“What is it, my husband?”
Arrabella’s voice sounded so calm, almost sweet. Her hand was still beneath Nareswara’s chin, making him fall silent at once.
Their gazes met at close range.
For the first time, Nareswara appeared to have lost his words.
It wasn’t because he had no answer, but because he hadn’t expected Arrabella to dare touch him like that. Until now, the woman had always avoided his gaze. Even when merely voicing her opinion, Arrabella often did so in a trembling voice.
But the woman standing before him now was different.
There was courage in her eyes.
There was a resolve Nareswara had never seen before.
Slowly, Nareswara raised his hand and gripped Arrabella’s wrist.
“Let go.”
Arrabella didn’t obey. “You’re the one who should let me go,” she shot back.
Nareswara looked at the hand still gripping the woman’s wrist, then turned his gaze back to Arrabella’s face. “You’ve really changed.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“No.”
That brief answer made Arrabella’s smile fade for a moment.
However, she quickly lifted her chin. “What a shame. Because I have no intention of becoming the old Arrabella again.”
Nareswara frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve stayed silent for far too long.”
Arrabella slowly pulled her hand free from Nareswara’s grasp. “All this time, I accepted everything you said. When you ignored me, I stayed silent. When you humiliated me in front of others, I stayed silent then too. Even when you treated me as though I wasn’t your wife, I still tried to understand.”
She drew a deep breath. “But I’m tired.”
The room fell silent again.
The servants who had been there all along lowered their heads even further. They knew this conversation was no longer just an argument about the bedroom.
Something much bigger was happening.
Arrabella was demanding her place.
The place that should have been hers from the day they married.
“I won’t force you to love me,” Arrabella continued. “Nor will I ask you to be gentle with me if you’re incapable of it.”
Nareswara’s gaze shifted slightly.
“But don’t ever make me feel like a stranger in this house again. I am the lady of this house!”
Nareswara fell silent.
Arrabella then pointed at the suitcases near the wardrobe. “Move all my things in here.”
“Ma’am…” Mirah hesitated.
“Do it.”
Mirah turned to Nareswara.
The man remained silent.
He gave no order to stop them.
At last, Mirah gestured to the other servants. They went back to work.
One by one, Arrabella’s clothes were placed inside the large wardrobe that had previously held only Nareswara’s clothes. Some of her personal belongings were set on the vanity. Even the wedding photo that had been kept in a small box all this time was finally placed by Arrabella on the bedside table.
Nareswara watched everything without saying a word.
His gaze stopped on the photograph.
Their wedding photo.
In it, Arrabella was smiling so happily.
Meanwhile, he wore nothing but a flat expression.
Nareswara still remembered that day—the day he married Arrabella not out of love.
The marriage had been a family decision he couldn’t refuse. From the very beginning, Nareswara had resolved not to give the woman any hope.
Yet seeing Arrabella standing before him now made that conviction waver slightly.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Arrabella suddenly said.
Nareswara turned to her. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as you yet.”
That answer left Nareswara speechless instead.
Arrabella walked past him and stopped a few steps later. “Oh, one more thing.”
Nareswara looked at her.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll help manage this household.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“I’m not asking for permission. I’m just informing you, my husband.”
Then she walked toward the bathroom to retrieve some of her personal belongings.
Nareswara remained where he stood.
He didn’t follow her.
Nor did he stop her.
Yet for the first time in a long while, the man felt that something had changed in his home.
And strangely enough, that change made him uncomfortable.
Not because Arrabella had grown bolder. Rather, because a small part of him had begun to grow curious.
How far would that woman change?
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Arrabella immediately walked over to open the front door, and the moment she saw who had arrived, she broke into a wide smile.
“Ah, my mother-in-law has arrived. What brings you here? Did you come to return all my jewelry?”