My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 296

“What’s wrong with you?” Riyana snapped, anger flaring instantly.

Jabco moved to the other side, got in, and locked the car.

“Let me go,” she said, tugging at the handle. It wouldn’t budge. “What the hell...”

“Let’s get married.”

Riyana froze. Her head snapped toward him.

“What…?”

For a second she was sure she’d heard wrong. She had to be. Marriage? Jabco Grey? With her?

Jabco closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at her.

“Didn’t you say you want to get married? That you want a family? That you don’t want to grow old alone? Then why not choose me? We’ve known each other for ten years. Don’t you think I’m a good choice?”

Riyana stared at him, completely stunned.

“Am I drunk?” she muttered, shaking her head. No. She was sober. Very sober. “Why am I hearing nonsense?”

“You’re not hearing nonsense,” Jabco said firmly. “I’m serious. Let’s get married.”

She looked at him like she was trying to figure out if he’d hit his head somewhere. His face was calm, tense, but serious. No hint of a joke.

Then she laughed.

She really couldn’t stop it. “Oh God…”

“What’s so funny?” Jabco’s expression hardened. He didn’t find this amusing at all.

He was tired. Tired of the tight feeling in his chest, tired of seeing her with other men, tired of pretending he didn’t care.

He hadn’t thought about marriage in years, but now it felt like the only way to keep her within reach. Riyana was capable, smart, someone who could stand beside him. Her background didn’t matter to him. And since she wanted marriage anyway, this made sense. Logical. Clean.

Except it wasn’t.

“Mr. Grey,” Riyana said, still trying to control her laughter, “are you even listening to yourself? Marriage? Us?”

“Yes, I know exactly what I’m saying. I want to,” Jabco said, his voice rough with frustration.

He didn’t understand why this was so difficult for her to accept. To him, it was clear, simple. A solution. Yet the smile on Riyana’s face slowly disappeared, as if someone had wiped it away.

“But I don’t want to,” she said quietly. Then she paused, her hand tightening in her lap. “Mr. Grey… do you love me?”

The question hit him like a sudden stop.

Jabco froze.

For a few seconds, the only sound inside the car was their breathing. He stared at her, as if he was trying to understand why she would even ask that.

“It’s just marriage,” he said at last, his tone defensive. “Why do you need love for that? Aren’t you planning to marry another man you barely know? Do you love him?”

Riyana let out a short, bitter laugh. Somehow, she had expected this answer.

“How do you know I don’t love the man I’m going to marry?” she asked, turning fully toward him.

Jabco’s jaw tightened.

“I may not be good with emotions,” he said slowly, choosing his words, “but I know one thing. If you truly love someone, you wouldn’t sleep with someone else.”

His eyes darkened. “I’ve seen Lily. She loved David for years. Even after they separated, even after everything, she never crossed that line. Because she never stopped loving him.”

Riyana went quiet.

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