CHAPTER 88: ONE MORE TRY

Deborah takes a deep breath. "You always told me that you wanted a divorce. It pained me. But I also realized that people can change at any moment. Sadly, I still hold on to the memory of our past. You came back from the kidnapping incident a changed man. Not the same man I fell in love with..." She paused for a moment to take a breath.

Then she continued, "Alright, I will stay in this marriage for one year and after that... if you still can’t love me just like before, I will agree to divorce. If our relationship is not worth saving, let’s just separate for good. No hard feelings between us. I will try to make the marriage work for the sake of our son Zed. I don’t want him to accuse me one day of giving up easily without a fight. One day, I want to tell him that I stayed in the marriage for at least one year, trying to make the marriage work and fix things between us, but all my efforts were wasted."

A muscle in Alpha Maxwell’s jaw twitched as guilt began to carve a hole in his heart.

"One day, I want our son to know that in our relationship it’s not me who is the problem... it’s you because I already gave you my all but you still didn’t appreciate all my efforts. Your family will be my witness that I tried so hard but in the end you refused to love me back, so I gave up the fight," she finally said, her words laced with bitterness and sorrow.

Alpha Maxwell groaned. So this is her dubious plan. He took a deep breath and said, "Deb, some fights are not worth fighting for. I don’t deserve your love and devotion. You will be much happier in someone else’s arms who can truly appreciate your worth."

"I know, that is why I have decided to only waste one year more of my precious life with you. Then if the result is still negative, I will take my life back and live my life on my own terms. So—are you willing to give our marriage a chance?" she asked, urging him to accept the challenge she had laid open to save their marriage. She wanted him to at least care a little just for their son’s sake.

Alpha Maxwell released a deep sigh. "Alright, let’s try for one year but you can’t force me to have sex with you if I don’t like it. You have to respect my decision. Do you understand?"

Deborah shrugged. "No problem. As you said before I could use sex toys to satisfy my sex cravings. I’ll do that for sure. I will buy sex toys of different sizes so that every time I’m horny, I will use them instead of nagging and begging you," she said casually.

"That’s good to hear," Alpha Maxwell said. He was pleased with this new version of Deborah that is much easier to talk to and more open minded than the previous one. He hopes she will stay true to everything she told him today. Worse she will relapse again and go back to her old nagging ways.

Deborah giggled, amused. She raised her wine glass. "Cheers to our new beginning!" she said merrily, smiling in amusement. Changing tactics and stepping back are always necessary to win a fight. If her old method doesn’t work, she is willing to try another strategy to win his love again. She has nothing to lose but everything to gain in the end. She was thankful and glad that she and her son were still alive today and the fire didn’t burn the mansion down. There are still so many things she wants to do with her life and killing herself by fire is not the answer to all her problems. She will never make that stupid mistake again.

"Cheers," Alpha Maxwell replied, noticing the smirk on her lips that she never bothered to hide. He wondered if she was only acting happy and sane today but would still do bad things later behind his back. It was difficult to anticipate her next move. But he would prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt. He will continue to observe her behavior in the days to come.

Deborah saw doubt flash in his eyes. "Hubby, don’t worry, this new version of me is much saner and wiser. You are right, some things are not worth fighting for, especially you." She directly said, taking a stab at his conscience, wanting him to feel a little bit of guilt for everything that happened to her.

Alpha Maxwell sighed heavily. "You are right, I’m not worth fighting for. So anytime you feel like you don’t want to suffer any longer, then we don’t have to wait for one year to come. We can file for divorce at anytime for your convenience. You can choose to take full custody of our son if that makes you happy. I will not object as long as you give me visitation rights. A few days a week will do."

"OK, I will inform you right away if that time finally arrives." She said, drinking the rest of her wine, fixing her gaze on the dish bowl. Annoyed that he was already talking about divorce and visitation rights despite the fact that she hadn’t agreed to divorce yet. She hated him every time he talked like this, not caring about her feelings at all.

A few minutes later, the couple finished their dinner and went to their separate rooms to rest for the night.

