Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
He remained quiet.
“Unless you’re a liar? A coward and a liar?”
He started to rub his knuckles. “I didn’t realize how she felt about you.”
“I told you she loved me.”
“You said you thought she loved you.”
“No, I knew,” I snapped. “I told you that, and you chose to disregard it.”
He sucked in the hollows of his cheeks before he continued. “This is not easy for me—”
“Good.”
He ignored me and continued. “But seeing my daughter cry all day…was one of the shittiest things I’ve ever been through. I know you love my daughter. Please give her another chance—”
“No.”
“You said you wanted my daughter. You have her.”
“But it’s only a part of her. A very small part. The rest of her is locked inside a golden cage that I can’t reach. She’s always got one foot in the room and the other in the hall. She never fully lives in the moment with me because she’s thinking about how I dumped her for some woman who doesn’t hold a candle to her. And you know what? A part of me doesn’t blame her. She shouldn’t be with a man who would do that. She’s too good for that. Our relationship is irrevocably destroyed—because of you.”
“It’s not irrevocably destroyed—”
“It’s over, Dante.”
“It’s not over if you keep wearing your ring.”
My hand had been underneath the table the entire time, so there was no way he could have seen it. That meant Theo had told him previously.
“Please talk to her. I’ve given her to you as you asked—”
“I want to clear my name. I want her to know that I’ve been loyal and committed to her since the moment she was mine. I want her to know the truth, Dante. That’s what I fucking want. Convincing her to forgive my cheating ass is not what I asked.”
His eyes darted away, his hands continuing to massage his knuckles. He seemed to fade from the conversation because he didn’t look at me. He remained distant, like the request was ridiculous. But then he looked at me again. “If I tell her, will you work it out with her?”
The room was suddenly silent because the conversations were blocked out by the sound of my racing heart. I felt so much adrenaline, enough to fuel me for a fistfight with twelve opponents. My true desire had been dropped right in front of my face, within arm’s reach. But it was bittersweet. Because I’d already told her the truth and she didn’t believe me—and we’d never overcome that. The truth was staring her right in the face, but she couldn’t see it. Instead, she believed the lies. We’d been married for months, and she continued to hold on to the past instead of stepping into the future with me. “No.”
His eyes narrowed at the revelation.
I was just as surprised by my answer. “But if you love your daughter, you’ll tell her the truth—because she deserves to know.”
Chapter 11
Scarlett
I sat in the armchair in the living room, a warm cup of coffee on the end table beside me. It was afternoon, the sunlight coming through the open curtains and flooding the room with the first warmth I’d felt since the beginning of fall. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there. Didn’t bother to take a sip of my coffee.
I somehow felt worse now than I had when I’d watched Axel walk into that restaurant with Cassandra.
Didn’t think that was possible.
I left him, so a clean break was what I should want, but I felt like I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. The man of my dreams had been at my fingertips, but now he was out of reach. The loss was so inconsolable I wasn’t sure why I’d left in the first place. I felt guilty, like I’d made the wrong decision, like I was in the wrong.
A knock sounded on my door.
My eyes immediately flicked to the door and stared at the wood, taking a moment to realize that someone wanted to speak to me. It wasn’t Axel. He hadn’t come to my doorstep to apologize for his ruthless words. If he were going to ask for my forgiveness, he wouldn’t have waited so long.
I left the armchair and slowly walked to the front door, taking so long that whoever was there had probably already moved on. Without checking the peephole, I opened it, indifferent to whoever was on the other side.
It was a man I didn’t know.
Wordlessly, he held up the heavy envelope that must be stuffed with a hundred papers. “You’ve been served.” He held it out for me to take.
I stared at the manila envelope, knowing the contents without opening the flap.
When I didn’t take it, he tossed it at my feet. “Have a good day.”
I cried for the rest of the day. Cried to the point that I gave myself a migraine and had to pop a couple pills and force myself to sleep it off. When I woke up, it was dark, and a glance at the clock on the nightstand told me it was almost eight in the evening.