CHAPTER 21
The stark contrast wounded Griffin’s pride, filling him with shame.
I
His humiliation before his rival was complete, his face flushing crimson. Worse still, this rival stood tall, looking down at him as if he were an insignificant insect.
93%
The moment I spotted Alex, I transformed. Like a butterfly drawn to a flower, I flew into his arms, my face lighting up with a radiance Griffin hadn’t seen in years. “Alex, you’re back!”
“Yes. How was your day? Did you miss me?”
“Today was fine, just a small unexpected situation.” I glanced meaningfully at Griffin kneeling in our driveway.
Then, in a voice sweeter than Griffin had ever heard from me: “And I miss you every day, not just today.”
“My sweet Tessa.” Alex tenderly kissed my forehead, then my eyes, cheeks, nose, and finally my lips.
The security guards and staff watched with warm smiles, clearly accustomed to our affection.
This intimate display was like a knife twisting in Griffin’s heart, leaving him bleeding inside.
He could barely breathe.
Only then did Alex seem to notice Griffin. Looking down at him, Alex asked coolly, “What brings you here, Mr. Hayes?”
Griffin’s lips trembled for several seconds before he managed to reply: “I… I came to see Tessa.”
Alex raised an eyebrow as if hearing a ridiculous joke. “Why would you need to see my wife?”
“I came to see Tessa,” Griffin repeated stubbornly.
Alex understood the implication–Griffin refused to acknowledge that I was now someone else’s wife.
This amused him even more.
“Weren’t you the one who found Ms. Parker so irritating, Mr. Hayes? Even when she devoted herself completely to you for twelve years, you found her annoying and called her a clingy, desperate puppy. I was under the impression your heart belonged to a Ms. Blake.”
Faced with these undeniable facts, Griffin had no defense. He could only offer his last
1/2
12:25 PM Mon 12 May
93%
21
desperate gambit in a final attempt to salvage something of our relationship. “I was blind and foolish then. I’ve realized now that Tessa is the only one I love. I know I’ve done many things to hurt her and break her heart. But I’m willing to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.”
“Make it up to her?” Alex shook his head, looking at Griffin as if he were a petulant child. “You can never compensate for the damage you’ve done.”
“Those twelve painful years she spent loving you with everything she had–how will you repay that? Do you know that her stomach was permanently damaged from drinking with investors on your behalf? It still troubles her sometimes, leaving her curled up in agony, drenched in cold sweat.”
“Do you know how devastated she was when she discovered you planned to marry Chloe? She suffered in silence, watching you show Chloe tenderness she never received, until her heart gradually gave up…”
As I listened to Alex’s words, my eyes grew misty, and a familiar ache stirred in my
chest.
But this time, it wasn’t for Griffin. It was for my former self–that foolish girl who had thrown herself into the flames without hesitation.
37
[
Add to Library – Read Anytime
2/2
