Married 24 Times

There was something incredibly satisfying about seeing such a familiar scene from such a different perspective.

Rather than staring from afar at Julian allowing Mia to touch his arm and watching as Mia's face revealed the unmistakable emotion of uninhibited love towards him, now I was the one standing beside Julian. His hand rested squarely on the small of my back as he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"No matter how many times you turn out to be right about what's going to happen, I still can't help but feel impressed."

Of course I was right. How many times had I endured the horrors of this day? Seven times? Eight? Too many. But this time was different.

So incredibly, satisfyingly different.

Mia approached us from further down the red carpet. Her face had frozen stiff when she had seen Julian and I together.

"Alice! I haven't seen you in what feels like forever!" A fake smile spread across her face as she leaned in to hug me with one arm. I barely pulled away from Julian as I accepted the false affection.

"It's only been a few months," I said, returning her smile. Mine was not fake, however; mine just came from a place of satisfaction at seeing her so unsettled.

"It feels like it's been much longer than that! We used to hang out all the tim-"

Mia cut off as her eyes dropped to my neck. My smile grew wider.

Ahh… so satisfying.

Mia's whole body went rigid as her hand limply grasped at the necklace at her neck.

The same necklace that Julian's mother had sent home with Ileana two days ago. In my first life, I had been told the necklace was a gift from Julian, but really it had been a tool to humiliate me. My oh-so-thoughtful mother-in-law had thought it would be fabulous if both her daughter-in-law and her son's "mistress" wore the same necklace, to truly put me in my place.

Things were different now, though.

The necklace that hung around my neck was twenty-four diamonds in a circle on a silver chain, custom ordered for me from Julian. There was not another necklace made to look like it.

Who else would pick such a specific number of diamonds, after all?

"Is something wrong?" I asked innocently as I gently touched the diamonds at my throat. Mia's stiff smile started to crack a bit.

"N-No, sorry, I just got dizzy for a moment."

"Is your dress feeling a bit too tight?"

I saw her eyes dart down my figure then back up to my face. It was cruel of me to mention something like Mia's body. I knew she was incredibly insecure about her weight, but I was feeling vicious.

"I'm perfectly fine." Her fingers clenched around the necklace she wore. "There's nothing wrong with my dress."

"Oh, that's good. I worry that you party too much and don't take better care of yourself."

Mia glanced at Julian. "I-I don't party much anymore. I don't have you to go with!"

"I keep her busy." Julian slid his hand around to my waist and pulled me against him. I looked up at him when he surprised me with a kiss against my lips. "Especially at night."

Though I had asked him to act affectionate in front of Mia for today, the blush that spread across my cheeks at that moment was definitely not an act.

I wanted to pinch him. I was not prepared for that sort of attack!

He gave me a mischievous grin.

Looking back at Mia, I decided not to get mad at him for embarrassing me in public, since her smile had completely dropped from her face. Seeing something like the man she loved kiss another woman right in front of her was too much for even her fake smile.

"I should go find my seat inside," she finally managed to say, bringing back a smile that wouldn't have fooled even the most naive person. There was nothing warm about that smile.

"I'll call you later to make plans?" I called after her. I didn't actually plan on calling her. Ever. But it was the final nail in the coffin for today.

She nearly tripped as she rushed to get inside the theater.

Ahh… seriously. So. Satisfying.

"She really was trying to humiliate you." Julian's soft voice above my head sounded pained. There was no way he would ever fully understand everything I had felt in my past lives facing this moment, but I knew he was trying. I didn't reply for a moment. Eventually, I turned towards him and lightly pinched his arm.

"But someone embarrassed me to death instead!"

He let out a small chuckle, and I felt the tension that had started to creep into my shoulders disappear. I didn't want there to constantly be moments of sadness between us. All I had known in the past was sadness and pain. I wanted to see him smile and hear his laugh.

"You need to get used to it. I don't plan to stop." His other arm came around me as he put a kiss on my forehead.

"There are way too many people watching!" I protested.

"No one is watching."

I glanced over towards the walkway lined with reporters and cameramen. They were busy interviewing and photographing the people just arriving at the premiere. Still… I couldn't help it if I was easily embarrassed by his affections. I didn't know how to handle them yet!

"But what if they see?"

"They don't matter." Julian gave me a wicked smile as his lips kissed my nose.

"I… I can't think that." I tried to pull gently out of his arms, but they were locked firmly in place around my waist.

"I'll train you fully."

"W-What does that mean?!"

"So you get used to whatever I do to you, whenever I do it."

His eyes… they weren't kidding. This crazy bastard! He was deadly serious!

"What are you, some kind of exhibitionist?"

The wicked grin returned. "That's not a bad idea."

"Absolutely not!"

I hit his shoulder as he laughed, my face flaming at the images that suddenly flooded my brain. We were still refraining from going… all the way to the end… but Julian took every opportunity to tease me mercilessly.

Now it seemed like he was willing to tease me even in public. What kind of weird switch had been flipped in this man?!