"How long are you going to sneak pictures of my wife, Mikhail?

"

Mikhail who was behind a ledge, taking pictures of Jerlina feeding and playing with the Indian Fantail pigeons in the garden, almost fell on his butt hearing Jeremy behind him.

"This is creepy, you know...

" Jeremy added and Mikhail stood up with his face reddened.

"I...

" Mikhail knew what he is doing is the highest of betrayals and wrong in so many other ways.

But...

When he received a call from Gordon Faraday promising him that for every five candid pictures of Jerlina doing different things, he'd send one picture of Rose, he thought the idea of taking pictures of his friend's wife secretly an abhorrent idea. That's not how he is raised.

He understood that since Jerlina firmly asked them to not contact her until the weekend, Jonathan erling is trying to use him to get a glance of Jerlina. Jonathan knows that he is desperate because of love and he is rightly using his cards.

He found everything disgusting. He didn't like to be put in this position. He hated Erling with all his heart for making trying to use his desperation.

But after a couple of days, he missed Rose so much, he thought he'd crawl on his belly like a snake if it is necessary to have a glance at her.

His heart hurt wondering how his love is suffering alone.

And when there is a chance for him to have a glance at her...

F*ck me!

Send me to the final circle of hell to suffer punishment with Judas , Cassius and Brutus!!

But please... let me see my lover's face once more...

And so, he's been doing this for a couple of days. He felt dirty and felt repulsed to look at his own reflection in the mirror, but he could fall asleep peacefully last night hugging his love's picture to his chest.

Eh...And now I am caught by her husband doing this despicable thing. I won't even blame him if he kills me!

Forgive me, grandpa... Forgive this selfish grandson of yours for leaving you alone in this world.

Jeremy got the phone from Mikhail's hand. Mikhail didn't struggle and handed over his phone. His knees went weak and he knelt on the ground.

---

Alexander closed the curtains and walked inside the room. He was watching his grandson acting weird for an entire day and figured out what might have happened very easily. And now he got caught by Jeremy.

This pathetic fool!

Love, again!

Alexander's face contorted with disgust.

It makes fools out of men. It makes them desperate and exposes them as vulnerable and open for scums to exploit them...

Fools!

Why does Mikhail have to catch the same bug as Edward? And that too for the woman from the same family..?

Well, I worried for Jeremy too for the same reason...

Alexander's eyes ended up at Jerlina in the distance as his legs walked to the window once more.

She was talking to someone on the phone and was playing with a pigeon at the same time. In the week she was staying here, he watched how hard she worked and how careful she was as she took care of Jeremy.

Isn't she a better person than I thought? Isn't she the perfect wife for Jeremy? I worried for Jeremy as I didn't approve of him hanging on to one woman, but isn't he the happiest now?

My grandson is smart too. He wouldn't have been dumb to choose someone who would go against the core values of the Volkonsky family.

Should I get to know that girl Mikhail chose?

But...

Alexander rubbed his chest. It was hard for him to watch his grandson melt inside because of his love and it was hard for him to swallow his pride and go talk to the man he despised for his grandson.

Maybe... I should get to know the girl first. If I find any fault with her, then I can reject her with a clear conscience.

But if she is perfect for Mikhail and for the Volkonsky family...

Well, let's cross that bridge when that time comes!

"Don't you want to see your great-grandchildren, Victoria?

" he walked to the fireplace and looked at the big framed picture of the smiling woman.

There were wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and around her lips, but her green eyes still held a magic right until she passed away. She always had that smile on her.

Wife...

Alexander placed his hand on his heart without even realizing it as his other hand caressed the picture.

"It's a good thing we promised to never fall in love with each other, right? We never ended up pathetic...

" he said and his lips curved.

Theirs was an arranged marriage. His betrothed was a wild woman but even she had to accept her father's orders and marry him. The day they had the engagement ceremony is the day they met first.

They promised each other not to fall for each other or with anyone else. And decided to only respect each other's decisions. Their life was perfect. He never did anything to make her cry, and she never did anything that brings disrespect to his name. They worked well.

Love..? Did he love her?

He didn't think so...

'Little Xander doesn't even realize it, right?' she laughed at him on her deathbed. His heart skipped a beat when she called him that. It's been decades since she called him 'Xander'.

'You think you didn't fall for me? You'll know... you'll know once I am gone how much you love me; how deep you've fallen for me, Xander. I knew... I knew it when your shaking hands held mine when I was going through the arduous labor...I knew it when you decided not to have more children when the doctors said that I might not handle another pregnancy... how you fought with your mother for me and... countless other times. I knew. And I am happy knowing it...'

Her hands had gotten rough as she was struggling for a long time. He didn't want to let her go. Being with her had become a habit for him.

That's it! After decades of sleeping together and sharing everything, he didn't want to let her go. How is that love?

It's just a habit! A familiarity that he didn't want to lose!

But she thought death would be a release for her and he had to respect her wishes. She stopped fighting for her life and took his soul with her.

'Poor, Xander...My sweet Xander, know this... I've always loved you... You will say it to my grave one day...'

She laughed. She died laughing; she died happy, holding his hand.

And when the moment her grip on his hand loosened, he felt the worst pain in his life; it was as if someone ripped off the soul out of his body.

"Heh,

" he scoffed.

"Laugh all you want, Vicky...

" he picked the picture and his fingers ended up at her cheek.

"I never fell for you... I just miss you terribly,

" his fingers trembled and when he looked down, there were drops of tears on her lips.

Alexander wiped them with his hand.

"Wait for me, Vicky. I will tell you once more how I never loved you...

"