Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Is that why you keep telling me our marriage isn’t supposed to be real?”
The tremor in his wife’s tone nearly killed him. “Wednesday, please—”
“I thought you were just being cautious. But I didn’t know you were still waiting for her to come back.”
Jessica was about to take a step forward when Gavine’s gaze snapped to her, and the rage in his eyes made her blood freeze.
“Get out. You’ve done enough.”
“But darling—”
“Don’t push me.”
Jessica couldn’t believe the way he was looking at her now. Like she was something dirty he’d scraped off his shoe.
What the hell?
She had thought he would be back to his senses by now, realize she was still the better choice than Wednesday, but she had clearly underestimated the lure of her sister’s virginity.
Gavine tried to reach for Wednesday’s hand, but his wife clumsily backed away as if his touch was poison. The movement made the sheet slip dangerously low, and she had to grab for it, the gesture making her look even more fragile.
“Please let me explain,” he said hoarsely.
Wednesday shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Just answer my question—”
“Look at you, for pity’s sake,” Jessica snapped, unable to contain herself any longer. Her mask of vulnerability cracked completely, revealing the vicious woman beneath. “Do you really think he’d want someone like you when he has someone like me?”
The words hung in the air like poison, and Gavine saw red.
In five seconds flat, he grabbed Jessica’s arm, hauled her across the room, and shoved her out into the hallway before slamming the heavy oak door in her face. The sound echoed through the master suite like a gunshot.
But when he turned around, he saw that he still wasn’t fast enough, because his wife was now crying in earnest, tears silently tracking down her cheeks as she stared at him with those wounded violet eyes.
No. God, no.
He strode forward, and this time he didn’t let her stop him, didn’t let the haunted expression on her face hinder him from reaching out to grab her shoulders.
“It’s not what you think,” he gritted out, because already he could feel her slipping farther and farther away from him.
“I love you.”
He thought the words would change things, thought they would break through the wall of hurt Jessica had just built between them.
Only to find out that he had said them too late.
“I wish I could believe you,” Wednesday said brokenly. “But I don’t.”
It was just like Clarice had warned him—
If you don’t start taking proper care of your wife, God might just take her away from you.
And the realization terrified him, driving Gavine to his knees mentally as he sought the presence that he had always sensed but chosen to ignore.
Please, God.
He gazed at his wife, pale and still in tears before him, and his chest tightened to the point of pain.
If you’re real...
He had all the money he could ever want, but it was only now that he realized they meant nothing at all. He was still going to lose his wife.
I need You.
And he could only think of one person who could stop it, just one being powerful enough to change her mind and grant Gavine another chance even if he didn’t deserve it.
Help me, God.
Please.
Chapter Ten
“LET ME HELP YOU.”
Gavine’s words, spoken in an uneven tone, catch me off guard, and all I can do is stare in a daze as he picks my scattered clothes from the hardwood floor, each piece a reminder of how completely I’d surrendered to him just hours ago.
“Raise your arms, please.”
I’m unable to meet his gaze even as I do as he asks, mostly out of numbness and resignation. Even I know I’m not okay. So much so that I need help getting dressed. It’s just ironic that the person so carefully assisting me now is also the same person who’s just crushed my heart to pieces.
The silk sheets fall to the floor with a whisper when he steps back. I glance down, and somehow, for reasons I don’t even understand...
It’s seeing that I’m dressed now, and remembering that I was naked earlier when Jessica saw us...
I just don’t know why, but I start crying again.
“I’m sorry, Wednesday.”
The hoarseness of his voice underscores his pain, and it hurts even more to hear this...because I don’t know what to think about it.
Does he feel bad that Jessica was telling the truth, but he hadn’t meant for me to learn about it this way? Had he only been making do with me all this time?
I’m just so tired.
So, so tired.
And before I even realize what I’m saying, my thoughts have already tumbled out in whispered words.
“I want to leave—”
But his response, albeit still hoarsely voiced, is immediate.
“No.”
And so my head jerks up because I just can’t believe he’s stopping me from leaving.
“Why?” I choke out. “I already know the truth—”