Flash Marriage Husband is an Alpha-Chapter 30: Seduced Bruce...

By the time he pulled away a few moments later... I was gasping for breath, and my fury about the incident at the café seemed to have flown out the window. But then, I still had to ask him—just to clear my doubts.

"Adrian, did you by any means follow me to Home Cafe?" I asked, meeting his gaze head-on. I hoped to decipher whatever emotion he might want to hide.

If for anything, I wouldn’t trust men so easily... not anymore, not after the bitter experience. One Bruce was already enough.

He chuckled softly. "I did, but something happened, and I was called away," he quickly explained.

My brow furrowed at his straightforwardness in admitting he had followed me.

I had several questions racing through my mind.

Why?

How much did he see?

But I refused to ask any more questions about it.

"You drop me off some distance away from home," I said when we joined another traffic heading for the estate.

"Why? Aren’t you going home?" he asked, his voice so calm that I wondered what he might be thinking.

"I’m going home, but with some pending matters to settle at the moment, we can’t be seen together... for now," I answered, lowering my head.

I didn’t want him reminding me about being married, nor did I want to discuss my plans with him. Though legally he is my husband, we could almost pass as strangers.

"I was thinking, it’s time I return home with my wife, and I hope to see Mr. James and set that in motion." He smirked.

My heart skipped a beat, my gaze snapped up to meet his gaze. "What?"

He raised a brow. "Am I wrong?"

I could feel my heart on the verge of bursting out of my chest. "You..you...re not wrong, but I couldn’t go back at the moment."

"Oh? Why?" he asked, his gaze locked onto my face. "Why wouldn’t you go back now?"

"Just give me some time to handle a few matters," I said, my voice pleading.

I know I couldn’t leave now, not without exacting my revenge on Phina... not without reminding Bruce he would always remain a piece of trash.

My thoughts raced, a few invisible beads of sweat formed on my forehead. My hand tightened on the brown envelope. I was on the verge of breaking down.

My lips parted to plead with him again to reconsider, but his voice, soft, calm, and like a fleeting breath, filtered through the car. "Okay," he clipped, his back relaxing into his seat.

"You agreed?" I asked.

"Do I have a choice?" He smirked. I felt my shoulders sag with relief as I exhaled a breath I never knew I was holding.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Should you need assistance... don’t hesitate to call," he said.

My heart raced, I drew closer. "Are you serious?"

"What do you think?" He smirked.

"Alright," I answered with relief.

"Pull over," he said to the driver as we were just a few metres away from Norton’s estate.

The driver pulled over and turned off the ignition. I pushed the door open, ready to alight, but then I felt his firm grip on my hand. "Stella, be careful," he said.

My breath caught, my gaze narrowed. "Did he know about my plans?" I thought to myself, but the next moment I shook it off.

"I will," I agreed calmly. Having spoken to this point, there is no point bothering if he knew or doesn’t know; besides, I have never mentioned it.

I stepped down from the car and made my way towards the estate, yet the car remained until I disappeared into the gate.

Inside the mansion, Phina stood at the door, pacing thro and fro, her fists clenched at her side. I could feel the fury radiating from her from a reasonable distance.

"Stella, where the hell are you coming from?" she seethed.

I raised my brow in defiance. "Where I’m coming from is definitely... not your business." I warned her.

"Stella, don’t dare me?"

"Dare you... what does that have to do with me?"

She stared at me, confused for a split second before her anger flared again. "Why are you with Bruce? Why are you seducing him? Following him around?"

My ears tingled at the mention of the name, my brow furrowed in confusion. "Bruce," I muttered.

"Yes, Bruce... or are you deaf?"

I blinked.

Definitely, I wasn’t deaf, but this was the last thing I had expected this evening.

I studied her face, searching for any hint of deceit, but the more I looked, the more absurd her accusation felt and the more ridiculous she looked.

"Has the cat got your tongue that you can’t speak?" she snapped.

I burst into laughter. "No... it’s not what I meant. But sister... I just want to ask..." I leaned forward, still laughing, "are... you... referring to your dog?"

That was it. Phina lost it, her temper snapped; she swung her fist towards my cheek. I caught her hand mid-air. "Dear sister, you... dare not try it, or don’t blame me for it," I warned her.

I pushed her hand away, she stumbled a few steps back, glaring. I still couldn’t understand why she thought I was with him.

Do I look like a trash can?

Does she think I’m a dog that returns to its vomit? I was furious.

"So, tell me... where do you see me seducing Bruce?" I asked coldly.

"Stella, don’t bother denying... otherwise how do you explain this?" she hissed, shoving her phone toward me.

My brow furrowed. Slowly, I took the phone from her hand and examined the image carefully—Bruce’s arm draped around someone who resembled me.

But the lighting was off. The proportions were wrong. The face alignment was slightly distorted.

A cheap edit.

I exhaled before handing her phone to her. "Phina... you are the heiress of the Norton’s wealth, yet a simple photo could play a trick on you?"

"And what’s that supposed to mean?" She questioned, her fury rising again. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Can’t you tell the difference between a doctored photo and a real one?" I asked sharply.

I really want to open her brain to know what stuff it was made of.

"This photo isn’t doctored, otherwise why was it sent by him?" she fumed.

My breath stilled. "What? Sent by who?"

Her gaze flickered with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. "Does it matter?" she snapped.

I stepped closer until only inches separated us. "In all ramifications... Yes. Phina, who sent this photo? For the last time."

I hoped I had heard her wrongly. I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking. I hoped she might be referring to another person, but then I had to confirm, and I’m not letting go.

Phina took a deep breath, our gaze locked in a silent battle of wills for a moment.

"Stella, don’t play the righteous here," she spat. "If you haven’t seduced Bruce, then he wouldn’t be telling me to warn you to stay away from him."