Page 41 of His Infatuated Wife

I have my answer when Jacques takes me inside the opera house through a private entrance, and it just happens to run parallel to the balcony seats...where someone awfully familiar is seated.

Eva?

I stop dead in my tracks, but when no one on the other side of the window turns my way, I realize that I'm staring at them through a two-way mirror.

"They can't see me," I realize out loud.

"They can't."

And now I can't stop staring at Eva.

"What is she doing here?"

"Coincidence."

Yeah right.

"She looks like she's being made to eat bird poop."

"That's probably how she feels, knowing that tonight is all about you."

"And you...don't feel the urge to save her or---"

My husband frowns, and I grin.

"I'm just kidding."

"Riri..."

"You didn't have to do this," I say honestly, "but thank you. Proof of being the number one woman in your life is always appreciated."

"How I've hurt you with Eva is something I'll regret for the rest of my life. All I can do is find ways to make it up to you, and this is one of them."

My husband suddenly cups my cheeks. "I'm proud of you, Riri. Always."

I bite my lip hard because I know I can't afford to cry.

"You're my greatest blessing, darling. Thank you for taking me back."

But even though I know I can't risk having mascara run down my cheeks---

"I love you so much!"

What I can afford to ruin and retouch is my lipstick, and that's exactly what happens when I throw myself in his arms, and my husband immediately covers my mouth with his.

"Break a leg, my love," Jacques whispers later on.

"Don't take your eyes off me, you promise?"

"You're the only one I see."

And so it is for me.

Always.

Because when I go up the stage, it's just like the first day we met.

I sing for him, and only him.

Every word.

Every gesture.

Every gentle sway of my hips.

It's all for him, and only him.

---