Edwin set the coffee aside, his gaze fixed on her.
Close to her, he noticed her discomfort as she turned her head away.
“Can Dylan really be called your boyfriend? If he is, why doesn’t he live with you, and why does he leave right after dropping you off?
Laura, you’re lying.”
Laura responded with a faint smile, moving back to the living room.
Edwin, following her, grabbed her shoulders, offering, “Let me take care of you.”
Laura gently shrugged off his hands and confronted him.
“What kind of care are we talking about here? Buying me a house, a car, and giving me endless money? Edwin, isn’t that just keeping me as your mistress? What if you come to me for comfort one day after having an argument with your wife, and I refuse? Will you then hold your financial support over me? Why should I have to pretend to be virtuous?”
She felt saddened by the thought.
Once, they had been a genuine couple, albeit with some deception.
Now, he was with someone else yet still sought her out.
Lowering her voice, she pleaded, “Edwin, can you please let me go?”
After saying this, she walked to the window, looking out at the snow-laden night.
Edwin watched her, feeling the distance between them.
A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y
After a prolonged silence, he finally managed to say, “Okay.”
But as he was about to leave, he impulsively embraced her, his Lips meeting hers.
His touch wasn’t aggressive, just heavy breaths against her neck and gentle strokes on her back as he murmured, “Laura, it’s not that I hadn’t been serious with this relationship. If only-“
But there were no ‘‘ifs.’
Laura, devoid of hope, wrapped her arms around herself, trembling.
“Get out!” she choked out.
Edwin remained motionless.
In response, Laura dashed into the study, grabbed a stack of design drafts, and threw them at Edwin’s feet.
“Edwin! Do I need to make it clearer for you?” she demanded.
“These are your fiancee’s wedding dress designs. You’re about to get married. What does it mean for you to hold and kiss me now? What am I in all this?”
Crying softly, Laura continued, “How much more do you want to degrade me? Your feelings are your feelings, but what about mine? I’ve left your world as you wished. Why do you still bother me, why?”
Her face was pale with emotion.
“Don’t make me hate you!”