Love Begins with Deceit

Julian didn't get back until three in the morning.

He saw me sitting in the dimly lit room, frowned, turned on the light, and asked, "Didn't go to your side job tonight?"

I slowly raised my eyes to meet his, my smile dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, I went. But instead of working, I ended up watching a live sex show starring my boyfriend," I thought to myself.

Julian didn't seem to catch on to my mood. He wheeled himself over to me slowly.

His hand slowly slid up my thigh, stopping suggestively between my legs.

"Miss me?" he asked, a sly grin playing on his lips. I could see a longing in his eyes that I hadn't seen in ages.

Before his accident, that was his go-to line whenever he wanted to get intimate.

Back then, I would have been eager to respond. But thinking about what I had seen just three hours earlier made my stomach turn.

He noticed my silence and withdrew his hand, irritation flashing across his face.

I gave another mocking smile. Even Julian, dense as he was, must have picked up on my annoyance.

"What's up with you?" he pressed, frowning. As I was silent, he bombarded me with questions.

He didn't mention where he had been, especially given his supposed disability.

And on top of that, he reeked of another woman's perfume.

I stared at him and asked bluntly, "Where were you?"

Julian's face tensed up momentarily before he regained his composure and said, "I was at physical therapy."

To ease my doubts, he showed me his phone to prove his locations from the afternoon to the evening, which showed his usual private hospital.

I glanced at it. The hospital was right by the villa I had been to tonight.

Just thinking about him sleeping with Ellie after each therapy session was enough to make me sick.

Maybe my disgust was obvious, because Julian's voice grew cold. "What, you don't trust me?"

His voice spiked angrily. Banging on his leg, he exclaimed, "I've become a cripple for you, and you still doubt me?"

Fuming, he wheeled himself towards the bedroom, throwing a quick glance back at me.

I knew what Julian was thinking. He expected me to grovel back to him out of love and guilt, letting him treat me like a lapdog.

I'd been at his beck and call, slaving away at multiple jobs night and day to pay off his supposed debts.

Watching Julian's back as he left, I couldn't help but laugh bitterly to myself.

Breaking up directly would be too easy on him. I decided he would pay back everything he owed me.