Door to stop 30

 

Chapter 30 

Rowan’s Point of View 

I couldn’t take my eyes off Janet. 

The woman sitting on that couch didn’t look like the Janet I used to know. Or maybe she never was that woman to begin with. Maybe I was the fool who believed the image I built for her. The lazy, good-for-nothing girl my family plucked from the gutter and handed a marriage certificate like it was charity. 

I used to think I knew everything about her. Her moods, her limits, the way she’d flinch when my mother made a remark, the way she’d retreat into silence when things got too hard. I thought I’d seen the full extent of her. 

But a few hours ago, she shattered that illusion. 

The way she calmed that hysterical woman not like someone who got lucky, but like someone trained, professional, damn near clinical. There was control in her voice. Composure in her body language. A sharpness in her eyes I’d never seen before. 

It was almost… mesmerizing. 

I really didn’t believe Janet was a real counselor. Hell, I thought that Edward must’ve pulled strings to land her that job. I figured she was just playing dress-up in a clinic until someone called her bluff. 

But everything that happened back there proved me wrong about all my thoughts. 

She wasn’t the woman who used to fold my shirts and wait for me to come home. That version of her…maybe it never really existed. 

Her poise, her confidence… the way she didn’t even look at me when everyone else was clapping for her. She’d never looked more untouchable. 

I hated how much that turned me on. 

“You changed, Janet,” I said after staring at her for God knows how long. “That wasn’t just a performance out there, was it?” 

I moved closer to her on the couch. 

Janet turned her head slightly, the corner of her chin lifting. “Of course it was a performance. Isn’t that what you always said I’m good at? Pretending?” 

I ran my hand through my hair as I came closer to her. “You’re really something, Janet. You spent three years playing housewife, folding clothes, acting weak. And now you want me to believe this whole new persona isn’t just another act?” 

I narrowed my eyes. “Tell me. What exactly are you hiding?” 

She let out a small laugh. The kind that made the back of my neck prickle. 

“Maybe I’m just good at doing what I’m paid to do.” 

Something wasn’t adding up. I winced before I could stop myself. She noticed. Of course she did. 

Something about her tone told me she was doing this on purpose. She knew I was off-balance, and she liked it. 

“So why stop now?” I asked tightly. “You were so good at playing the obedient wife. What changed?” 

“Well, the party is over. I don’t see the need anymore,” Janet said coldly. 

“I’m still here. I’m still your husband.” 

“Ex-husband, Rowan. Have you seen any ex-employees caring for their ex-bosses? Don’t mistake my performance as a sign of 

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care. You needed help, I played the role. That’s all.” 

I swallowed. Her words hit deeper than I expected. 

“All I care about is the money. Isn’t that what you told everyone?” 

Her words tightened my chest. She kept making that statement, and each time it hurt more. I was trying to know her, to get what she had been holding back, but she wasn’t in the mood to clarify anything. 

“So how much is it?” 

The words slipped out of my mouth, but I didn’t regret saying them. If money was what it would take to get what I wanted from her, it was worth it. 

Janet turned to face me, blinking not once or twice but several times. 

“What did you mean by that?” she asked. 

“Since all you care about is money, isn’t that the reason you’re with that other guy at the hospital? So what will it cost to be with me?” 

“Don’t take me for a Whore, Rowan. No amount of money will make me sleep with you. Even if you offered a mountain of gold.” 

“So what makes me exceptional? What exactly do you think he can do that I can’t do better?” I moved closer. “You know I can pay twice what he pays you.” 

I tried to touch her, but she shoved me aside and shifted away. 

“You’re not exceptional, Rowan,” she said, voice cool as glass. “You’re just average. Especially in bed.” 

I froze. 

“What did you just say?” 

“You heard me. You suck in bed. Miserably. No stamina, no rhythm. All ego, no delivery.” 

I grabbed her from the waist and pinned her against the wall, not too far from the bed. “How dare you say that, Janet?” 

I snarled, feeling anger and hurt mixing together. I used one of my hands to clench her two hands against the wall and my other hand ran through her lips down to her boobs before I stopped. “Aren’t you scared I can take you right here? Like right now? You really want to try me? Do you really want me to show you the man I am?” 

Janet just looked at me, speechless for some seconds. Without thinking, I planted a kiss on her lips. She didn’t fight back. She was shaking as if she was scared. The hard-to-get Janet was gone, and she seemed so soft. I could feel how her body was responding as I pressed mine against her. For a moment she was at peace, seeing her like this only made me take her from here. 

But then Janet regained herself and pushed me aside. “Get yourself off me! What exactly do you want from me?” Her eyes were watery like if she was about to cry. Was she scared of what I could do to her?. 

“Just play as my wife! That’s all I’m asking!” I snapped, not in anger but in frustration. “I just want you to help me play along, just for Grandma’s sake.” 

“Haven’t you lied enough to her, Rowan? You think this is the best option?” Janet snapped back. “You can’t lie to her forever, and this doesn’t make sense either emotionally or logically.” 

She was right. I couldn’t keep lying to Grandma all the time. It would only make things worse. What if she got to know about it? I’m not ready to face grandma with this kind of discussion. I know how much she cherished this marriage and telling her it doesn’t work out will only scatter her more. 

“Grandma refuses the only remedy for her recovery. She wants to make sure we are settled before she can go for the surgery.” 

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Janet’s face changed completely. “Wait. Grandma is ill? Why didn’t you say this before?” 

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