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“What about you?”

Anything unusual like the way Ruel sounds so aggressive now, almost like he’s raring to pick a fight with me.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I…”

Why does he sound so furious?

“It’s already two in the morning.”

Comprehension finally dawns. Ruel’s friends with Keiran, and since he recommended me for this job, of course he’s concerned about how I’m doing at work.

“I had trouble sleeping, too,” I say awkwardly.

“You never used to have trouble sleeping.”

Why do I feel like he’s accusing me of something? And why is he making insomnia sound like this gross workplace violation?

“If you’re worried about whether I’ll wake up on time, I promise this won’t affect⁠—”

“That’s not what I asked!”

“I…” The way he’s suddenly snarling has me stammering the first thing that comes to mind. “I h-had a nightmare.” The words make my conscience sting a little, but I try convincing myself it’s not exactly a lie. You can still have a nightmare while you’re awake. I think it’s called a daymare⁠—

“About what?”

You.

Because it’s true. Seeing him with Sadie Amparo is the stuff of⁠—

"I didn't realize our marriage was that bad."

No. Oh no. I’m so dead.

The penny drops the moment he says those words, and the realization finally has my head jerking up⁠—

And what I see…

And what I don’t see…

“R-Ruel…”

I can only whisper his name as I look at his too-beautiful face, and though we’re all but strangers now, it doesn’t erase the fact that I’ve lived with him for eighteen months, and so I know.

I know, even with him gazing at me with dark eyes that yield nothing⁠—

My heart just knows because it remembers.

Ruel looked exactly like this when he told me of the times people blamed him for what his father did. He told me he understood why it was so, but I also understood at that time that understanding didn’t lessen the pain.

Their reaction to him had still hurt.

And it’s the same way I’ve just hurt him now.

“I d-didn’t mean⁠—”

“You don’t have to explain.”