Edgar's voice was flat. "I know exactly what you're doing. You came here looking like that to intimidate Nina. She's sick. Seeing you dressed up like this isn't going to help her feel any better."
"Nina and I aren't close," Halle said evenly. "How she feels has nothing to do with me. Would you care if some stranger thought the way you dressed was offensive to them?"
Edgar had nothing to say to that.
"If you're this worried about Nina's feelings, the problem isn't me. I'm wearing a dress. Heels. Lipstick. Every woman on the planet dresses like this. It's completely normal. If Nina can't handle that, maybe you should find her a fortune teller, because her constitution must be dangerously fragile. If I'd dressed even hotter, she might've dropped dead on the spot."
Edgar's expression darkened, but he couldn't fire back. This was how it always went when they argued. He never won. And he couldn't, because his logic was built on favoritism that didn't hold up under the slightest scrutiny.
There was nothing wrong with how Halle looked. Not a single thing.
She pressed forward. "Cat got your tongue? You're the one who called me out here to see Nina. I showed up, and now you're unhappy. She's unhappy. So was this whole trip just a waste of my time?"
Edgar went quiet for a long stretch. Then, without warning, he reached for her hand.
Halle pulled away on instinct.
Shock flickered through his eyes. He'd assumed Halle would never flinch from him.
"Say what you need to say," Halle told him. "Keep your hands to yourself."
Edgar's brow furrowed hard. He stared at her for several seconds before his voice dropped low. "We need to talk about us."
Halle said nothing for a moment. So Nina really had stirred something up.
Edgar had been back in the country for a while now. The only time they saw each other was at family gatherings, where they performed the happy couple routine. He'd never once pulled her aside for a real conversation. No explanation, no acknowledgment of anything, just playing dumb, steamrolling over her feelings, and never lifting a finger to fix things on his own.
"Sure."
Halle genuinely wanted to hear what kind of explanation Edgar could possibly offer after everything he'd done to wreck what they had. And what his plan was going forward.
She hoped he'd step up. Maybe take the initiative to reassure her, sit down with their parents and come clean about everything.
They walked to a quiet corner of the hallway.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorce me I'm done serving you (Ayla)