BAD WIFE

Chapter {15}

He reached for the handle and closed the door behind him with a sharp click.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, voice low, deliberate.

He stepped in, slow and commanding, until her back hit the wall. He didn't touch her—but he didn't need to. His presence alone caged her in, stealing the air between them. There was still space, just enough for her to breathe, but the energy pulsing between them made it feel dangerously tight.

Rage flared in her chest.

Years of unspoken anger rose to the surface all at once—boiling, blistering. It hit her like a wave, and she didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry.

"Whatever you have to say," she hissed, "I don't want to hear it."

She didn't even realize how much resentment she'd been carrying—buried under every fake smile, every quiet night alone. She'd told herself this wasn't about him. That everything she was doing—her new look, her newfound confidence—was for her.

But now, standing in front of him, she knew the truth.

Part of her wanted him to suffer.

To eat his heart out.

"You think I'm just going to open my arms and invite you to stay the night?" she snapped.

There was a fire in her eyes that he'd never seen before.

It unsettled him. It thrilled him.

It made his chest ache.

"Of course not," he said, softly.

"I know I wasn't a perfect wife. I know I had flaws. But I thought... I thought maybe I deserved for you to leave. That you were right to walk away. I told myself that over and over again." Her voice cracked. "But deep down? I would've never left you. Not like that. I could never be that selfish."

His eyes fell to the ground, unable to meet hers. Shame etched itself into the lines of his face.

"It wasn't like that," he murmured.

"Yes, it was," she fired back. "The moment I showed you who I really was, you disappeared. The second I was vulnerable—imperfect—you vanished."

"That's not true," he said, raising his eyes, voice thick. "I'm here now. I know every one of your flaws, and I still want you. Just the way you are."

She shook her head, chest trembling. "Stop it. Stop the crap. Go back to your precious Regina. The woman worth destroying your children's home over."

He flinched.

Every word pierced exactly where she meant it to. Right in the guilt.

"I texted her, yeah," he confessed, voice barely above a whisper. "But nothing happened. I couldn't even make it to her place."

"You're a liar," she snapped.

"No. I swear it. Because she's not the one I want, Clair. I love you. I never stopped."

She rolled her eyes so hard it hurt.

He stepped closer again, this time desperation rising behind the heat in his eyes. "I'm not giving up. I won't give up. You're mine."

She let out a bitter laugh, her heart twisting. "I'm yours?" she scoffed. "You threw me away like garbage. Packed me up in a bag and tossed me out for Regina."

His fingers tore through his hair as frustration surged in him. "Can you stop saying that? You know I didn't leave you for her. Regina didn't ruin us."