man's lap. I think I deserve an explanation."

He did. If we were on good terms.

"I don't remember what happened. I was drunk,"

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"Too drunk to make the right choices?"

"Why do you even care, Matteo?" I frowned, shaking my head.

"I care because you're my wife, Alena" He was standing close to me, his eyes staring deeply into mine. They were piercing with anger, and I knew he was trying not to burst out. What I did last night was unforgivable and he was still trying to be rational. "If anything bad happened to you, I was going to blame myself. I don't know what's going on in your head, but I don't like this. I don't like you being this way,"

"What? You want the perfect wife, then."

No.

I want the Alena I knew. This isn't the Alena I know,"

"Maybe, this is the true Aler Alena. How about that?"

I tried to control my breaths, "You lied to me! How is that fair?"

He shook his head, "You're mad. You're angry at me but I don't know why. You won't tell me even when I ask you so many times. You expect me to read your mind when you d***n well know I can't!" He frowned,

On, cut the *****g for answers in my eyes. "Lied to you about what?"

"Oh, cut the f*, Matteo. You don't have to try and save this relationship anymore because I know about your wife." I pushed him by the chest, causing him to take a few steps back; giving me space to step aside.

No

I said wife."

No, 1

cut the b*****. Stop lying to me because I told you, I f****g hate liars!"

"I'm not lying to you, Alena. I'm saying my f****g truth."

I began stomping my way up the stairs as he followed behind until we reached his room. He closed the door behind me, watching my every movement without stopping me when I reached out for the albums in the drawers.

I threw them on the bed, letting my anger consume me.

He wanted answers from me, and I was giving him what he wanted.

Matteo stood still at his spot before he walked slowly to his bed, grabbing the album. It was opened after I threw it on the bed, revealing a picture of them smiling widely. They looked like the happy couple, and they had many pictures together, something Matteo and I never had. All we had were wedding pictures from when we eloped.

"So, this is why you're acting this way." He muttered under his breath.

"And you wouldn't if you were in my shoes? So, I don't want to hear anymore lies. What happened to her, Matteo? Are you still seeing her when you're working late at night? Oh, were you even out working late or were you spending your time with her?"

He kept quiet, placing the albums aside as he took a seat at the edge of the bed. My eyes wandered as he picked up the wedding band and the engagement ring on the bed-I must've thrown them along with the album.

"I did go to visit her a few times."

"So, it's true then? You're admitting everything."

"She's dead, Alena."