Page 76 of Two Wrongs

“You mean when you gave up your scholarship to stay with me?” I ask.

He looks over at his dad. “You told her?”

Griffin opens his hands. “I didn’t realize you’d ever told her that bullshit. Of course I told her.”

Liam’s lip curls. “The two of you have gotten very cozy.”

Dr. Taylor takes his glasses off, and leans forward. “Are you wanting to stay married to Wren? Because, in my experience, focusing on who is to blame is not the way to go about saving a marriage.”

Liam looks surprised by the question. “Of course.”

“Why?” I blurt out.

“Because you’re my wife,” he replies, like that is enough of an explanation.

I shake my head. “Not good enough.”

“What do you mean,not good enough? You are my wife.”

“Maybe on paper, but you haven’t been my husband for a long time now. Not since you decided to start screwing someone I thought was my friend.”

“You keep bringing that up, and yeah, I fucked up, but a man has needs Wren. It was just sex. We don’t need to end our marriage over something that didn’t mean anything,” Liam pushes.

I shrug. “I don’t know if that’s true or not. Audrey certainly seems to think you were wanting to leave me. Her friends seem to think you’ve been trying to leave me for years. And, just to clarify something, I don’t give a flying fuck if you were emotionally invested or not. The moment you stuck your cock in another woman, you ended our marriage. For once I’m glad we didn’t have kids.”

“Not this again,” he groans. “Your tune changed pretty damn fast. I thought all you wanted was a baby.”

“I still want to be a mother you obtuse jackass, I just don’t want to have a baby with you. So no, my tune hasn’t changed. I’m glad we didn’t because it means getting a divorce is fairly simple in our case. Your affair isn’t the only thing you weren’t emotionally invested in. Our marriage was the other. You don’t love me.”

Griffin tips his head to the door, recognizing I’ve had enough. I know he’s telling me he’ll see me in the truck. I am only a few steps from the door this time, but Liam grabs my wrist before I make it past him. “Yes I do,” he insists.

I yank my arm out of his hand. “Then stop, because your love hurts,” I say and finally flee before he has the chance to say anything else. Whether or not he stays and completes the program is out of my hands. I can’t make him want to get help, just like I couldn’t make him love me.

31

Griffin

The moment the door closes behind Wren I wheel around to face Liam. “I don’t know if this is my fault. Maybe I failed to teach you how you’re supposed to behave in a relationship. Or maybe this is because of the drugs, but the way you’ve been treating her is disappointing.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “You’re one to talk. Since mom left you’ve treated women like toys. You think I don’t know about your revolving door of playmates? There’s never just one either. You’re going to judge me for getting a little on the side? Fuck you, old man.”

“The difference is, I never make a commitment to the women I’m seeing. They know what to expect, and I’m not the only one they’re seeing either. Also, I never cheated on your mother. I take marriage vows seriously, I thought you did too.”

I eye the door, and wonder how much longer until I can leave here without making Liam suspicious. What I really need to do is chase down Wren before she tries to walk from the facility. Honestly, I can see her walking down the dirt road with no plan on how she’s going to make it back to Harriston, three hours away. I should have handed her the keys, but as upset as she was, I couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t leave me here. She’s always trying to run away from me.

Dr. Taylor stands and straightens his lab coat. He’s fairly useless if you ask me. What therapeutic value is there in standing by and letting abuse happen without addressing it on the spot? I’m not sure what I expected, but I know I’ve less hope in Liam’s chances of recovery now than I did a few days ago.

“Well, that was a productive session,” the doctor says as he subtly moves between me and my son.

“In what fucking world was that productive?” I snap. “Were you watching something else? You stood by and let him verbally and emotionally abuse his wife. What kind of therapy is this if he’s being a total prick and you aren’t correcting that behavior?”

“Now, Mr. Hale, we don’t assign judgments like that to interactions during therapy,” Dr. Taylor chastises me.

I cock my eyebrow and wait for him to tell me he’s joking. I’m not sure if the man has much of a sense of humor though. When he doesn’t speak up, I force my temper not to boil over. “I’ve never been to therapy before, so maybe this is just how it’s done, but in my experience when someone is acting like an asshole you call them on it. Especially if what they are saying or doing is hurting someone they are supposed to love.”

Before I walk out the door I turn to Liam. “You made that girl family when you married her. I know she and I haven’t always got on well, but family means something to me. If you aren’t going to look after her, then I will since she has no one left.”

“Are you sure that’s your only reason?” Liam asks.

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