The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders Read Free Book Online Page A

have no intention of having a baby with you!”
    “You’re being very childish, Theresa,” he admonished quietly.
    “No, I’m finally making my own decisions. Up to this point in my life, everything has been decided for me… this marriage would never have happened if my father hadn’t decided that you would make the perfect son-in-law. After that, the wedding date, the venue, the cake, where we would live… it was all you or my father. I couldn’t even choose my own wedding dress ,” the last emerged in a small, broken voice which quavered with remembered disbelief and outrage. Her father had simply had the dress delivered to her room with the direction that it was to be worn on her wedding day, no discussion and no choice.
    “The only reason I got Lisa as a bridesmaid was because my father deemed it appropriate for my first cousin to be in the wedding party. If she’d been just a friend, I doubt she’d have fit the bill!”
    “It turns my stomach to hear someone who’s led such a privileged life whine on about how terrible her life is, you’ve been spoilt and you’ve had everything money could buy…”
    “Except love , specifically my husband’s love and my father’s love… apparently I’m not quite worthy of that.”
    “You’re feeling sorry for yourself and I’m getting sick of it.”
    “ Yes , I’m feeling sorry for myself,” she acknowledged bitterly. “And it’s very liberating. In the past all I’ve done is accept everything you and my father have dished out… thinking it was my lot in life, even thinking I deserved it; if two such powerful men as you thought I wasn’t worthy of love and respect, then who was I to differ? But I’m starting to realise that I’m not the one at fault here. I’m not the one with the personality defect… at least my motives for marrying you were honest; I stupidly believed I loved you. Yours were less than stellar, weren’t they? They certainly had nothing to do with love.”
    “They had everything to do with love,” he suddenly thundered, silencing her abruptly as she stared up at him in wide-eyed shock. “Just not love for you .” She blinked up at him; her green eyes the only colour in her deathly pale face.
    “What does that mean?” She asked through barely moving lips. “Love for whom ?” Was he referring to Francesca? If he really loved the other woman so much, why on earth marry Theresa? It made no sense.
    “None of your damned business,” he grated furiously, a muscle working frantically in his jaw.
    “It never is ,” she finally nodded bitterly. “It has nothing to do with me, yet it affects every aspect of my life. You want something from me but you’re unable to give me anything in return. Well, I’ve had enough of that, Sandro. You want a baby but this is my body and so it’s my decision to make…”
    “I’m your husband…”
    “No. You are not my husband,” she interrupted in a voice thickened with hatred and tears. “You have never been my husband. A husband loves, honours and cherishes! A husband is a lover and a champion… Look into the next room if you want to see what a real husband is, because you
    are no such thing!” He reeled away from her, looking like a man who’d just been bitten by his favourite pet and she pushed herself away from the fridge to brush past him.
    “Theresa, wait…” he grabbed one of her arms to prevent her from running off.
    “I have to go, please tell Rick and Lisa that…”
    “No,” he interrupted gently. “You stay. This is your family, you are right this is your place and I should not have intruded. I’m sorry…” his eyes skirted away from hers as he made apology and Theresa’s jaw dropped at his second apology in twenty-four hours. She felt certain that the world would grind to a halt at any moment. “I will leave now… it is how it should be.” With that he dropped her arm and walked out, leaving her to stare after him in confusion.
     

Chapter Three
    The house