"I don't want to."
The words were flat, cold, and final.
Was she actually stupid? Did she really think I'd just go along with this after everything she had just done?
A moment of silence followed before her voice came again—soft, almost pleading. "Husband, you know I hate sleeping in that bed alone."
I lifted my head slightly from the water, my irritation bubbling up. "And how exactly did you manage to sleep back at your father's house?"
Sera let out a tired sigh. "Stop trying to frustrate me, Theo. You know it's different now. I'm your wife."
I gave a short, cynical nod. "I know what you are, Sera. I just don't care."
"Are you still angry?" she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
I didn't answer. I wanted my silence to last, but she wasn't going to let me have it.
"I just want nothing to do with you," I said, my voice sharp with annoyance.
She went quiet for a few seconds, then suddenly moved. I felt her shifting from where she stood, heading toward the other side of the tub, trying to climb into the water with me.
Instantly, I leapt out of the basin. I stood there, dripping wet and completely exposed, my patience gone. "Do you really have to bother me this much?"
"I'm not trying to bother you," she said, trying to justify herself. "I just want to be with my husband."
Hah!
A laugh broke out of me—uncontrollable and jagged. I couldn't stop it.
Sera looked at me, her face full of confusion. She opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated, caught off guard by the sheer mockery in my laugh.
Once my breath returned, the last trace of restraint slipped away. I decided it was time to empty my chest of every bitter thought.
"Don't make me laugh again, Sera. Since you were so quick to label me a hypocrite, let me give you my full, unvarnished opinion of you as well."
"Let's start with your claim that I don't trust you. Tell me—how exactly did you reach that brilliant conclusion?"
Sera's expression soured. "By—"
"No, be quiet. I'll answer for you," I cut her off sharply.
"You faked an attack, and I instinctively shielded my vitals, specifically my head. You actually consider a basic reflex as proof of a lack of trust?"
Stepping closer, I let the cold air hit my wet skin, sharpening my focus.
"You triggered my survival instincts. Or have you forgotten your history of physically assaulting me? Does my body's reflexive reaction to a threat define my heart's trust in you?"
"If you close your eyes instinctively against the rain, does that mean you distrust the sky? Does it mean you believe the clouds harbour ill will toward you?"
Silence followed, but I wasn't finished.
"Then there is the marriage. You claimed I love playing the martyr. Well, I have every right to feel wronged. Those 'rituals of manhood' were inherently unfair to me, and that is an objective fact."
"You took a normal human feeling and tried to twist it into hypocrisy. I've felt oppressed in this entire relationship. I am the one who has provided everything."
"This entire cursed union began with your cunning schemes. I was forced to gamble with my life. My father was pressured me because of you."
"And yet, my attempts to adapt to this mess, to find some spark of joy for myself in this situation, are what you call hypocrisy?"
"And what about the words 'I love you' after our intimacy? Was that a lie? No. It was a sincere expression of my feelings in that vulnerable moment.
My words are my responsibility, but you placed me in an impossible position."
"How do you have the nerve to weaponise those words against me after everything you've done?"
"Even the laws of the land have exceptions, woman. And you are the one who forced me to use them."
"Furthermore, you called me a hypocrite because you claimed you rejected me once and I sought revenge. But you are the true hypocrite here for equating two completely different situations."
"The first time I rejected you was because you had just physically assaulted me. I chose my dignity over desire. The other two times occurred yesterday, right after I gave you a gift."
"You viewed my withdrawal as an attempt to humiliate you, but the truth is the opposite. You were the one humiliating my gesture. You treated a gift of appreciation as if it were a down payment for sex."
I tilted my head, my gaze turning lethal.
"Four cores for a night? Two of them from elite beasts? Tell me, Sera... doesn't that make your price higher than the most expensive whore in the Abyss?"
"And regarding the look of distress on my face that first night..."
The answer was simple, though she refused to see it.
"I was breaking. I was collapsing from exhaustion, having just survived a life-and-death encounter. You didn't respect my pain or my fatigue. You emptied your desires into me."
"Honestly, I suspect you actually enjoyed seeing the life drained out of me that night."
Throughout my tirade, her face was a map of shifting emotions—frowning one moment, sinking into sadness the next. Thankfully, she stayed silent, allowing me to pour out every drop of my bottled-up frustration.
I stepped even closer, my voice dropping to a dangerous level.
"Yesterday, Sera, do you remember? You claimed my attempts to hold your hand or sit near you were 'pressure' and 'manipulation'."
"So, by your own logic, am I allowed to view your intrusion into this bathroom as emotional blackmail? Are you trying to undermine my decisions and force me to forget your accusations by using your body?"
"Is that a fair assessment, Sera? Do I have the right to call you a manipulator now?"