Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

Chapter 365

Elysia defiantly lifted her chin, her voice strong but betrayed by the unstoppable tears streaming down her face. Some wounds, she realized, weren't so easily numbed by time or distraction.

The presence of her kids had been a salve to her aching heart, but now, facing the very source of her anguish, her emotions spiraled out of control. She was determined not to cry over this anymore, yet she couldn't help herself. Her tears flowed like a breached dam, beyond her control.

Tarquin, his heart aching for her, tentatively reached out to wipe her tears, only to be met with rejection. "I told you, don't touch me!" Elysia snapped, batting his hand away.

Tarquin's hand froze mid-air, his expression one of a bewildered child, unsure of what to do next.

Elysia, in a futile attempt to regain some composure, roughly wiped away her tears and defensively claimed, "I'm crying because you mentioned something from six years ago, reminding me of issues between my husband and me. It has nothing to do with you!"

Tarquin was skeptical. "So, you're saying it wasn't you last night?"

"No, it wasn't!"

left these scratch marks on me?" Tarquin

pressed tightly together,

stranger in. If it wasn't you, then it must have been me

it could only have been

Elysia had no choice but to confess, "It was me! You tried to take

pulled down her collar to reveal bruises on her neck. "These are the

been you. I would never touch another woman, even in a

him in his drunken state, only to be met with violence. Even inebriated,

years ago at the airport. It was always

denied it vehemently.