His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus) novel Chapter 591

Watching from the sidelines, Lily felt the heartache as she saw the torment in Jareth's fiery eyes, his desperation palpable.

Initially, she too had not been in favor of Jareth's "tough love" approach, fearing it too harsh for Marilla.

But the stark reality of Elspeth's death sentence could not remain hidden forever. Better to deal with it now and rip off the Band-Aid than let the wound fester.

Yet, she had underestimated Jareth's control over Marilla and the usually docile Marilla's explosive strength when cornered.

"Lily, take Marilla back to her room to rest," ordered Thaddeus, his voice laced with concern as he turned to Jareth. "You look like hell, too. Let Lily stay with Marilla."

Lily gingerly lifted Marilla from Jareth's embrace, easily sweeping her into her arms and ascending the staircase with unwavering steps.

The couple was left dumbfounded.

Jareth's secretary, raised in the household since she was a girl, was proving to be worth her weight in gold.

"I just wanted for Marilla to face reality. I didn't expect for it to turn out like this," Jareth confessed, his chest heaving as if a bellows had been shoved inside, his whole being seeming to fry in an invisible frying pan. "Elspeth never truly cared for Marilla. I thought Marilla had come to accept that, that she wouldn't."

"You thought, you thought! Have you ever, for once, considered Marilla's feelings in all of this?" Evadne exploded, closing the gap between them in two strides and grabbing Jareth by the collar. "From the moment you charmed her, brought her into your life, keeping her away from the Abernathy family, then parading her before the scrutinizing eyes of the Fairhaven elite – your grandfather, your mother! And now you impose your will upon her, assuming she'll just accept and bear it? Where do you get this blind confidence? Have you ever truly considered Marilla? Have you seen things from her perspective? Have you ever cared about her feelings?"

"Evadne." Thaddeus's gaze faltered.

He wanted to interject but feared making matters worse, knowing his own words often lacked the necessary tact.

Reminiscing, Jareth felt a sharp pang in his heart, his eyes losing their luster.

He had never asked if Marilla was happy, if this was what she wanted.

Her compliance, her gentlenes, all made him overlook her true feelings. She agreed to everything he proposed, appreciated every gift, even the passionate nights that left her breathless, always whispering, "I love it, I love you, Jareth."

But now, he suddenly realized he might have been wrong.

He thought he was being considerate, altruistically noble, never pondering whether this was the kind of 'good' Marilla desired or could withstand.

"Jareth, you and Marilla may both come from affluent families, but you're from two entirely different worlds," Evadne continued, her voice a mix of anger and concern. "What you need to do is enter her tender world with enough love and patience, not carelessly drag her into your life, isolating her from the world, severing her normal social needs, and keeping her caged like a canary! Marilla has a passion for art, a raw talent that could make her a prodigious artist. Have you ever seriously cultivated that talent? Why not hire a teacher for her, send her to a prestigious school for further education? Or is her gift just a means to amuse you each day? Do you realize you're squandering her potential?"

Jareth felt as if a gaping hole had been torn in his chest, pain throbbing raw and real, "I'm not wasting Marilla. I'm not holding her back. In this lifetime, I only want Marilla! You and Thad have known from the start that I intended to marry her!"

"And what then? Repeat the same day over and over, possibly even worse than now," Evadne shook her head in disappointment. "If you can't properly care for Marilla, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep. This isn't the first time, and certainly the most severe. How many more times will there be over the decades to come? Can you endure that? Can you persist? You're not a patient man by nature. You're accommodating and tolerant now only because you're in the honeymoon phase of your relationship! But what about ten, twenty years from now, when your love and patience run out? Will you still care for Marilla as you do today? Will you still kneel and hold her, comfort her like you did this morning?"

"I can! Why wouldn't I be able to?" Jareth's voice broke, hoarse and choked, as he shouted back at Evadne, "You shouldn't doubt my love for Marilla! You shouldn't insult me with your skepticism!"

"Enough, Jareth!" Thaddeus stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Evadne to shield her, his eyes dark and serious. "She didn't mean it like that; she's just distressed for Marilla. Back in the Abernathy household, none of us, including myself, ever truly cared for Marilla. The only one who's always been there for her was Evadne. Seeing Marilla in such pain, Evadne feels it just as acutely. Her harsh words are out of concern."

Evadne's lips were tight, and her throat scorched from yelling. She had been harsh, but it was out of fear for Marilla's welfare.

She never meant to drive a wedge between them, but the current state of their relationship was anything but healthy. Marilla's condition meant she couldn't steer the course of their emotions, and it was high time she gave Jareth a wakeup call. Otherwise, the unintended hurt was a constant shadow.

"Autism can manifest as either hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity, and unfortunately, Marilla is the former. It's often her keen sensitivity, her stronger-than-average empathy that makes her so vulnerable to agitation, her actions so uncontrollable," she explained, her voice steady despite the weight of her words.