"Nathalia, baby, I’m done with my bath. Why aren’t you coming in yet?" His gaze lifted, and the moment he spotted Mathias, his expression shifted from lazy amusement to frozen panic.
"President Mathias? What are you doing here?"
Something inside me twisted violently as I turned to Mathias, searching his face, praying for reason, for trust. But what I saw made my stomach drop.
The uncertainty in his gaze vanished, replaced by sheer disappointment laced with something far worse. Disgust.
His voice was like a blade slicing through me.
"Irene, I really misjudged you."
"I never thought you’d be this vicious… this shameless."
"I didn’t! I swear, I didn’t!"
Never had I wished more desperately for him to believe me.
"I’ve already decided to leave you. I won’t stand in the way of you and Nathalia anymore. Why would I even do something like this?"
The words seemed to ignite something within Mathias. His expression twisted sharply as though I had wounded him with my simple truth.
"Irene, do you have any idea what you're saying?" His voice was thick with disbelief, the anger barely contained beneath his words.