The Officer's Runaway Wife and Secret Son novel Chapter 356

Rhys wanted to tell her. "Please, don't say yes to Noah."

His throat bobbed, but what came out was a stupid question. "Did you… drink last night?"

Clara’s eyes were downcast, but a small smile touched her lips. "You rushed all the way back from Heron Bay just to show up here and ask me if I had a drink?"

Rhys caught the sarcasm in her voice and forged ahead anyway. "I heard you were back in Brighton City."

"Yeah, I'm back. Taking care of some things." Clara leaned against the doorframe, tilting her head up slightly. "Seeing a friend. And while I'm at it, I plan to finish what I started."

Rhys didn't believe for a second that the "friend" she was talking about was Emily.

"What decision?"

"Getting married."

Rhys's eyes darkened.

"…To Noah?"

"Who else?" Clara tilted her head. "You?"

"No. Don't joke about something like that." Rhys's voice was impossibly hoarse. "He's not right for you… He can't give you what you want. He…"

"He can," Clara cut him off. "Rhys, what I want is something you can never give me in this lifetime."

"The other day in Clear Creek, I was surrounded by a few thugs. I blinded them with pepper spray and kicked one of them so hard I probably ruined him for life."

Rhys said, "I know. You're strong. You've always been able to protect yourself…"

"That's not my point." Clara shook her head. "At that moment, I was wondering, what would you do if you were there?"

Rhys anticipated what was coming next, and his heart felt like it was being slowly flayed.

Sure enough, she continued, "Then I realized you never would have been there. Because in that same minute, Margot was probably having another one of her 'episodes,' forcing you to rush her to the ER."

"You always have something more important than me."

"That's not true, Clara. I wouldn't…" Rhys wanted to argue, but he knew he had no right. In every conflict they'd ever had, he had never chosen her, not decisively.

He had always thought they had a long life ahead of them, that there would always be more chances. It wasn't until after Clara left that he understood there weren't that many 'laters' in life.

Clara let out a self-deprecating laugh, a hint of red creeping into the corners of her eyes.

"If you had just told me the truth from the beginning, told me why you had to take care of Margot, told me about the pain you were carrying… I'm not incapable of understanding. I would have shouldered it with you. I would have helped you take care of her, even if she was hostile towards me."

"But you never once asked if I was willing to share your burden."

As Rhys listened, his heart sank. He clenched his fists, his vision blurring.

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