?Chapter 208:

    They stood ufortably close.

    Neil could make out the faint fuzz on Katelyn’s face and the unmistakable disgust in her eyes.

    The subtle scent of gardenias lingered around her.

    He fixated on her full, red lips, which seemed as tempting as ripe apples ready for picking.

    Despite the estrangement of the past three years of marriage, a sudden urge to kiss her surged within him. Just as he leaned in, a sharp p echoed through the air. Katelyn’s hand struck his face forcefully, turning his head to the side. Seizing the moment, she then stomped hard on the back of his foot.

    Neil winced from the instant pain. Katelyn, distancing herself, looked at him with overt disgust.

    “Are you trying to hurt me?” she demanded, her tone icy.

    What was he thinking, attempting a kiss after such betrayal?

    Rubbing the stinging on his face, Neil clenched his fist, frustration mounting.

    “Don’t think I’m afraid to retaliate, Katelyn,” he warned. “Push me again, and you’ll regret it.”

    Katelyn responded with a snort of disdain and crossed her arms, her posture rxed yet defiant. She wasn’t intimidated by his threat and even found humor in his audacity.

    “You’re a joke, Neil. You had an affair and fathered a child with another woman, yet you dare to make advances on me now. Shame on you!”

    Her face clearly expressed her revulsion.

    Neil clenched his fists, his voice tight with tension.

    “Katelyn, your aversion to my touch must be because you’ve fallen for someone else. You flinch even from a simple touch. Is all this really for Vincent? To me, you’ve be nothing more than a ything I’ve tired of.”

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    As soon as he finished, Katelyn’s response was swift and sharp—she pped him across the cheek once again.

    The sound of the p echoed.

    Her palm throbbed from the force of her blow. Katelyn sighed, frustrated by Neil’s shamelessness.

    Rage burned in Neil’s eyes as he bit out, “Do you think I won’t raise my hands on you?”

    Katelyn faced him squarely, her expression steely. “Try it, and you might not get out of bed for months.”

    Despite her firm response, Neil’s understanding remained unchanged.

    “You’re worthless to me now. One word from you, and Lise is all yours—she suits you perfectly.” Katelyn dismissed him coldly. Indeed, Neil and Lise were alike in their deceit, both masking their vile natures behind a veneer of respectability. Katelyn scorned their pretense.

    Neil’s frustration mounted.

    He longed for the return of the gentler Katelyn, but her current defiance was cutting.

    “This is your final warning—if youy a hand on me again, you’ll regret it,” she said firmly, a clear deration of fact.

    Neil sneered, his old perceptions shing with the present. “It’s amazing how unpredictable women are. You once showed me kindness, and now you treat me with cold indifference. If only I’d seen your true nature earlier. I wouldn’t have wasted so many years on you.”

    “I was gentle because I was naive,” Katelyn replied coolly, her voice devoid of warmth. “Talking to you now feels beneath me.” Her gaze was intense yet empty, reflecting no emotion—no love, no hate—just the detachment one might show to a stranger.

    Neil had more to say, but the look in her eyes silenced him.

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