Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 158

Hearing this, Julian clamped his mouth shut, his dark eyes locked intensely onto Hester.

"Why so quiet?" Hester asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Julian, do you honestly believe that every time we argue, as long as you use the silent treatment and freeze me out, I'll just magically digest my anger in a few days and pretend nothing ever happened?"

Having his mindset surgically exposed, Julian's face flashed with a momentary stunned silence.

It was true. Over their five years of marriage, they had certainly fought before.

But every time an argument reached a point where he deemed further discussion pointless, he would shut down.

He had always assumed that they were arguing over trivial matters, that Hester was just being overly emotional, and that once she cooled off, she would see reason.

Just like when she brought up the divorce. He assumed she loved him too much, and wanted their new baby too badly, to actually mean it. He believed it was just an angry outburst that would blow over once her mood improved.

He firmly held the belief that fighting was the most useless form of communication. His silence was merely his way of preventing both of them from saying hurtful things in the heat of the moment.

He never once considered that this approach was flawed.

But now, staring into Hester's icy, deeply mocking eyes, an unfamiliar panic gripped Julian's chest.

He had no idea that from the very moment Hester handed him that revised agreement, a calculated plan had been set in motion.

Everything unfolding right now was entirely within her expectations.

And precisely because it was all going according to plan, she truly didn't care what excuse he offered anymore.

She looked at Julian, her beautiful eyes utterly devoid of emotion. "Caden said that because he wouldn't call Seraphina 'Mom,' she started crying right in front of him, playing the victim in front of you. And because of that, you yelled at him. Julian, look at a five-year-old child, and then look at a grown adult. Are you seriously incapable of figuring out which one needs to be comforted and protected?"

Hester paused, then continued, "Over there, all she's going to do is weep and throw tantrums, completely shattering the child's sense of security. And over here, the more I comfort him, the more he's going to cling to me. It's a vicious cycle. You've been his father for five years; surely you're not dense enough to miss the obvious logic here."

Every single point Hester made was bulletproof. Julian couldn't find a single flaw to argue against.

"I'll go talk to Seraphina," Julian finally said after a moment of heavy thought. "But for the next few days, Caden can stay here."

"Fine," Hester said. "But let's set a ground rule right now. While Caden is staying here, if she wants to come over to see him, she needs to ask for my permission first. I don't appreciate random outsiders dropping by my house unannounced."

"She's family, not an outsider."

Hester let out a harsh laugh. "Then why don't you just pack her bags and move her in with us? If she's family, we might as well all live under the same roof."