C7

Maya awoke abruptly as she heard her husband snoring lightly on the couch beside her. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at him intently for several seconds before she sat up and leaned forward on her elbows to stare down at his face. He didn't stir even after she gently touched him on the shoulder. When he continued sleeping soundly, she finally realized that he was exhausted beyond measure. That wasn't a surprise given how hard he had been working lately and the fact that they were expecting guests for dinner in a couple of hours... Therefore, she decided to turn over in bed and continue watching television while waiting for him to wake up...

Her attention shifted towards the clock located above the TV stand in the living room where she could see that it was almost four in the afternoon; however, she didn't care since it gave her plenty of time before their visitors arrived later that night. She had cleaned the entire apartment earlier that evening, including washing the dishes and dusting everything inside it... So, she wouldn't need to worry about doing any chores before the party. Instead, she planned on spending some quality time with her family by relaxing in front of the television together with their friends. At least, that was the goal anyway since she wasn't sure how well they were going to get along considering that neither of them liked the other person. Nevertheless, there weren't many options available for hosting parties that were close enough to home for convenience purposes, especially during holidays; so this particular gathering was inevitable. Besides, she couldn't think of any better places they could have gone to celebrate New Year's Eve... As long as they didn't mind traveling long distances and dealing with the crowds...

When she glanced back over at her husband and noticed him waking up, Maya turned away quickly in order to hide the smile on her lips. Despite being a bit annoyed by his constant nagging, she still loved him dearly and appreciated his efforts in keeping the house clean... Even though he insisted on doing most of the cleaning himself instead of asking her for help whenever he needed assistance. Of course, he didn't realize it at the moment since he still looked disoriented. That allowed her to maintain a poker face by hiding her happiness. Once he woke up properly, he would probably be able to tell why she smiled and then wonder what was happening between them. But it didn't really matter because they were married now; thus, he could never find out about any extramarital affairs... Or at least not if she kept her mouth shut tight.

After he took a few deep breaths and began stretching, he stretched his arms upward while yawning widely. Then he reached over and grabbed his phone on top of the coffee table in the center of the living room; which caused him to jump suddenly when a notification appeared on its screen. Glancing down at it curiously, he read the message and his jaw dropped in shock: 'I want to fuck you now!'

The words stunned him instantly, causing him to look around restlessly while rubbing the back of his neck. After realizing that no one was near enough to listen in on them, Daniel let out a small laugh before replying with an affirmative text. His wife immediately responded enthusiastically, encouraging him to come to her bedroom whenever he finished reading the message. He replied in kind by sending her an emoji showing a red devil's tongue sticking out of its mouth with three hearts flying above it before putting his phone back onto the table with an awkward expression. "Sorry about that. Someone sent me that..."

She blinked several times rapidly, clearly confused by his confession. "Someone?"

He nodded silently while staring straight ahead. "Yeah... It was an anonymous sender... And I don't remember who sent it to me either... Probably some random guy I talked to online sometime..."

"How did he send it to you...?" she asked hesitantly. "Did you talk to him on the internet...?"

He shook his head slowly, giving her an apologetic smile in return. "No... I received it via email... And it's definitely not spam because the subject line says, 'I want to fuck you now,' rather than something stupid like, 'Free Viagra.' You can open it up and see for yourself..."

Her cheeks flushed deeply when she recognized what he was referring to. He was right; whoever wrote those messages to him had done so with complete seriousness and purpose – unlike the usual nonsense spammers used to send him over the years. In fact, she knew for certain that she'd seen that same message somewhere before... It was just a matter of time before she remembered where she'd first come across it... "Wait a minute... I know exactly what that was..."

Daniel stared blankly at her for several moments before glancing back down at his phone again since she seemed to be lost in thought. He waited patiently for her to respond... Which he hoped would happen soon since she had promised to explain everything and he was getting impatient. Unfortunately, she didn't say anything else besides, "It's nothing."

He sighed heavily at the cryptic remark before turning back towards the living room's window. "Are you gonna tell me or not?" he questioned irritably, unable to tolerate the silence anymore.

Maya frowned at his tone. "Fine... If it'll make you feel better, I will." She sat up straighter in bed and leaned toward the laptop that rested on the desk at the side of their bed, opening the computer's browser. She typed in the address bar, which automatically opened a new page on the screen when the connection was successful. When the website loaded up, she scrolled down to the bottom of the page until she found a section labeled 'Contact Us'. After clicking on it, she entered her personal information into the form fields and clicked submit. Moments later, a new web page popped up in place of the old one, displaying the sender's name and contact details. Before she could finish looking at them, her mobile device started vibrating loudly next to her head since she left it on top of the bedside table. "Whoops!"

She glanced at the display and saw that it was a text from the sender, informing her that they would be arriving within the hour if they were planning on coming by car. A second message followed shortly thereafter telling her that they would be driving there in a luxury sports vehicle instead. "Okay..." she muttered as she put both devices back onto the table before standing up and walking to the bathroom.

Once she returned to the bedroom, she picked up the clothing items laid out neatly on the floor before sitting back down on the edge of the bed to dress herself. She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans before picking up a light blue button-down shirt that matched with her underwear. Next, she walked to the closet where she selected a white bra and matching panties before grabbing a dark purple cardigan sweater to wear overtop. Finally, she chose two pairs of simple black pumps before heading to the kitchen to pour a glass of water before leaving their bedroom. Once she was fully dressed, she headed outside to join her husband in the living room... Only to notice him leaning against the couch with an odd expression on his face.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged helplessly while running his fingers through his hair nervously. "Nothing..."

"Daniel..."

"Umm... What time is it...?"

She checked her watch while frowning deeply. "Just past six..."

"Oh... Well... Do you think we should go downstairs and meet our guests...?"

"They're already here... They've been sitting in the dining room for half an hour already..."

His eyes widened slightly as he quickly stood up and began rushing around the living room. The way he moved made her giggle quietly while watching him; he looked like he wanted desperately to hurry but had to walk very slowly due to the speed of his heartbeats. "Do you think they heard us...?"

She shook her head softly, watching him carefully while making sure not to break her composure despite being amused by his antics. "Nope! We were pretty quiet this whole time..."

As he finally sat down on the sofa beside her, his hands were shaking violently, forcing him to grip the armrests tightly. He gulped once before clearing his throat several times before speaking, his voice barely audible over the sounds of his heartbeat hammering wildly inside his chest. "So... Did you get what you needed? Because I'm ready to leave whenever you are... This place gives me the creeps."

Her brow furrowed when she noticed how nervous he had gotten upon seeing their visitors; especially after all of his attempts at acting nonchalant had failed miserably. But she was determined to keep up her poker face regardless since she wasn't about to admit that he had scared her as well... Not in front of others, at least. Besides, she couldn't be certain whether the man seated across from her had been the source behind the messages sent to her husband. She was hoping that she could figure out who sent them eventually, but that would only happen if she kept her mouth shut tight. Thus, she forced herself to remain silent as she watched Daniel stand up and follow after her; although she was secretly relieved that he wasn't following her out the door with a gun pointed at her head and her family held hostage by the masked men. However, she had to make a mental note to be extra careful and try avoiding any conversations about extramarital affairs and adultery in general, just to be safe... For now.