My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 378

At that moment, the waiter arrived and placed a cup of coffee on the table.

Riyana glanced at it.

“I learned from Lennox that you like espresso,” Neon said casually. “So I ordered it for you.”

Riyana’s expression tightened slightly.

She didn’t thank him.

Instead, she opened her bag calmly, took out a blue velvet box, and placed it on the table between them. Then she pushed it toward him.

Neon recognized the box instantly.

His smile faded.

“Mr. Rome,” Riyana said, her tone firm now, serious, “I think you’ve misunderstood me.”

She held his gaze.

“I don’t want anything from you. And I’m not interested in having any kind of relationship with you.”

She took a breath.

“And for your information, I’m a married woman.”

For a moment, Neon’s face froze.

Then he laughed lightly, as if she had just told him a joke.

“Riyana,” he said, shaking his head, “if you don’t like this gift, you could’ve just said so.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“I can buy something else. Something more expensive. But you don’t have to lie about being married.”

He didn’t believe her.

He had already checked her background. No public record of marriage. No ring on her finger. No rumors of a relationship.

Riyana stood up slowly.

“Mr. Rome,” she said evenly, “it doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. It’s the truth.”

She looked straight at him.

“So please stop sending me flowers and gifts.”

Neon stood up as well, his brows knitting slightly.

“If you’re married,” he asked, “then where is your ring?”

The question hit harder than she expected.

Riyana froze.

Her eyes dropped to her hand instinctively. Her ring finger was bare.

For a second, her chest felt heavy.

She slowly touched her ring finger, her heart sinking just a little. The absence felt louder than words.

She lifted her head again.

“Mr. Rome,” she said quietly but firmly, “please try to understand.”

She met his eyes one last time.

“Don’t send me anything. Don’t contact me again.”

Her voice hardened.

“I don’t want to ruin your reputation.”

With that, she turned around and walked away, not giving him a chance to respond.

Sitting at the table behind them, Jabco heard every single word.

Not one sentence escaped him.

His fingers curled slowly against his palm as he listened. Every time Neon spoke, Jabco felt the urge to stand up, walk straight to that table, grab him by the collar, and make it very clear who Riyana belonged to.

He wanted to slap him.

He wanted to tell him, loudly, without shame, that Riyana was his wife. That she was Mrs. Grey. That touching her life, her space, her feelings without permission was crossing a line no one survived.

Jabco Grey did not share what was his.

But he stayed seated.

For her sake.

Their relationship had just started to soften. The tension between them was easing, slowly, carefully, like fragile glass being put back together. One wrong move could shatter it again.

He didn’t want to ruin that fragile peace.

So he forced himself to stay still.

What surprised him most wasn’t Neon. It was Riyana.

The way she handled it.

She was calm, firm, clear. No hesitation. No mixed signals. No weakness. She didn’t flirt. She didn’t smile politely to escape. She didn’t entertain his nonsense.

She stood her ground just like he expected her to be. That why Jabco likes Riyana.

She even told him she was married.

That alone filled Jabco’s chest with something heavy and warm at the same time.

Pride and Relief.

But then came the question.

“Where is your ring?”

That single sentence hit Jabco harder than anything else.

His jaw clenched.

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