Those in the kitchen were still talking. However, Ariel couldn’t quite register what they were saying

    anymore.

    Without a sound, she stepped back from the doorway, her expression nk. Moving as if in a dazeb, /bshe walked silently to the base of the staircase and stopped there.

    Her head felt light, her mind drowning in disbelief. Rational thought was quickly smothered by a storm of emotions she could barely control.

    She never could have imagined something like this.

    After problems began surfacing in her marriage, Ariel had once believed that having a child might help her and Jayson reconcile. She had been waiting–hoping–for the day she would hear the news she was pregnant.

    But the days passed, and her hopes never came true.

    She had always known conceiving might be difficult because of her frail health and the injury she’d sustained before. Yet it wasn’t impossible. Once her body had fully recovered, pregnancy should have been natural.

    What she never imagined was that Jayson himself had been preventing it all along while she was desperately waiting for a miracle.

    Clutching the railing with one hand and pressing the other against her chest, Ariel took a deep breath, struggling to steady herself.

    But the anger and anguish surging within her were impossible to contain.

    She had thought it pointless to demand answers after their divorce, believing there was no use in revisiting the pain of the past. Yet now, the suffocating bitterness in her chest overpowered every restraint she had built.

    Ariel went up the stairs and headed toward the master bedroom.

    When she pushed the door open, Jayson was inside holding a tablet and still on a call. He turned around when he heard the noise.

    His gazended on her red–rimmed eyes and the icy expression on her face.

    Still holding the phone to his ear, Jayson studied her quietly.

    The sight of him sent Ariel’s emotions boiling over. She crossed the room quickly, hand raised, ready to p him across his face.

    Jayson maintained the same expression as he watched Ariel swing her arm at him.

    He stood there, unmoving, looking her straight in the eye with a steadyb, /bunblinking bgaze/b.

    Ariel froze mid–motion, her arm suspended in the air.

    +15 bBONUS /b

    In that moment, rity returned. She wrestled herself free from the dark tide of anger threatening to

    consume her. The values instilled in her since childhood wouldn’t allow her to strike him.

    But Jayson leaned forward, pressing his cheek into her raised palm. “Why stop? I’m not going to dodge,” he said calmly, without a trace of irritation.

    The gesture made it seem as though she was caressing him instead of about to strike.

    Ariel felt a wave of conflicting emotionsb–/bconfusion, frustration, and reluctant amusement. She lowered

    her hand, feeling the warmth of his skin linger on her palm.

    Jayson ended his call, straightened, and looked at her closely. “This is the first time byou’ve /blost your

    temper in front of me. What happened? Tell me so I can understand.”

    Ariel felt like she had never actually understood this man. She had a frigid look in her eyes. “It was your doing that I haven’t been able to conceive all this time. Jayson Larkin, why would you do that?”

    Ariel fought to keep her emotions in check, knowing that if she could just get the full storyb, /bshe might

    finally find the closure she deserved.

    A flicker of recognition passed through Jayson’s eyes–he understood immediately.

    He set his phone aside, leaned back against the couch, and met her gaze. “What answer would make you

    feel better?” he asked evenly.

    It was an admission, blunt and undeniable.

    Ariel spat mockingly, “You could have just told me if you didn’t want a child! You didn’t have to go behind my back doing those things!”

    Jayson didn’t look away. “Did you honestly think you were in any condition to carry a child back then?b” /b

    Ariel’s expression grew solemn.

    “Ariel,” he continued, “you knew better than anyone that you weren’t fit to conceive. Why were you

    forcing yourself?”

    Realizing his words sounded harsh, Jayson paused briefly, then said in a quieter tone, “That’s the only exnation I can give you.”

    Ariel couldn’t quite put her thoughts into words at that moment. She was well aware that she was frail at

    the time. Still…