Shadows Of A Forgotten Spring

Chapter 69

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Annie couldn't hold it in any longer. The moment they were alone in the car, the floodgates opened. Her voice shook with anger and heartbreak as she let everything she had been holding in tumble out.

"I can't believe you humiliated me like that, Alexander!" she cried, her hands shaking in her lap. "You chose her over me, right in front of everyone! How could you do that to me?"

Her voice broke, and her eyes teared up. She turned toward him seeking some remorse, some explanation, but Alexander stared out the window, his face unreadable. The silence between them was loud, and her words seemed to reverberate in the closed interior of the car.

Alexander was silent, his mind somewhere else. He didn't even look at her. He didn't trust himself to speak-not yet. He felt so stirred up, and the last thing he needed was another argument with Annie. He needed some time.

The store scene replayed in his mind like a tormenting loop. Watching Emma with him-her so-called husband-had been torture. Every time she laughed, every time she smiled, it felt like a dagger to his chest. Emma had never looked at Alexander that way, not once in their five years of marriage. Even on their wedding day, her smiles had seemed forced, her laughter strained. But now, with another man, she glowed. She seemed genuinely happy.

Why? It seared in his brain. Why had she never been that happy with him?

The thought made his jaw tighten. He turned away from the window briefly, catching his reflection in the glass. It only deepened his frustration. How could Emma-his Emma-smile like that for someone else? Even though he had known her since she was in diapers, he felt like a stranger.

By the time the car pulled up in front of his estate, Annie was wiping away tears, her sobs quieter now but still present. Alexander watched her climb out of the car, her face flushed and wet with tears. Normally, he might have tried to comfort her, to at least say something to calm her down. But not today. Not when his mind was consumed with thoughts of Emma

the task ahead. He had to get his answers. He had been living the past years on one assumption-Emma running away with a penniless nobody, incapable of surviving one day in the world of money and influence Alexander ruled. However, it all came crumbling today. Looking at

earlier than morning because of Annie's incessant demands. There was no point in delaying any longer. Their shopping trip had ended far sooner than expected, and he needed

emotions.

buildings, his mind racing. He hated the jealousy eating away at him, the questions swirling in his head. Why did Emmaeem so at ease with this man? What had he done to make her smile

let out a sharp exhalation, forced himself to focus. This was no time for weakness. He had to know more, needed to dig deeper into the life of the

on this building storm inside him. He

the silent tension in the car.

at him through the rearview

elaborard, there was no room for hesitation in his

was

16 Tue,

Chapter 69

pocket for his phone as he slowed the car. His

day in his head, the image

joyful? Alexander could not get that look on her face out of his head-the sparkle in

sharp as any razor, cut into his gut. He thought of last evening, of how he'd almost reached out to her. almost allowed himself to cross a line he had no right to cross anymore. If only he'd finished what he started, the ache in