bSkr’s /bhand holding the fork hesitated briefly over the egg before she continued eating with practicedposure, Skytrace her food absently, her tone deceptively light. “Why even apologize to me?”

    Yosef asked tentatively, “Did I upset you in any way?”

    Skr let out a light, self–deprecatingugh. “You didn’t upset me, Mr. Campbell. It’s my own doing”

    ‘Honestly, I’m just mad at myself right now,‘ Skr thought. ‘Damn it, my mood is swaying because of Yosef. That’s so not a good sign!‘

    Yosef set down his breakfast and said gently, “Skr, if you’re upset, you can take it out on me or just tell me. Don’t keep it bottled up inside.”

    Skr replied calmly, “Mr. Campbell, you’re overthinking things.”

    But the more distant Skr acted, the more uneasy Yosef felt. Yosef looked at her, his voice gentle and a little anxious. “Skr, can you please tell me what exactly you’re upset about?”

    “If I knew what Skr was upset about, perhaps I could find the right way to make it up to her,‘ Yosef thought.

    Skr sighed. “Mr. Campbell, this isn’t about you.

    “But you keep pressing me on this, and honestly, it’s making me quite ufortable.”

    Skr’s words mmed the door shut on any

    further discussion from Yosef. He pressed his lips together and fell silent.

    shut the hadi

    They finished breakfast in tense silence.

    Yosef was dying to know the truth about what had upset her so much the day before. But seeing how angry Skr was at that moment, he worried that asking would only make her angrier. Yosef grew increasingly agitated. He pinched his chin in frustration

    Skr noticed Yosef’s impatient gesture, and her expression turned even stiffer. She stood up. “I’m leaving.”

    Just as Skr’s fingers brushed the doorknob and she eased the door open a sliver, Yosef’s hand suddenly shot past her ear from behind. He violently mmed the door shut, trapping her inside.

    Before she could react, Yosef grabbed Skr by the shoulders and spun her around, forcing her to face him directly. Skr snapped, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

    “It’s me who should be asking you that!” Yosef said, his dark eyes locked intensely on her. “Tell me what I did to piss you off. How

    else can I know?”

    Yosef added, “If you don’t talk to me, we’ll never be able to work this out!”

    Skr turned her face away, refusing to even look at him. In her mind, she thought, ‘I don’t want to talk to you at all, Jerk.‘

    Seeing Skr remain silent, Yosef gripped her chin firmly and demanded, “Talk to me!”

    Skr said, “Well, given whatever this is between us, what’s even left to say?”

    Yosef sneered, “You keep going on about ‘our rtionship‘–so tell me, Skr, what exactly are we now?”

    b07:59 /bbM?n/bb, /b25 Align BICIó”

    “bFamiliar /bstrangers?”

    “Oh, that’s what it is?” Yosef released his grip on Skr’s chin, his fingers trailing lightly across her cheek, “If I bremember /bcorrectly we’re still husband and wife byw.”

    Skr opened her lips to protest, but Yosef pressed a finger gently against them, silencing her. “No matter how much byou /bbrefuse /bbto /badmit it, you can’t deny the truth, can you?”

    Skr remained silent. Then, Yosef looked at her and asked quietly, “Skr, do you know why I drankst night?”

    Skr remained silent, her expression making it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. But Yosef pinched her cheek with ba /bteasing smile and said, “Whether you want to hear it or not, I’m going to tell you.”

    “Those dating rumors about you bothered me,” he admitted. “I was so upset that I called a few friends and we went out drinking at a bar.”

    ‘Wait, he’s jealous?‘ Skr thought, utterly taken aback. ‘Okay, so he drank himself out just because he was jealous?‘ Skr was stunned.

    ‘His feelings for me run deeper than I imagined,‘ Skr thought.

    Yosef took in every subtle shift in Skr’s expression, then tapped the tip of her upturned nose yfully. With a teasing smile, he said, “Alright, your turn. Why are you so upset?”

    Skr shot back, “I’m just upset, alright? No reason needed.” She kept insisting there was nothing between them, always putting up walls and pretending their rtionship was strained.

    Skr thought to herself, ‘If I say I’m upset because of his dismissive attitude, doesn’t that just prove I care about him? That would be so self–contradictory and make me look ridiculous!‘

    Skr wished Yosef would drop it, but of course, he had to keep pushing. “I don’t buy that, Skr, People don’t just get upset for no reason at all.”

    Yosef paused, and a teasing smile appeared on his lips. “Let me take a guess.”

    AD

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