Rebirth of the Wife in Despair by Tess Munoz

Chapter 23 I Can Make It For You Anytime You Want

Vera waited until Eric emerged from the study, walking up to him. “What’s the matter, Why do you look so upset? Did he… give you a hard time?”

Eric?

Eric had a blazer draped over one arm, brightening up at the sight of Vera. “I’m alright. Let’s go back.”

On the way home, Eric’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he thought about the conversation in the study just now.

“This is an invite to the charity gala happening in a week. I’ll send some people over to help you out. You know what to do!”

Eric took the invite from Will. “Do you want to network with the Friedman family?”

“No, I’m thinking of an arranged marriage. You’re not getting any younger; it’s time you start a family of your own. From the looks of things, the Friedmans seem like a pretty good pick.”

“Yes. I won’t let you down, Dad.”

Eric stopped the car abruptly for some reason, and Vera looked at him. “What’s the matter,

Eric?”

The next second, Eric reached out and pulled the girl into an embrace, deeply inhaling the scent of jasmine on her.

Vera was frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do. She had been with Eric for so many years, but there seemed to always be a barrier between them that neither of them was unwilling to cross.

Something was definitely off about Eric in the way he reached out to hug her on his own.

The tension in the car took a shift, and Vera slowly relaxed her body. She raised her head, propping her chin on his shoulder and stroking his back softly with her hands. “Eric… what…. what’s gotten into you? Did anything upset you?”

Eric eventually let go of her. “Vera, I’ve got some things I need to sort out. I’ll need you to live at your school dorm for a while.”

Vera was shocked. She had not expected that Eric would have asked for something like this, and could not help the sinking feeling in her chest. “Was I a burden to you?”

Eric smoothed out her tousled hair. “Of course not. You’re wonderful. Give me a little more time, alright? I promise I’ll tell you everything you want to know after you’ve graduated.”

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14

his earnest gaze, and felt her heart rate kick up on its own as she lowered her head and blushed. “Eric… alright then. I’ll listen

smiled. “I’ll pick you up from

Vera nodded. “Alright.”

once after sending Vera home, and

took

a black vest and gold-rimmed glasses and radiating an air of authority, Eric looked through the reports and the

to vibrate. Eric did not look away, focusing on his papers as he

A female voice rang from

He put down the documents in his hand, leaning back in his

to hear the sound of splashing water from the

minutes, and you’d better make them worth my

I’m doing? I’ll go and keep you company if you get it right, you can

have the time to be wasting it on you. You can just turn me down outright, there’s no point testing me like this. I told you, you can get out of this anytime you

a message

was a text from

Mont Blanc cake you made was really good. Thank you,

replied soon enough.

anytime you

Sure.

r

2/4

looked at the message on the

reply to another man’s text…

something that belonged to him,

come from spying on Eileen’s phone.

when

hour talking to Jasper, mostly about their interests.

boring and dull, but Eric still read all of it.

that Eileen had indeed changed

way until they finished talking, feeling a

a quarter to nine. He had spent over an

at the Swan

was unclear when he would be back. Eileen

father had countless women outside, it hardly

the final message, Eileen went upstairs to take a