'I love you', he woke up on a hoa.r.s.e shout.

His tormented gaze couldn't meet the eyes glittering with hatred, next to him.

"Safe to a.s.sume that it wasn't me causing that wet dream since I am sleeping right next to you, as chaste as your own f****** sister," Mei Zhen snarled at Tang.

He remained mute. It had been a fortnight since they first stepped in Italy. At the beginning of the trip, Tang had been a determined lover. He had ensured that he was paying enough attention both in and out of bed to his new bride. But the haunting image of a pair of teary green eyes, full of reproach kept chasing him.

Maybe it was the recent proximity to Jia Li which was causing this upheaval. He simply couldn't seem to put her out of his head. If he blocked her in the waking hours, she came back with a vengeance in the unguarded late nights. He hadn't had such a vivid dream in years now. Tonight's episode had shaken him to the core and it was all HER fault.

Frustrated by a lack of response, Mei Zhen fumed, "the idea of honeymoon was to take out time to know each other intimately before we go back to our hectic routine lives. There was no s.p.a.ce for a third person to come into this. But you have carried her along, not just in your head but also in our bed!"

"I am really sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just need sometime. This whole relations.h.i.+p is too new for me. I promise this won't happen again", he hated to sound so guilty.

"Do not make promises which you can't keep. You think this is the first time that you have screamed out like this? I have been watching this scenario for some days now. Tonight is the first night you woke up post the 'episode'. Maybe now you would know why I started disliking the s.e.x between us post the initial couple of days. Or maybe you didn't bother thinking about it since it was convenient for you. You wouldn't have had to superimpose her face over mine every time…" she trailed off, hurt in her voice.

He didn't know whether to acknowledge the truth of her words or give her false consolation. Either way wasn't fair to her.

"I am sorry…truly sorry. This entire mess is my fault. I thought that I was ready to move ahead in life. You may not believe me but I have tried so hard to give my hundred percent to this relation", he implored.

His admission incensed her further.

"If you have had to try soooo hard to make the honeymoon work, what are the chances of this marriage working? You know what I think? I think you are emotionally unavailable to everyone. No wonder your father confides in me more than he has ever done in you… his words, not mine. Why do you have to behave as if you are the star crossed lover? Failed relations.h.i.+ps happen to everyone. Everyone moves on eventually. Why are you still stuck, that too on someone else's wife?" she shouted.