Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-One

The office door slammed shut, and Max infuriated, kicked the nearby chair hard before turning to look at Bella.

"Spit it out, where were you last night?" He interrogated his wife fiercely in the office.

But faced with her husband's attitude, Bella not only didn't feel embarrassed or anxious but instead remained composed as if Max's anger had nothing to do with her. Sitting down calmly, her indifferent demeanor only fueled Max's anger further.

"Why are you so angry? Didn't I tell you last night that I met an old friend?" Bella spoke gently.

However, her response didn't calm Max's anger; he didn't believe what Bella said.

"I know you're lying, Bella."

Bella didn't think Max would catch her lying, so she maintained her attitude and calmly asked, "You think I'm lying? Why would you think that?"

"Besides Pearl, who else do you have as a friend? It's always been just Pearl as your close friend, who else could tolerate your personality besides her? Lying has its limits, Bella." Max shouted.

The three of them attended the same university, and before Bella discovered the betrayal of her husband and her best friend, Pearl, it was a fact widely known that Bella had only one friend, Pearl. Max, in particular, knew this better than anyone else.

As Bella had guessed, Max knew she was lying, but he based it on her relationship with Pearl. After her husband's words, Bella also realized a few things; in his eyes, she was so dull that apart from Pearl, there was no other friendship with anyone.

"Yes, Pearl is my friend, but my life can't revolve solely around her and you. I also need my own relationships. Moreover, before I met you and Pearl, I had many friends. I don't understand why you're so angry when almost every night you find an excuse of work to avoid being home with me and often stay out overnight. Do you think I believe all those reasons of yours?" Bella said gently.

Once Bella finished speaking, she saw Max's face pale, realizing she had hit a sore spot of Max.

"Um...that's... I often leave home in the evenings, but it's because of my work. How could you think otherwise? Are you suspecting me?" Max hurriedly explained, his face turning pale and flustered.

Seeing Max hastily trying to explain, Bella didn't want to pursue it further because she knew the truth already, so there was no need to entertain Max's futile words.

Bella lowered her voice gently, "Of course, I trust you, but I want you to know how often you leave home in the evenings, so many times that it's uncountable. But because I know you're busy with your work, I've never felt annoyed or interrogated you about it. But last night, I just met an old friend, and you interrogated me like this. Do you think I always have to wait at home for you, or do I have to ask for your permission every time I go out?"

Max, who was angry and aggressive just a while ago, now looked pale and confused. Bella had never been like this before. Whenever he felt uncomfortable, she always hurried to comfort him and promised to make him happy. But now she responded differently.

"Bella, I didn't mean that. I just..."

"But I felt you meant that way. You were angry with me the moment I arrived at your company. How many people saw us then? Alright, I'll leave it at that. Although we're husband and wife, I also need my own space and friendships." Bella said as she stood up to leave the room.

But as she opened the door, Pearl was standing there, her expression freezing as she looked at Bella.

"Why are you here? You should be in your office by now. If there's nothing, why are you here?" Pearl asked, slightly annoyed but not showing it too much.

Bella frowned, feeling unlucky to meet the two people she hated the most this morning. "Huh? Why can't I be here? My husband called me here."

Bella deliberately emphasized Max as her husband in front of Pearl to annoy her, and as she had guessed, Pearl, though she appeared normal, clenched her fists tightly. Meanwhile, Max stood behind, looking extremely pleased when Bella mentioned him like that.

"I called her in, just because you are my secretary doesn't mean you are unaware of our relationship. Bella, you head back to the office first, we'll have lunch together today."

Bella noticed Pearl's infuriated expression so couldn't help but inwardly smirk, as this was exactly what she wanted to witness this morning.

"Alright then, you go ahead. We'll see later, Pearl." Bella smirked, gliding past Pearl with arrogance.

Stepping into the elevator, Bella struggled to contain her laughter. "Well... Pearl seems really angry, but what can you do now? I quite enjoy seeing your frustrated face knowing you can't do anything about it."

Bella wondered how Max would explain to Pearl, or rather if they would have the argument Bella hoped for. Nonetheless, lately, she noticed Pearl's tendency to taunt her, albeit not explicitly mentioning or hinting at their clandestine relationship.

But Bella could sense Pearl's jealousy towards her, which was understandable since Max suddenly started caring about his wife, whom he had never paid attention to before, making his mistress suspicious and envious, as expected.

Bella returned to the office in high spirits. Initially, she thought the morning was unlucky, but upon reflection, it turned out to be quite intriguing.

...

"Max! Why did you call her here? Do you have something to discuss with her?"

Pearl seemed to forget they were in the company, and their current relationship was merely superior-subordinate. This was an issue Max had reminded her of many times, yet it seemed either Pearl's memory was lacking or she intentionally disregarded it.

Max furrowed his brows slightly, growing weary of Pearl's insolence and arrogance. Initially, he saw Pearl as an intelligent woman who could assist him in his work and advance in the future, but now he found her obstructive and bothersome.

"Pearl, mind your words. This is a company, not a place where you can speak however you like. Furthermore, what's the problem with me meeting my wife at my office?" Max spoke irritably, channeling all the frustration he had felt from last night to this morning with Bella towards Pearl.

Faced with Max's curt and cold words, Pearl clenched her fists, biting her lip in frustration. Why was Max growing more distant from her like this when she always tried to please him? Thinking of Bella's arrogant demeanor only fueled Pearl's anger.

Seeing Pearl remain silent and bow her head, Max sighed. "If you have nothing to do, leave. Understand your position and don't enter my office without my permission."

Pearl looked up at Max incredulously, wondering if he said that to maintain distance or not. Recently, he had been cold and deliberately ignored her, using busy work as an excuse to conceal their relationship.

Their clandestine affair had been going on for three years, and Max had never once shown discomfort or paid attention to the employees' gazes in the company. More importantly, when Max deceived Bella to be with her every night, he used the same excuse of being busy with work, so he couldn't notice the emotional aspect.

But above all, Max's current attitude wasn't he trying to show concern for Bella in front of her?