He scoffed. “Damn, Doris. If I could turn back time… I swear, I would’ve left your sorry ass back in the province. Should’ve married Elizabeth from the start. She’s better than you in every goddamn way. Classy. Successful. Knows how to run a business. Knows how to shut up.”
I turned away, still quiet.
That’s when he kicked me.
Right in the knee. My leg buckled, and I dropped with a thud I was too tired to even gasp at. The floor met me like an old friend. Cold. Familiar.
The tears came without permission. Warm and humiliating. Not because of the pain. No. I think it was because of the sound of him walking away like I wasn’t even there.
“Enough drama,” he muttered. “You’re too old for this shit.”
Then his phone rang.
I could still hear my breath catching in my chest when he answered it.
The tone of his voice changed instantly. “Hey, baby,” he said, like I wasn’t even on the floor. “Mmm, I missed you already.”
I wiped my face slowly, one sleeve at a time.
His voice dropped into something warm. Giddy. Teenage. “Yeah, yeah, I’m packing. Can’t wait to see you in that bikini again. Damn. This cruise’ll be insane. You and me. Open sea.”
I didn’t follow Edmund.