My Ruthless Ex Demands by Eva Blackwood Episode 184

Elizabeth bit back a sigh and casually replied, “Well, back then, I didn’t bother with manicures because I was too busy being a housekeeper. Now that I’m free, I want to indulge myself a bit.”
The words were a defense, nothing more.
She didn’t mention that the nails were for a character she was portraying—not that it mattered.
He placed the first piece of prawn meat into her bowl, his voice calm and even. “You’re the one who said you didn’t want a housekeeper around, that it felt like a hassle having strangers in the house. I didn’t marry you to turn you into one.”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes, her silence heavy. Every compromise she had made in the name of being accommodating seemed, in hindsight, unnecessary.
Perhaps it was no one’s fault. Their lives had always been worlds apart, their incompatibility like oil and water, inevitable from the start.
Elijah continued peeling, and soon a small mountain of prawn meat accumulated in her bowl, a silent offering that drew her back to another time.
The last time they sat at this stall, she had been the one peeling prawns. She hadn’t eaten a single one, content instead to watch him—the clean lines of his face, the way his brows furrowed slightly as he worked.
Gripping her fork, she mechanically consumed the prawns.
This felt like experiencing a fleeting moment of being Mrs. Norris before their inevitable divorce.
The prawns were sweet and tender, yet tasted surprisingly bland at the moment.
These final moments of intimacy couldn’t bring back their lost connection.
“I’m full,” she whispered, setting down her fork.
Elijah finished the last prawn. “Still tastes the same as it did over a decade ago,” he remarked casually.
Elizabeth froze. Their last visit had been barely a year ago.
Was he referring to someone else? Sandra?
The name was a ghost that hovered between them, a presence Elizabeth had never truly confronted.
What little she knew of Sandra came from whispered gossip spun by those around them and the information she found online.
Forcing a smile, she looked up.
Elijah reached for a wet wipe, leisurely cleaning his fingers. Sensing her gaze, he looked up. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his tone neutral, almost detached.
Had he brought Sandra here before?
Was it Sandra’s memory that led him to this hidden corner of Foxfire County?
Had he once peeled prawns for her, his movements just as deliberate, just as gentle?
Elizabeth’s mind swirled with questions she didn’t dare voice.
The irony hit her like a cold wind. For so long, she had blamed Sandra for the emptiness in their marriage, believing that her shadow loomed over every corner of their lives.
But now, she saw the truth: it wasn’t Sandra who had shattered her happiness. It was Sandra who had paved the way for her two fleeting years as Mrs. Norris.
Without Sandra, there would have been no marriage at all.
The thought gnawed at her, leaving an ache she couldn’t name.