Page 3 of The Carver

He continued his stare, not rising to my ire. “Then take the money?—”

“I don’t want it.”

“Then I guess we’ll discuss this again in three weeks.”

It was one of the few times when I could scream right on the sidewalk. “We may be married on paper, but we’re not married in any other aspect. I have someone, and I’m sure my replacement is already in your bed.”

“I haven’t been with anyone else since you left me.”

“So you’re only faithful to me after I leave?” I asked incredulously. “That makes a lot of fucking sense.”

He stared at me for a while as he considered his next words. “Let’s go to a café so we can talk.”

“I’m fine standing right here.”

“We’re both Catholic?—”

“God would never punish me for wanting to leave a lying and cheating son of a bitch.”

His eyes dropped down in shame, as they should. “Maybe some time apart is good for us. Maybe you need to live your own life, have your own…experiences…and then maybe we can work on this marriage. I understand you’re angry with me and want to torture me by fucking around?—”

I laughed uproariously. “You think I’m fucking Bastien to make you jealous? Oh, honey. I’m with that man because he’s a goddamn hunk. It started off as just us screwing, but he’s my man and I’m his woman now. I’ve moved on.”

His eyes lifted again, and the defeat evaporated. I saw a hint of anger there, masked by the hurt jealousy. “So we’ve been apart for two months, and you’re already in another relationship?—”

“Woooooow.” I scoffed because it was ridiculous. “That’s rich, Adrien. Bloody fucking rich.”

“Those women meant nothing to me.”

“As did I.Clearly.” Our quiet conversation had turned into a shouting match right on the sidewalk. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“I made a mistake.”

“One bitch, one time is a mistake. A mistake I could have forgiven if you had been the one who copped to it. But there were twelve different women on your dick, Adrien. And there would have been a hell of a lot more if Cecilia hadn’t ratted you out—God bless her soul.”

“I promise I’ll never do that shit again.”

“I hope you mean that for the next woman in your life. Really, I do. Because no woman should have to suffer what you put me through. I loved your parents like my own, I loved your brotherlike we had the same blood, and now, I’ve lost all of them. I’m out here alone, and you didn’t lose a damn thing.”

“My parents still love you, Fleur. My mother screams at me every day to fix this. My father is more disappointed in me than he’s ever been. Trust me, they like you a hell of a lot more than they like me right now. I told them I would fix it, that I would get you back.”

“That’s never going to happen, Adrien.Ever.”

“You still love me.”

“I don’t.”

“Love doesn’t just die that quickly.”

“It dies instantly when it’s been betrayed. Keep your wealth because I don’t want it. You can draw this out for years, but it won’t change anything.”

“You won’t be able to get remarried, so it will change something.”

I narrowed my eyes when I heard what he said. I became so angry that I grew still, quiet. When I spoke, my voice was so calm, it was terrifying. “So, after cheating on me and destroying our marriage, your plan is to sabotage my happiness? That’s who you are, Adrien? Because if so, then I’m so grateful you cheated on me because now I’m with someone who would never treat me like that.” I didn’t know where my relationship with Bastien was going, if it would remain frozen in time for months or years, or if it would fizzle out in a couple weeks. But I knew with certainty that Bastien was far more honorable than Adrien would ever be.

He looked away, like he instantly regretted what he’d said. “Fleur, I’m sorry. I just fucking love you, and losing you hasmade me realize how much. I’m depressed, like you died or something.”

“Our marriage did,” I said. “And it’s time to move on. Stalling the paperwork isn’t going to change anything, Adrien. I’m already with someone else now.”

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