THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE

Chapter 6

Alex’s POV

My eyes were tightly shut as I anticipated what Uriel would do to me. I'm already his wife, so if he wants something to happen between us, there's nothing I can do but let him do what he wants and hope he doesn't notice anything, which will almost certainly be a big mess. If Uriel discovers that he did not marry Alexa but her twin, Alexa's treatment for my mom may not go as planned.

While I was waiting for what Uriel would do to me, I suddenly felt a slap on my forehead. I quickly opened my eyes and met Uriel's narrowing eyes.

"Silly. What do you think I'm going to do with you? Have you forgotten about the agreement?" he said as he get off from me and sat on the edge of the bed.

Agreement? What did kind of agreement did we talked? Alexa didn't mention in her letter that she had agreement with this man.

"S-Sorry. I forgot out of panic," I tried to answer him with a smile, even though I didn't know what he and my twin was talking about.

"If you forgot, I will remind you again what we discussed. We discussed and you agreed that we will only be a couple on paper and in front of people. But we are free to do whatever we want to do and we won't interfere with each other as long as it doesn't break our agreement," Uriel explained to what he and my twin talked about.

It was as if the wind slapped into my face while looking at Uriel. I couldn't believe what I heard. This kind of plot can only be seen in movies and read in novels. And I didn't know that it actually happens in real life.

"Does that mean you can have a girlfriend, and I can have a boyfriend even though we're married?" I asked him in disbelief.

"Of course. I told you that we can do whatever we want as long as it doesn't break our agreement. In short, we don't care about each other. Mind your own business, and I will also mind my own," he said, as if he didn't care a bit. Won't it break the agreement if we both have a relationship with someone else, especially if our families find out that it's just a fake marriage? Alas, I am suddenly confused by what Uriel said. But, fine. At least we don't have to sleep together. My purity will remain safe, and I can even offer it to the man who will truly be my husband.

"O-Okay," was all I could say to him. It's hard to debate, I don't think I can win against him.

"That's great. It's great that we understand each other," he said, pleased. "I made my mom happy, even though her life is now a ticking bomb, all she ever wants is for you to be married to me. You know how much she loves you as a daughter-in-law. And remember, Alexa. Even if our marriage is real, our affection is fake, so don't ever fall in love with me because you'll only get hurt. I already love someone else, okay?"

I suddenly frowned at what I heard. What was this man thinking? That I would want our marriage to be real? Besides, I don't like someone like him whose heart is as cold as ice. I can't even seem to believe that he can love.

"Don't worry, Mr. Fontagio, I will never like you. Another thing is that I don't like the type of guys like you who always look serious and don't seem to know how to smile. I don't even know what women like about you when apart from your face and your thick pocket, there is nothing to like about you—" I suddenly stopped my incessant babbling when I saw his face darken and his teeth grind. He obviously didn't like what I said. Hey, why am I even talking this much? What if this man suddenly strangles me and tell others that I hang myself? My gosh! My poor beauty. I will die with my eyes popping out and my tongue hanging out of my mouth. I should really stop my talkativeness to save my life.

"You sleep on the floor. There's foam uu under the my bed and just pull it out. I'm not used to sleeping on a hard bed, so I can't sleep there," he said grumpily to me. It seems that he took what I said to heart.

"I'm used to sleeping on hard floors, so I'm fine sleeping here, and even without a mattress, it's not a problem to me," I replied with a smile as I lay down on the bed after I pulled it. I sleep on a hard floor with no mattress in our house every day, so am I still acting?

"You are used to sleeping on the hard floor? Why? Does your dad make you sleep on the floor?" Uriel asked me with a frown.

I bit my bottom lip when I realized what I said. I immediately chastised myself internally for not being careful with the words coming out of my mouth. I should really cover my mouth with masking tape so no words can come out that could give Uriel doubts about my real identity.

"Yes. I'm used to sleeping on the floor inside my room. Sometimes I sleep on the floor instead of my bed. I guess it's a weird hobby of mine, but I got accustomed and eventually got used to it," I immediately explained. Fortunately, I quickly figured out a way to get past the mistake I made. "What pillow am I going to use and—"

I wasn't able to continue what I was going to say when someone knocked the door. I suddenly screamed when Uriel pulled me back to his bed and pushes the matres under his bed and before the person outside our room he quickly lays down on top of me. I can't help but moan, not because of the sudden heat that crawled through my body due to the contact of our bodies, but because of his weight that ran over me. As I moaned softly, Uriel looked at me with a frown. My face turned red when I think what he was thinking from the look in his eyes. Nope. You're thinking wrong, Uriel. I screamed silently in my mind.