Her Arranged Husband (mmmf)

Chapter 12: Exploring

Evelyn's POV:

Josh and Zach left the room, closing the door behind them.

I turned toward Asher, who was typing something on his computer, and cleared my throat.

He glanced up from his and seemed surprised by my presence in his office. "Can I help you? I'm working" he said.

I walked back to one of the chairs in front of his desk and sat down.

"I need to talk to you" I said.

Asher furrowed his brow "Okay, we can talk after dinner tonight." He said as he turned back to his computer.

"No, I think we can talk now. You had enough time to interrogate me and accuse my sister of being involved in these attacks. I'm sure you have enough time to speak to your wife in a civil manor." I said coldly.

"I already told you, I apologize if you were uncomfortable with the interrogation, however I felt it was necessary and thus do not apologize for it happening." He said without looking up from his computer screen. "Also, please do not use the term "wife" as if it has any real weight in this house. You are my wife in legal terms only".

What an arrogant asshole.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "I understand why you felt the need to interrogate me. That is not the issue. The issue is that you decided to do it in front of Josh and Zach, and didn't even let me get a word in unless it was an answer to one of your questions." I said "And truthfully I would have let those two things go if you hadn't brought my sister into it. My sister is 14 years old, she is not filtering information to your enemies. She's not some spy conspiring against you. She's not a part of whatever twisted game you're playing with my family so leave her out of it."

Asher had finally looked up from his computer screen during my rant and actually seemed to be listening.

"Are you done?" He asked.

Shit, he was mad. Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to yell at him like that?

"Yes" I answered, trying to muster up the same anger I had felt only a few moments ago. Now all I felt was anxiety and regret.

I sat there wringing my hands and bouncing my leg just waiting for him to yell at me, or kick me out, or do something even worse.

Asher stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to stand in front of where I was sitting. My heart rate rose and my chest started to tighten in an all too familiar feeling.

I shrank back from him trying to get as far away as possible. He stood there leaning against the desk in silence for about a minute before I couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry" I rushed "I shouldn't have yelled at you, or interrupted your work day. In fact I'll leave right now" I said, standing up. "I'm really sorry"

Asher raised his eyebrows in surprise before his expression morphed into a frown.

"Really?" He asked "You're sorry for what you said? You didn't mean it?"

"I- well no," I stammered backing up toward the door. "I meant it, but I shouldn't have yelled at you or interrupted you or done this at all so I'm just going to leave you alone now"

Asher made a humming noise "If you meant what you said why are you apologizing?" He asked. "Only apologize if you think you're wrong. That's why I have not and will not apologize for questioning you. Apologizing just to smooth things over is essentially lying"

I paused when my back hit the door. I didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily Asher continued speaking.

"If you want to be taken seriously you can't back off of your opinions just because they might upset someone." Asher said "And for future reference, you don't need to flee the room after you speak your mind. We may be married in name only but I intend to treat you as an equal just as I would anyone else. And that includes letting you express your opinion without repercussions"