The one thing she had desperately begged and fought for was nothing more than a cheap bargaining chip he used to coax her.
It didn't suit her?
What he really meant was that she wasn't worthy of it!
A suffocating wave of despair washed over her, making her chest physically ache.
But really, shouldn't she be entirely used to this by now?
"Why did I ever expect anything from you?" she murmured softly to herself.
In that moment, Claire looked as fragile as spun glass, as though the slightest touch would shatter her completely.
Wilbur looked at her, his voice tight with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just tired," she breathed.
"I'll take you back to your hotel."
Claire didn't object.
She just wanted to escape this place as fast as she could.
She didn't want to spend another single second in Felix's presence!
Wilbur gently guided Claire toward the exit.
Felix instinctively wanted to block their path.
After all, she was his wife.
But before a single word could leave his lips, Claire locked eyes with him, her gaze
so chillingly calm it stopped him dead in his tracks.
He saw two unmistakable words carved into that hollow stare.
Absolute disappointment.
The words died in his throat. All he could do was stand there, utterly paralyzed, watching another man lead his wife away.
Later that night, the bass pounded through the walls of an upscale bar.
Felix was already blackout drunk.
Shawn Selwyn arrived late. By the time he walked into the private booth, Felix was barely coherent.
He looked at Evan Young and asked, "What happened here? Did he get into a fight with Madeline?"
Evan shook his head.
"Then who else could possibly push him to the edge like this?" Shawn asked, genuinely baffled.
Evan dropped a truth bomb that left Shawn's jaw on the floor. "His wife. Claire." Shawn scoffed, completely doubting the claim. "You've got to be kidding me." "That was exactly my reaction when I found out," Evan muttered.
Shawn was about to ask for details when Felix, slurring heavily, suddenly started yelling at the ceiling. "Claire, why won't you just come home with me?!"
"Why do you want a divorce?!"
"How am I not better than Wilbur?!"
"You're willing to accept a notorious playboy like Wilbur, but you can't accept me?!"
Evan shot Shawn a very pointed 'I-told-you-so' look.
Shawn clicked his tongue, s nět
his head. "Looks like we all
completely misread the situation.
The woman he's actually obsessed with is Claire."
"No kidding," Evan sighed. "I bet he didn't even realize he was in love with her himself."
Thinking back on how Felix had acted over the last few years, Shawn let out a heavy sigh. "Well, he's screwed then."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to realize, when a space is
left empty for too long, someone
else is eventually going to fill it.
That's the most fair and ruthless rule of life Shawn pointed a finger at the drunken mess on the couch He left Claire completely out in the cold for years, and paraded Madeline around for everyone to see the rift between them is wider than the Grand Canyon. How is he ever supposed to fix that?"
FindNovel.net
Evan couldn't argue with a single word of it.
...
After resting for the night, Claire threw every ounce of her energy into her work.
Staying busy always helped her forget the pain.
But the second the work was done, an overwhelming emptiness rushed right back
in.
She spent the entire day lying in her
hotel bed until her bones literally ached. Just as she was debating whether to do downstairs forsome fresh air her phone buzzed.
It was a text from Wilbur.
"Done with work?"
"Yes, all done," Claire replied.
"Does that mean I can finally cash in on that dinner you owe me?"
Claire suddenly remembered she had promised him a meal.
Even though she had failed to win the tiara, she still owed him for stepping in to
help.
She texted back, "Are you free tomorrow?"
"Not tomorrow. Tonight."
Tonight?
Claire checked the time. It was already nine-thirty.
Wasn't it a bit weird to have dinner this late?
But since he had specifically asked, refusing felt incredibly rude.
Besides, she was about to go out for some fresh air anyway.
"Tonight it is!" she replied brightly.