Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 557

Just as Sebastian predicted, there was no salvaging the situation.

Robert, Margaret, and Isla stared at the screen, their faces ashen.

"We're leaving," Robert declared. Since the Remingtons clearly weren't going to bail them out, they had to go home and manage the fallout themselves.

Margaret shot a withering glare around the room and followed her husband toward the door.

But Isla refused to let it go. Tears brimming in her eyes, she whipped around to glare at Sebastian. "Don't you hate her? Didn't she ruin you? Why didn't you step up for me? We're on the same side here! You could have ruined her and saved me at the same time!"

"When did I ever say I hated her?" Sebastian murmured, his gaze distant.

"You did! When you first came back! You wouldn't let anyone even mention her name. You threw a massive fit every time someone brought her up! You told everyone to get the hell out and swore you never wanted to hear about her again!" Isla screamed, treating every word like an indictment.

Because she had witnessed his violent heartbreak firsthand, she had convinced herself she had a chance.

Sebastian remembered all of it. He remembered everything he had given up, all the madness that consumed him for that love.

But hearing Isla throw it in his face only made him let out a broken, breathless laugh. His eyes rimmed with red. "You think that was hate? If that's what hate is, then sure, I hated her."

"Then why? Why are you protecting a woman you hate?" Isla demanded, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Sebastian’s expression softened into something tragically tender. "Because of love. Why else would there be hate? You only hate because you love so deeply. You only lose your mind because you can't have the one you want."

"But she destroyed you! Snap out of it!" Isla roared.

Sebastian laughed again, a single tear escaping to track down his cheek. "If I could, I'd let her destroy me all over again. But I don't even have that privilege. She won't even give me the chance to let her break my heart twice."

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