“I admit I’ve been in contact with Jessica lately. I know I was wrong. You can hit me,

yell at me, whatever you want but please, don’t divorce me.”

Elysia cast him a glance so cold it seemed to freeze him from the inside out.

Why was Elysia looking at him like that? She’d always had a quick temper. Shouldn’t she be furious, shouldn’t she be yelling after seeing him take Jessica to the hospital? Why was she so calm?

Dorian’s heart raced with anxiety. He stepped forward. “Elysia, let’s just sit down and talk, please. I can change. Anything I did wrong, I’ll make it right—just don’t be like this.”

“Like what?” Elysia replied blankly, her face devoid of emotion. “I haven’t done anything. We should get a divorce. I’ve already made up my mind.”

A dull ache throbbed in her head, muddling her thoughts and making her words come out jumbled.

She lowered her eyes. “Ama, let’s keep packing.”

She didn’t want to look at Dorian; she walked over to the closet and continued putting her things into the suitcase.

Seeing how detached Elysia was, so determined to leave him, Dorian was consumed by fear. Anger began to bubble up in him too, though he wasn’t sure whether he was furious at her, or at himself.

He moved forward to grab her, but Finnian caught his arm and said quietly, “Calm down. You need to sober up.”

“I am sober,” Dorian snapped, shaking Finnian off. “I’m perfectly sober.”

But nothing about him looked sober. Amara glanced up at him, then quietly placed one of Elysia’s coats into the suitcase.

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Amara was closest, so she got up to answer. “Who is it?”

Elysia’s house had a smart home system. Though Amara asked out of habit, she could already see on the small screen that it was Jessica outside.

A trace of sarcasm curled at Elysia’s lips as she opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

Jessica stepped inside, carrying a large bouquet of flowers. She looked a little timid. “I came to see Elysia.s she still upset with me? She should be home, right?”

She walked in tentatively and saw Elysia crouched on the floor, packing, with Dorian and Finnian also in the room.

Her gaze landed on the suitcases. What was happening? Was Elysia moving out?

A surge of irrepressible joy rose up in her.

Seeing Jessica, Dorian’s mind went blank-he felt as though his head was about to explode.

He strode over, saying, “What are you doing here? Why did you come?”

Jessica shrank back; he’d almost never spoken to her this harshly.

“I just wanted to check on Elysia. Is she still mad at me? I wanted to apologize,” she said quietly.

She was only making things worse. Dorian, furious, said, “You need to leave. Don’t make this any more complicated.”

His harsh tone brought tears to Jessica’s eyes immediately. Amara, watching from the side, had to stifle a laugh.

How

to que mes had Jessica cried

today? Was she a faucet, able to

turn on the waterworks at will she

really belonged on a stage

Amara walked over and put her arm around Elysia’s shoulders. “Forget about them. Let’s keep packing.”

Elysia hadn’t reacted to Jessica’s arrival at all, but the more indifferent she was, the more frantic Dorian became.

He Jessica, his voice With that, he grabbed Jessica

sharp. “Get out. And stop crying.’

wrist, trying to drag her out content