Craved by the Wrong Volkov Chapter 228: She cheated

Raphael’s POV

Back on the rooftop, Braelyn looked stunned.

"They said I was cheating on you," she gasped, then laughed, finding it ridiculous. The clouds rumbled and the cold breeze curled around us

"They were rumours.." I whispered disappointed at myself. She froze then stared at with nothing short of disappointnt

"And you believed them" she said as a matter of fact. A cruel smile curled up her lips. "You ruined our marriage because of baseless rumours.." she spat

"Did I an so little to you?" She asked, her words were venomous.

"You really think I cheated on you, Raphael?" she barked, pouring out her anger. I buried my head ashad

"It’s not that simple Braelyn. Let continue, please," I pleaded. She shook her head and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"How could you imagine sothing like that?" She cried. "You know of my social anxiety Raphael. You knew why I was scared of those occasions and yet you..." her voice choked.

The look of betrayal in her eyes went straight to my heart." Please just let finish..." My voice choked. "Please.."

She went silent, and the wind howled with the tension. My lips parted and I slowly started recounting things.

********

"You are really head over heels for her just after a phone call, and you believe her. How naive are you Raphael?" Alia’s words shifted sothing in . She laughed hard, hugging her stomach. Tears hung in her eyes.

Alia’s laughter didn’t fade. It lingered, crawling under my skin, settling sowhere deep in my chest where logic should have lived.

I hated that it unsettled .

"How sure are you?" she asked again, quieter now. She was careful with her words. "You heard her voice, yes. But how sure are you that she wasn’t still at the office?"

I turned sharply. "She said she was in bed." I defended Braelyn as my life depended on it. I hated the way Alia spoke, as if she were so certain of her words.

"And people never lie?" Alia tilted her head. A soft smile played on her lips. "Especially when they have sothing to hide." Her words struck sothing it shouldn’t have reached. Doubt slowly grew in my heart. I started to doubt Lynn. My heart scread knowing she would never do sothing but the seed was already planted...

"She wouldn’t," I snapped. The certainty in my voice felt forced.

Alia didn’t argue. She didn’t need to. She simply watched , waiting for to crack.

"What if," she continued softly, "she made that call from her office? You know she works late. You’ve complained about it yourself." Braelyn worked late a lot of tis because of a new promotion she wanted. Despite my influence, she refused to get any unrited promotions. Her fighting spirit was one of the many things I loved most about her.

"Enough," I said, my jaw tightened.

But the damage was already done.

Braelyn’s office flashed in my mind, the dim lights, the quiet corridors she claid helped her focus. Then Richard’s na slipped back in. The image of him with her. I tried to shake off the thoughts. I just wanted to go ho and hold her in my arms..

But the thoughts still snuck in...

What if she’s with him right now?

The thought made my chest constrict painfully.

I scoffed, forcing a laugh. "My wife isn’t cheating on ," I said more like I was convincing myself. The bond we had couldn’t fade that quickly.

"Then prove it," Alia said lightly. "Go there. You’ll find nothing. And I’ll never bring it up again." she urged . If Braelyn was not cheating. She wouldn’t be in the office now.

I stared at her dumbfounded. She wanted to catch my wife cheating on . She smiled like she already knew the outco.

"Fine," I said coldly. "We’ll go. And when we find nothing, you’ll regret ever putting this filth in my head."

Her smile widened. I agreed because I knew Braelyn was at ho.

******

The drive was silent. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. The city lights blurred past the window, my thoughts spiralling faster than the car. I told myself this was nothing. Just paranoia. Just Alia being Alia.

Then we pulled into the basent car park, and I drove slowly to find a spot to park. That’s when I saw it. Braelyn’s favourite car. It was a car I bought for her back when she was in uni as a present when she turned 18 in her second year...

She had other cars but that particular erald rcedes-Benz S-Class from 2018 was her favourite. She had other cars but still drove it, most tis. I stared at the making sure it was the sa plate number, the sa small dent it had on the side she refused to do anything about it

She claid she didn’t want to touch any details of the first car I got her. Rembering the smile on her face, my heart broke all over again.

My heart slamd violently against my ribs. No it couldn’t be. She must have left it earlier. Forgotten it, took another car or told the driver to pick her up. I kept on looking for excuses.

I found an empty spot to park far from her car, but it had a good view of the elevator. My entire thoughts were in chaos and Alia sensed this.

Her voice whispered into my ears. "Call her." she urged

"I don’t need to...." I shook my head. At that point, I was fine going back ho and pretending this was all a nightmare.

"Call her," she pushed again. "This is your chance to clear your doubt..."

I exhaled sharply and dialled her number. My hands trembled. She answered almost imdiately.

"Raphael?" Her voice was calm. That soft tone almost stopped the storm in my heart.

"Why are you still awake Lynn?" I asked. "I thought you already went to bed. "

A brief pause. Then her voice followed, "I had a nightmare. I woke up feeling like sothing bad was going to happen. I couldn’t sleep."

My grip tightened on the phone. "You’re at ho?" My heart skipped a beat.

"Yes," she replied slowly. "Why are you asking? Is sothing wrong?" she beca paranoid. "Did sothing happen at the event? Please just co ho..."

Footsteps echoed faintly in the background. My stomach twisted. "I’m worried," she added quietly. " It might rain soon. I am scared."

Sothing in my chest loosened. I smiled despite myself. "I will. I promise." The fear in her made relax. This was just a misunderstanding, and I wanted to go ho to my wife.

I turned to Alia, a sharp edge of triumph cutting through the dread. "Satisfied?" I mouthed with a smug smile still on the phone with Braelyn.

Before she could respond, the elevator doors slid open and two figures stepped out.

I recognised the man instantly. Richard the bastard and beside him walked a woman. Ebony black hair, average height, sa posture, sa habit..

The way she tilted her head while listening, the phone pressed to her ear. She glanced in my direction, but didn’t see because my car was hidden, but I saw her.

It was Braelyn’s face... she looked too eerily similar to Braelyn. For a single, devastating second, my mind refused to process it..The world tilted.

She was also on a phone call, but I couldn’t hear her because of the distance. However, Braelyn’s voice cut through the phone, accompanied by the sa footsteps in the background.

"Please hurry back," she said then added.

"I love you, Raphael," she whispered.

"I love you too," I replied without missing a beat, despite my heart being literally shattered. The call hung up