章 163: The Queen's Wrath Part 1

**CALLUM'S POV**

I was frozen in place. I don't know why, but I was so scared that I couldn't move. My wife, whom I had thought was sound asleep, was sitting at the table. She had just been sitting there in the dark, waiting for me to come back to the room. And the moment that I was in here, she scared the shit out of me.

"Sweetheart! You startled me!" I tried to play it off as I forced down the fear that had bubbled up in the back of my throat. "Why were you sitting in the dark? That is silly, sweetheart."

"Hush!" She snapped the word at me like it was a whip. I swear I even felt it hit me.

"Juliana? Sweetheart? What is wrong?" I was truly at a loss here. I had hoped that she would know that those rumors weren't true, but as it turns out she believed them. I am in so much trouble now.