Page 66 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

“Oh, stop it, Nessa. Please do me a favor and save your crocodile tears. You look ugly when you cry anyway, thanks to all that Botox in your face.”

“How can you say that to me?” she shouted.

Things were getting destructive between them as they exchanged harsh words. Noah wasn’t cussing her out, but the insults truly did leave emotional scars underneath the wounds he inflicted with his punishing tongue.

“I never complain when you devote all of your time to those cases!”

“I’ve always been a workaholic! You knew that while you were dating me, and you knew it when I asked you to marry me. I’m not the one who’s changed here,youhave! And I’m not happy, Goddamn it!”

“Everything I do is to make you happy!”

“You’ve got it badly twisted, sweetheart, because lately, everything you do is just the opposite. I’ve tried polite interventions with you, I’ve tried tough love, and nothing works. The way I see it, you’ve got two options here: get some therapy for yourself, or hammer the final nail in the coffin and end this marriage.”

I could hear her crying, and I wouldn’t say it made me happy. I mean, I wasn’t exactly Vanessa’s biggest fan, and we certainly weren’t close, but I’ve always had this ability to empathize with others. Hearing the hurt in her voice made me feel sorry for her. Noah really did let her have it.

“I can’t believe you would say all these hurtful things to me in front of your daughter!”

“Don’t drag Aria into this—stay on topic. At least she was mature enough to leave and give us privacy to argue like children without the humiliation of having a teenager witness it. Shame on us, right, honey?”

“Oh, shut up! You condescending asshole!”

“Ouch, darling. That hurt. Do you want to throw another punch?”

“Get out of my sight!”

“Gladly, thanks for reminding me—don’t want to be late for my meeting.”

I was expecting her to say something back. But instead all I heard was glass breaking, feet pounding up the stairs, and a door slamming shut. It made me jump. Thinking that she had hurled something at him, I ran to the kitchen to prevent further violence.

“Is everything okay in here?”

He was staring off into space and snapped back to reality when he heard my voice.

“No, but it will be. You ready for school?”

I looked down at the broken glass.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Noah. “The maid will clean it up later.”

“Some messes just aren’t nice to leave for other people to tidy, whether Irene’s on your payroll or not—and leaving broken glass on the floor is irresponsible and dangerous.”

Irene was our maid and a super nice lady. She taught me a lot of Russian words. I felt like the parent in this scenario as I grabbed a broom and swept up the glass. A pair of icy blue eyes followed me, and ironically, it made my temperature rise.

“Don’t grow up so fast, kiddo.”

“I’m not a kid. Stop calling me that.” I wished he could see me as the grown-up woman that I was.

“All right, you’re a mature young adult, who’s taught her father a lesson in the rules of responsibility this morning.”

“Well, I’m happy to have taught you something valuable,” I said with a smirk.

“Smart-ass—give me that.” He grabbed the broom from me, our fingers gently brushing against each other. My stomach did a flip and my breathing slowed. There was an immediate exchange of electrical currents through our fingers when we touched.

“I don’t want you to cut yourself,” Noah expressed with concern.

I could smell his cologne and it made me light-headed again with all the overwhelming emotions that were triggering inside of me. He was unreal. This man was flawless in my eyes. Even his most blatant imperfections were perfect to me. I didn’t care that he had a fiery temper. I didn’t care that he had the power to raise people up and smash them down within seconds. None of it mattered to me, no matter how intimidating or aggressive he was, or whatever demons he had battled in his past. Noah stood before me as a strong, powerful Titan, and I realized I had placed him so high on a pedestal that not even I could reach him. He was going to be my undoing, and I was fully aware of it.

I helped him sweep the glass into a dustpan before he discarded the debris in the bin.

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