“You’re angry at me,” he said after a long silence.
“How kind of you to notice,” she said.
It was only half the truth. Foremost, she had been hurt by him. But it was easier to admit her anger than it was to admit her hurt.
“I do not blame you,” he sighed. “You are well within your rights to be angry at me like this. After what I did, I surely deserve it.”
The vulnerability in his voice disarmed her, and when she spoke again, her tone had less of a harsh edge to it.
“Why are you here, Nicholas?” she asked, searching his eyes for some sort of an answer that he refused to give to her in words. Was it not enough that she had to live without him? Did he really have to torment her like this by showing up to places where she was going to be? “You only give me false hope by… showing up like this, by pretending that you care about me.”
“It isnotpretend,” he corrected her swiftly.
“It isunfair,”she countered.
Nicholas felt silent.
“It is,” he conceded after what felt the longest silence between them to date. “It is my fault that I trapped you in this marriage with me. You should not have to live like this.”
Violet felt her stomach drop as she realised the direction that this was going.
“I do not wish to keep you chained in this marriage. Therefore…” He drew in a sharp breath. “… I will give you a divorce so that you may be free of me once and for all.”
No no no.This was the last thing she had wanted to hear.
All her anger evaporated as she tried to come to grip with the idea of losing him. Permanently. It felt like too much to bear.
“Nicholas…”
“As for your life after me, I can pledge to take financial responsibility for you even if you find someone else. That way your future shall be secure, and you shall not have to remarry for money,” he continued.
“Stop this,” she said abruptly. “You do not mean this, do you?”
“I am only looking out for what is best for you,” he argued. “And this might be what is the best for you.”
“A divorce?” She laughed almost bitterly. “What woman is happy getting a divorce?”
Nicholas didn’t answer. She pressed on, the anger and frustration boiling over. “Is this meant to be some grand sacrifice? Do you think you’re being noble by pushing me away?”
His jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “I trapped you in this marriage, Violet. A marriage you never wanted. And now I’m giving you an out. It would be in your best interest to take it.”
“And what about yourself?” she pressed, stepping out of the bed. “Is this meant for you as well? Do you get tofreeyourself through this divorce as well?”
He did not answer. Violet took it as a sign to continue on. “I refuse to let you make decisions that affect the both of us like this. You didn’t trap me. I could have spent the rest of my days as a spinster, but I chose you.”
“That doesn’t mean it was right,” he shot back, his voice sharp with self-loathing. “You were forced into it, Violet. You didn’t have a real choice. And now, because of me, you’re stuck.”
“Stuck?” she repeated, incredulous. “Do I look stuck to you? Do I look like someone who wants to leave?”
“You deserve more. You deserve someone who can give you what you need—someone who can love you the way you want to be loved.”
Violet froze, her heart twisting at his words. She had never seen him like this before, so raw and vulnerable. For all his arrogance and composure, this was a man who was terrified—of her, of himself, of the emotions he clearly couldn’t control.
“And you think you can’t?” she asked softly, taking a hesitant step toward him. “You think you’re incapable of loving me?”
He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “I know I am. I saw what love did to my parents. It destroyed them, Violet. They loved each other so much it consumed them, turned them into people they didn’t want to be. I can’t do that to you. I won’t.”
Violet’s heart ached at the pain in his voice. She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him he was wrong, but he kept going, his words tumbling out like a confession.
