My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 288

Riyana wiped her mouth with her sleeve, disgusted, angry, hurt all at once.

“Why?” she snapped. “You can’t find anyone else, so now you torture me instead?”

His expression did not change. If anything, his gaze grew colder.

“Why should I look for another woman,” he replied flatly, “when you’re right here? We already slept together once. What’s wrong with doing it again?”

The words hit her like a slap.

So that was all it was to him.

Once, Again, Nothing more.

Riyana let out a short, bitter laugh. Her chest felt tight, her fingers curled into fists, nails digging into her palms as she fought the urge to actually slap him.

Riyana took a slow breath, forcing her voice to stay steady.

“The first time was a mistake,” she said quietly. “And I’m not someone who keeps making the same mistake again and again.”

She leaned a little closer, just enough for him to hear every word clearly.

“And let me be clear,” she added, her eyes locked on his. “I don’t sleep with someone I don’t have feelings for.”

For a second, the car was silent.

Then Jabco laughed.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t relaxed. It was sharp, cutting, filled with something cold. His eyes swept over her face, no warmth left in them.

“So that’s the kind of man you like?” he asked, his tone laced with mockery.

Riyana froze.

Before she could respond, his gaze shifted past her, through the car window, toward the food stall across the street. The same place where she had just been sitting, laughing, eating, feeling light for the first time in days.

He looked back at her, his jaw tight.

“You talked about wanting marriage. A life. Stability,” he said slowly. “Is this what you meant? That kind of life?”

He tilted his head slightly, his voice turning even harsher.

“A man who brings you to eat at places like that?”

Each word landed like a slap.

“So what is it?” he continued coldly. “Tired of fine dining? Bored of comfort? Decided to try simple meals instead?”

Riyana stared at his side profile. His face was calm, distant, almost unfamiliar. The man sitting next to her looked nothing like the one she had followed for ten years. Nothing like the man she had defended, supported, understood without words.

Her chest felt tight.

All those years.

All that patience.

All that quiet love she never asked him to return.

Was it all meaningless?

Or had she been wrong about him from the very beginning?

She suddenly felt exhausted. Not angry. Not heartbroken. Just tired.

“So this is how you see me,” she said softly.

Jabco didn’t respond.

Riyana let out a small, bitter smile and looked away, her gaze fixed on the street lights ahead.

In that moment, she realized something painful and clear.

She had been in love with a man who no longer existed.

Riyana took a slow breath and looked straight at him.

“Yes, Mr. Grey.”

Jabco’s face stiffened.

“I’m tired,” she continued, her voice shaking despite her effort to stay calm. “I don’t know why you’re acting like this. And this isn’t the first time you’ve slept with someone. And it’s not like I’m special in that sense either.”

She laughed bitterly.

“Do you even remember how many women you’ve been with? Do you act like this with all of them?”

She shook her head.

“No. You don’t. So why me? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Her frustration finally spilled out.

Jabco’s eyes darkened. His voice turned sharp.

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