While lying down on the bed, Alpha Maxwell stared at the ceiling of his new room wondering if this was Deborah’s new scheme to win him over? Or could this be the beginning of something bad happening in the future?

But the problem is, it is hard to guess what Deborah is planning in her mind right now. She is unpredictable. He feels that beneath her new sane and calm persona lurks something sinister.

Sigh.

He doesn’t want to spend the rest of his night guessing at Deborah’s next actions.

Ah, he will just talk to the maid and ask her to observe Deborah’s behavior every day and report to him if she notices anything alarming in his wife’s behaviour.

He needs a distraction, and chatting with his sweetie pie always cheers him up and improves his mood.

He grabbed his phone from the side table and initiated a chat with Naomi.

Naomi entered the chat and greeted him with a heart emoji.

Alpha Maxwell: Sweetie, how is your day?

Naomi: Fine, how about you?

Alpha Maxwell: Fine today but last night was horrific.

Naomi: Huh? Why? What happened? Did something bad happen to our son, Jacob?

Alpha Maxwell: Don’t worry, our son is fine. It’s Deborah and baby Zed. They almost perished in the fire last night.

Naomi: Oh, why is that? The fire incident was terrifying... Can you tell me what happened?

Alpha Maxwell: It’s Deborah... she was horny last night. She was angry that I refused to have sex with her. After I left the room, she burned the curtain with a candle and that’s what greeted me when I returned to the room after our argument. Good thing I was able to stop the fire from spreading fast. Everything is fine now. They’re safe.

Naomi: That’s terrifying indeed. I’m glad the fire was put out quickly and nobody was hurt.

Alpha Maxwell: Yeah, it gave me a scare. Good thing I returned to the room immediately or else the whole mansion would burn down to the ground and many lives might perish last night.

Naomi: I’m so scared for our son’s safety. Why is Deborah acting like that?

Alpha Maxwell: Worry no more, sweetie. Deborah can’t touch our son. Currently, we are switching places with Grandma. She and baby Jacob are now back in the mansion while Deborah and I relocated to the bungalow house and made it our home.

Naomi: Oh... is that a good thing?

Alpha Maxwell: Deborah told me that she would give our marriage one year. If after one year I can’t still love her the same way as before, she will cooperate with the divorce. She will try to stay in the marriage for the sake of our son but if I can no longer love her just like before then she is willing to divorce me, because according to her, I’m not worth fighting for.

Naomi: Wow, that’s great to hear! Best news ever! I’m glad she is now willing to let you go after one year.

Alpha Maxwell: Yeah, she told me there was more to life than staying by my side. I’m glad she finally realized that I’m not the right man for her.

Naomi: Yeah, she deserves someone better. Someone who will love her unconditionally.

Alpha Maxwell: If only she hadn’t forced this marriage upon us... then things would have turned out differently.

Naomi: Agree...

Alpha Maxwell: How about you? How’s your situation with Edison now?

Naomi: Same as usual...

Alpha Maxwell: What do you mean? Is he still pressing you to have sex with him? Tell me, or I’m going to beat him to a pulp.

Naomi: No need for that. He won’t do that to me.

Alpha Maxwell: Just make sure you and him are not sleeping in the same room because he might force himself on you while you sleep. I will kill him if he does that!

Naomi: Please calm down... I will never allow him to touch my body. Besides, we sleep in separate rooms. Rest assured I’m safe at night.

Alpha Maxwell: I’m happy to hear that, sweetie. Just bear a little bit more. I’m confident Deborah won’t last a year. She will definitely ask me for a divorce within six months.

Naomi: I hope so... By the way, how’s baby Jacob today?

Alpha Maxwell: I’m sorry, I have no pic and video of our son as of the moment because I got busy with relocation the whole day. But tomorrow I will definitely send you a new pic and video.

Naomi: OK, no problem.

Alpha Maxwell: I love you so much, sweetie.

Naomi: I love you more!

The couple continued chatting for the next few hours and only bid each other goodnight when they finally started yawning, feeling sleepy.

The couple drifted into a deep slumber, wearing a smile on their faces and dreaming of each other in their sleep.