Page 34 of Unravelling: Aria & Crispin
He laughed, bitter and low. "No. I'm finally telling the truth."
"You think we'll allow this?" she snapped. "That girl-"
"I don't need your permission," he said sharply.
"I can make her life very difficult," she said with an undercurrent of challenge in her voice.
The last thread snapped.
Crispin's voice rose like a whip. "Don't you dare."
His mother blinked.
"Don't you dare hurt her like that. You-who chairs three charity boards for disadvantaged women and lectures rooms full of socialites about empathy-I saw how you looked at her."
"You're making a scene," his father said coldly.
"I don't care," Crispin said, chest heaving. "You want the truth? I need her. Even if I never married her, I was never going to let her go."
Helga took a step forward, face pale. "You told me-"
"I never lied to you. I have never made it a secret that I am not the least bit attracted to you. This was a convenient agreement, one that is at end," he snapped, then added, quieter, deadlier, "I have been lying to myself. She's worth a thousand of you."
The silence was thick.
Crispin looked at the floor, then at the wall, and finally, back at his mother.
"I can't live without her,", he confessed. “Don't make me hate you more than I already do."
His mother looked as though she'd been slapped. "You're being ridiculous. I will never allow this."
He met her eyes, no softness left in his. "I don't need your permission."
His father's voice cut in like a blade. "Then don't expect the CEO role. I will not hand this company to a man who throws away his legacy for some passing infatuation."
Crispin didn't flinch. "This isn't over."
He turned and walked out, his shoulders tight, slamming the study door behind him. The chandelier light blurred as he quickly moved through the house.
Then, just as he reached for the brass handle-
"I don't think she'll forgive you."
Crispin turned, frozen.
Alice stood near the window, still and pale, her hands clasped tightly before her. She hadn't spoken the entire time, had merely watched everything with those wide, unreadable eyes. She had followed him out.
"She looked like she has given up," she said quietly, finally meeting his gaze. "And you didn't deny anything. You let them all look at her like that.Youlet it happen."
Crispin swallowed hard. "I know. And I am sorrier than you’ll ever know."
His shoulders slumped as he made his way to the door.
Chapter 21
Aria
Aria woke suddenly, heart stuttering in her chest. She sat up as if electrocuted, the sheets twisted around her legs, skin damp with sweat. Her pretty dress from yesterday had ridden up.
