Chapter 5
“Ms. Miller.” Harrison didn’t even look at her. “This suit was twenty-eight grand. Have
the reimbursement sent through my secretary by the end of the day.”
Then he turned to me, and the ice in his voice melted into desperation. “Baby, nothing
happened. She spilled coffee on me. That’s all. It burned me. Look.”
He shoved his sleeve up before I could argue. The skin underneath was an angry red, a
real burn, raw enough that I winced.
Audrey’s face had gone pale, her composure barely intact. “Mrs. Hayes, I’m so sorry. This was entirely my fault. There’s nothing going on between us, I promise. I’ll give you
two some privacy.”
She was out the door before the sentence was even finished. The comments exploded.
[WAIT why didn’t the ML just let her leave?? she literally handed him the divorce on a
silver platter]
[the FL does not even HAVE any money and he is making her pay for a suit?? everything
he owns is supposed to be hers eventually anyway, this is so wrong]
[calm down everyone he is obviously just putting on a show for the wife. no way he actually makes the FL pay. he is just managing the situation until this one leaves]
I schooled my features and tried again.
“Harrison, I want a divorce.”
If he was just keeping up appearances, then I would make it easy for him. The comments
were right. They were the leads, and I was just the wife in the way. What right did I have
to stand between them?
Harrison’s jaw tightened. He looked like he might be sick.
“I messed up. I know. But please, don’t do this. No divorce. Okay? I won’t so much as
talk to another woman again. I’ll tell you everything. Anything you want to know, baby,
I swear.”
Chapter 5
50.00%
I shook my head. “You don’t have to do that. I won’t get in your way anymore. You and
Ms. Miller… that is your business.”
Harrison caught my hand and gently pressed it near the burn, forcing me to look. “Don’t you even care? Baby, there’s nothing going on. There never has been.”
I stared at the raw skin and felt my resolve crack, just a little.
[why is the ML begging HER for sympathy?? go after the FL!! she is the one who just ran out!!]
[as if this woman could care about anyone but herself. honestly be grateful she did not slap you]
I gently turned his arm over. “Do you have any burn cream here?”
Something flickered in his eyes. Hope, maybe. “No, but I’ll have my secretary pick some up right now.”
He looked at me like I was the only thing keeping him on his feet.
But I didn’t give him anything back. I waited for the cream with a blank face. When it arrived and he undid his shirt, I put it on the same way: quietly, carefully, with complete detachment.
What I did not know was that my silence was hurting him more than any tantrum ever had.
He caught my hand and pressed it flat against his chest. “Baby.”
I pulled away. It wasn’t that I had stopped loving him. I was just so exhausted that the love couldn’t fight its way to the surface anymore.
“Send me the divorce papers.” I picked up my bag. “I’m going home.”
Before he could say a word, I added, “My parents’ house.”
