Page 136 of When Hearts Surrender

“You heard me, Belle.”

Fury rages through my body, and I fist my hands. Silas lets out a growl, clearly sensing the change in my mood.

“How dare you, Maxwell? How dare you do this again? Bulldoze over me with your ‘decision,’” I wiggle my fingers in air quotes, “and not talk over things with me.Again!”

Shaking my head, I add, “We aren’t going to divorce. Unless you tell me it’s because you don’t love me anymore.”

Maxwell swallows, his breathing heavy. He finally lifts his eyes and stares at me.

Intense. Passionate pools of gray.

“I don’t love you anymore,” he rasps.

I flinch, my chest flayed open by his words. Tears blur my vision as I grip my shirt, the spot over my heart, and try to breathe through the agony tearing me up inside, even though I know his words aren’t true.

But theyhurt so, so much.

“You’re lying.” I shake my head. “I can see right through you. You’re lying.”

Tears stream down my face, but I don’t wipe them.

Maxwell’s throat ripples, his piercing eyes reddening, shining with moisture.

“You don’t know that.” His voice is hoarse as he rakes in a ragged inhale.

“I do!” I cry, my face crumbling. I point to my chest. “I know it in here…I know it from your art, your kisses, your words. You love me, Maxwell. You told me yourself in Austria. You’re lying.”

My lips tremble as I whisper, “The least you can do is not lie to me while breaking my heart.”

Maxwell stands up abruptly, his jaw clenching as he swipes his fingers over his eyes.

“It’spreciselybecause I love you that I must leave you. I can’t ignore everything that has gone on around us, all these accidents, all these threats against your life.I can’t lose you!If we divorce, you’ll no longer be married to me, and maybe, just maybe—”

“This is about that stupid curse again, isn’t it? There are so many reasons why I could be getting poisoned. You’re from a big family. Maybe you guys made some enemies. Heck, even my parents may have made some enemies, or I don’t know, someone may have contaminated the water system at work.”

Fury and sadness race through my veins, but I persist. “Why are you sabotaging us? Why aren’t you fighting for us? For me?”

“I’m fighting for you! This is me fighting for you!” he roars.

A vein pulses angrily on his forehead and his reddened eyes meet mine. “We’ve been living in denial…on borrowed time, Belle. But fantasy, no matter how beautiful, isn’t reality. I can’t ignore the curse simply because you refuse to believe it. Even when the facts are right in front of us. You were dying…slowly, right in front of me, and I ignored the signs because I was selfish.” He trembles, his voice breaking. “B-Because I wanted to keep you by my side.”

His breathing is ragged as he rolls his lips inward and looks away.

“B-Belle, I can survive burning in the flames of hell knowing you’re out here…alive and well.” He turns toward me and the heartbreak in his face and voice robs me of my breath.

“But I can’t survive if you’re dead,” he whispers.

He leans forward, his fragrance of amber and sandalwood cloaking my senses. Hovering over me, he whispers, “I love you, Belle. I’m sorry for hurting you. Despite everything, I’m the selfish bastard who wouldn’t change a thing because I got to steal these moments with you, these moments I was never supposed to have. Because these were the happiest days of my life.”

He presses a soft kiss on the whorl of my ear, and I shiver and close my eyes. He cups my face and tips his forehead to mine, much like that night at the pier when he was kissing me goodbye.

His breath catches in his throat. “My little muse, you’re beautiful and perfect, just the way you are. Remember that. Please take care of yourself for me.”

His shaking hand clasps mine as he puts something into my palm and closes my fingers around it.

Without another word, he stands up and slips out of the bedroom.

A sob chokes out of my mouth, followed by another. My heart pulverizes inside me, the pain eviscerating, far more painful than anything I’ve ever felt in my life.

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