Chapter 183 | You’re Important To me

Chapter 183: 183 | You’re Important To me

’Sorry I ran off because I couldn’t stop thinking about you girls?’

Nop, that sentence would never leave his mouth under any circumstances short of torture.

He was trying his best not to lie to his wives. He had learned, through bitter experience and the slow, painful process of building trust with three traumatized women, that secrets were the termites that ate through the foundation of any relationship.

But, some things were better left unsaid.

They ate in silence as the girls enjoyed their meal.

Mira kept glancing at him and she was subtle about it.

But Dexter noticed every single one and he said nothing.

He kept his attention on his food. He had gotten very good at pretending he didn’t notice things over the past few weeks.

Lyra was buried in her food. She wasn’t even trying to savor the taste. She was simply inhaling the food like a vacuum.

Selene closed her eyes as she ate quietly.

Halfway through the meal, Dexter remembered something.

"Oh," he said, setting down his spoon. "While I go deliver the meals to Tessa’s father’s bakery, I also have a few errands to run."

The girls glaced at him but continued eating.

"One involves getting a new place," Dexter continued. "And the other involves the monster outbreak I participated in recently."

"Whoosh!"

All three of them stopped eating immediately and simultaneously. As though someone had pressed a pause button on the entire room.

Lyra’s spoon froze mid-scoop. Selene’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth. Mira’s Spectral Arms went rigid.

Three heads immediately lifted as the pairs of eyes locked onto Dexter with the intensity of mothers hearing the word "hospital" in a phone call about their child.

Dexter quickly raised his hand and clarified.

"Don’t worry," he said, letting out a small, reassuring smile. "While it is regarding the monster outbreak, it has nothing to do with participating in another one. I just want to meet with the comrades I fought alongside. Discuss a few things with them. That’s all."

Lyra and Selene held his gaze for a moment longer. Then, slowly, they put their heads back down and resumed eating.

Mira did not.

She continued looking at him, her crimson eyes searching his face as though not entirely satisfied with the explanation but had decided not to press the issue.

Dexter met her gaze for a beat, then returned to his food.

---

Lyra finished first.

She stood up, carried her bowl to the sink and walked to the living room couch where the Primordial Beast Egg was there.

Selene finished second. She placed her spoon neatly beside her bowl, stood up, and drifted toward the backyard.

Then it was just Mira and Dexter.

Dexter had finished his own food several minutes ago. He was sitting at the table, waiting for Mira to finish so he could collect the plates and head out. His schedule was tight. Delivery to the bakery. Housing agent at ten. Squad meeting at twelve. Every minute he spent sitting here was a minute he didn’t have.

But he waited for his wives to finish eating first.

Mira’s Spectral Arms continued feeding her. The movements were becoming smoother each day, the mana limbs responding to her mental commands with increasing precision.

Then suddenly, the spoon stopped.

The Spectral Arm holding it lowered the utensil to the bowl as the spoon clattered softly against the ceramic.

Mira looked directly at Dexter.

Dexter blinked.

"Are you not going to continue eating?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mira didn’t answer immediately as she held his gaze. Her crimson eyes studied his face as thd silence stretched.

Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen.

Dexter began to feel slightly uncomfortable under the weight of her stare. He opened his mouth to say something but Mira spoke first.

"What is happening with you?"

Dexter blinked. "What do you mean?"

Mira raised an eyebrow as she gave him a look.

"You’ve been acting a bit weird with me. So tell me. What is happening with you?"

Her brows suddenly furrowed as she spoke. "Are you finally tired? Am I being too much of a burden?"

The last question landed in the quiet kitchen like a stone dropped into still water.

Dexter’s expression changed slightly and his gaze turned serious as he shook his head.

"I have never seen you as a burden," he coldly and seriously. "And I need you to stop calling yourself that."

Mira’s lips parted slightly. She hadn’t expected that tone.

"Any man who got married to you and called you a burden would be the stupidest person alive."

He held her gaze and his eyes were steady, his voice was firm.

"So stop calling yourself that."

He paused.

"You are important to me. You, Lyra, and Selene. You three are the most important people in my life right now. And that is not going to change."

The kitchen was very quiet.

Mira stared at him.

She had expected him to respond, had expected reassurance and had expected him to say something kind and move on. A quick "of course not" and a change of subject.

She had not expected this.

She had not expected him to look at her with that expression, speak with that conviction and say the words with the kind of absolute, unshakable certainty that left no room for doubt.

The words had stunned her.

She couldn’t say anything as her throat tightened and her crimson eyes, which could cut steel on a normal day, had gone slightly wide.

Her lips suddenly curled upward.

Then she immediately turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze. Her ears had turned pink. Her Spectral Arms had retracted behind her back, disappearing completely.

Dexter chuckled softly.

He stood up, reached across the table, and picked up her bowl.

As he turned toward the kitchen.

But before he could take more than a few steps, he felt something grip his wrist.

Dexter smiled and looked down

But then, his entire body went rigid as his face changed drastically with wide-eyed shock. His jaw tightened, his eyes widened and his pupils contracted.

The grip on his wrist was warm, small, soft and strong.

Dexter looked down and his body trembled.