I sat at my desk, trying to review a contract but I couldn't concentrate on anything.
Our conversation isn't over. We'll continue the conversation at home tonight.
These words kept echoing in my mind again and again.
I read the same paragraph of the contract three times without absorbing a single word. Every time I looked at a financial report, I remembered Asher's face when he'd found Julian in my office, especially the possessive fire in his eyes.
I stood abruptly, decided to walk a little to break the cycle of thoughts spiraling in my head. I walked towards my window, staring out at the Huangpu River.
What did he want to talk about tonight? Our marriage? My new role or something else entirely.
The work ended, and we drove together towards the penthouse. Asher pulled out his tablet immediately like everyday. He scrolled through emails. But his jaw was tight, his shoulders were rigid.
I stared out of the window. My mind raced with possibilities. Asher closed his tablet and set it aside. I glanced at him, he was looking at me.
"Almost home." He said.
I just gave a faint smile in response. I wasn't used to this type of Asher. The car stopped in the garage. We entered the elevator both of us silent, and within a few seconds, it opened into the penthouse. Asher walked in first, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it on a chair.
I followed slowly, my heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it. He loosened his tie, poured two glasses of wine from the bar.
"Sit." He said gesturing towards the sofa.
Asher didn't sit. He stood by the windows, staring out at the city lights.
"Asher, what is this about?" I couldn't wait anymore.
"Julian's interest in you is a problem."
I'd expected this. Expected him to tell me to avoid his cousin, to stay away, to not encourage whatever game Julian had been playing.
"But your defiance is a bigger one." He continued.
I stared at him.
"My defiance?"
"Yes." He took a slow sip of his wine looking at my face. "So, we need to establish new parameters."
"Parameters. You mean new rules for how to control me."
"I mean new rules for how we function together." His jaw tightened. "You're not decorative anymore, Rysa. You're involved in my business, close to sensitive information, positioned as my partner in professional settings which requires clarity about boundaries, expectations, authority."
"So this conversation is about making sure I remember my place."
"This conversation is about defining what your place actually is now. Because it's not what it was three days ago."
He moved closer, stopping just in front of where I sat, towering over me.
"We need rules. New ones about how we work now that you're not just my wife but my partner."
"I'm not one of your employees to be given rules." I said, my voice trembling slightly despite my effort to sound strong.
Asher's eyebrow raised slowly.
"Aren't you? You have an office. A title, responsibilities. You report to me. You execute work I assign. That sounds like an employee."
"I'm your wife…"
"Exactly." He cut me off. "You're my wife which makes the rules even more important."
He took a sip of his wine, his eyes still on me,, watching my reaction.
"If you were just an employee, the boundaries would be simple. But you're not just an employee. You're my wife who's now also my colleague. You live in my home, sleep in my bed, and now work in my company."
He set down his glass.
"That requires rules that protect both of us from the complications that arise when those roles blur."
"Protect us." I repeated. "Or protect you?"
"Both." His honesty surprised me. "I'm not pretending these rules are purely for your benefit, Rysa. They're for mine too."
"So what are these rules?" I asked.
"Rule one. You do not engage with Julian at all. Any interaction he initiates, you report to me immediately."
I stared at him.
"He's your cousin. He's…"
"He's a problem." Asher interrupted.
"A reckless problem who resents me and will use anything he perceives as weakness against me. And you have just become visible as something I value. That makes you a target."
Something I value!?
Since when I became someone Asher valued? Was working with him such an important deal to him that I've suddenly become from a trophy wife to an asset he values, something his enemies would use against him?? His weakness? Something his own family sees as a threat?
"So your solution is to forbid me from speaking to him?" I said brushing the thoughts floating in my mind trying to sound practical.
"My solution is to establish a clear boundary." He moved closer, stopping just in front of where I sat. "Julian doesn't get access to you, doesn't get to question you, charm you, or manipulate you. If he approaches you, you end the conversation and inform me immediately. I know my brother. I know how he operates. And I won't let him use you."
"Use me how?"
"However he can. To undermine me, to gather information, to create scandal or complications. Julian doesn't do anything without an agenda, and his agenda is always destructive."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to say I could handle Julian myself, that I didn't need Asher's protection or his rules. But I remembered Julian's eyes this morning. His questions.
What's your secret? What changed?
Asher was right. Julian had been testing, looking for weaknesses.
"Fine. Rule one: avoid Julian. What else?"
"Rule two: The performance we put on for the public does not end at the front door. In this house, you are my wife. That means you share my bed, you share my meals, and you will stop looking at me like I'm about to strike you."