The Substitute Wife

Chapter Twelve

But later on, she didn't hear him muttering anything. Which pushed her to instinctively open her eyes. And she saw him looking at her with disbelief, like he was asking her if it was really a serious question.

"I don't get you, mi amore. Why are you asking your own name? What happened back there?" He responded afterwards when she was not saying anything. She just stared at him seriously, looking for his emotions. But he was calm and focused on his mood, and right after, he slowly reached her hands and smiled. This was making her more confused.

" Don't lie to me , Alex. We both knew that this isn't my real name, right?" Sandy pleaded. Her eyes were weary as her emotions. She was holding her tears so as not to fall in front of him.

"Mi amore, I already told you before that I made the name for you. I don't know what you are talking about, can we please settle this misunderstanding?This is not making sense at all," Alexander was trying his best to keep his voice gentle. He needed to slow things down in order to solve their problem.

" If you can't answer that, just answer another question. " She surrendered and looked away from his eyes. The more he looked at her with his serious expression, the more she began to believe that she was only hallucinating things. But deep down, Sandy's instinct was telling her not to lower her guard. Because there was something she didn't know about. In fact, she didn't know about his history. She dumbly lives with him like an i***t without even asking a tiny bit of information about her husband. She was now facing one of the consequences of her actions.

"Go on, I'm listening. If it makes you feel better right now," He sincerely looks into her eyes. It made her look like a robot, she was lost in her focus and was just staring at him. 'How could he act so seriously? Does it mean that I was only paranoid?' They said, eyes were the window of souls. It never lies when it comes to sincere emotions. And what her husband was doing right now was all convincing. She ended up doubting her own judgment at the moment.

"Don't you like my name? Why did you replace it with Amara? You never called me Sandy before. No, you never know a thing about me, do you? As much as I was clueless about you also." She bluntly speaks without breaking their eye contact. Indeed, his emotions flickered but furtively changed back. She wasn't even sure if she had seen them or not.

" Forgive me if it has been bothering you so much, mi amore. But I did call you Amara because you are my everything. The name means everything to me. So are you, and please don't say I didn't know you. Because the moment I set up my eyes on you, I had already checked your entire background. I knew everything about you, love. And about me, you never ask me anything you want to know. As you see, I'm not the kind of person who opens up first. I hope you know that, " Well, that was a long valid explanation. Which completely moved her confusion into trusting him again. Sandy wanted to scold her heart and wouldn't trust him that easily. But it was way more stubborn than she could control.

" I-I'm sorry.. I think I was just being paranoid, I don't even know what's real or not. I'm fully-"

"Shhh..hush mi amore. I understand, you don't need to apologize. It's me who lacks attention to you, and I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. I've been busy with work and future plans. Let me make it up to you, will you give me a chance?" Who is she to decline him? The great Alexander White was wooing her to agree. And perhaps she needed to open more of her mind and heart. It was not just all about the happy moments, but also the difficulties.

" I don't know, do I even deserve it? " As her mind was starting to ease, she felt embarrassed and ashamed of what she was doing. She's being a childish and self-centered person without thinking about her husband's sake. Or maybe she was right with her intuition all along. No one knows what the future holds for them.

"You deserve the world, mi amore. Don't think that you don't deserve anything. Because you matter the most to me, I love you so much." Alexander kissed her directly on her lips. It went longer and deeper until they were breathless. Sandy somehow had calmed down and slowly got back to being her usual self.

" I love you, and thank you. I'm sorry if I made things complicated." At the same time, she also realized that she needed to look at the bigger picture. It's not always the good days and beautiful moments, but she had to be brave enough for the worst to come. She was determined to work things out with him, and promised she would try to understand him as long as she could hold on. 'What matters now is the present. If it happens that Alexander had a terrible past, then I will open my heart to understand and forgive him. Forgiveness is essential to making things work.'

"And by the way, mi amore. I forgot to mention that we will be visiting my family next week. My apologies if it takes too long to get you to meet them, things aren't really that good when it comes to my family." He's been planning it since last month. But he wanted to make sure that everything would work out. No failed plans and unfolding hidden pasts.

" You m-mean your whole f-family? " Sandy was stuttering after hearing him. She didn't see it coming from him. She once thought about it. But she gave up a long time ago when her hopes had died. Ironically, he just brought it back. Now she found herself drowned in her thoughts about what they would be like. And it flustered her whole system. 'What if they wouldn't like me at all?' she questioned instantly in the midst of her occupied mind.