My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 399

Jabco took a slow step toward her.

It was almost instinctive, like his body moved before his mind could catch up. Six months of searching, waiting, breaking himself apart, and now she was finally in front of him. So close. Close enough that he could see how much she had changed.

Riyana watched him carefully.

She noticed it immediately. The way his shoulders leaned forward. The way his hands loosened at his sides, ready to reach for her. She had lived with him long enough to recognize that look. That need to touch her, to pull her into his arms and pretend everything could go back to how it was.

Her chest tightened.

“No,” she thought. “Not again.”

Before he could come any closer, she lifted her hand sharply.

“Stop right there.”

Her voice was firm, Cold, No warmth left in it.

Jabco froze mid step.

Her eyes were nothing like the ones he remembered. There was no softness, no hesitation. They were guarded now, Hard. Like a wall he couldn’t break through no matter how much force he used.

He swallowed.

“You never think about my feelings,” he said slowly, his voice rough. “Not even once.”

Riyana let out a short, bitter scoff.

“your feelings?” she repeated, disbelief clear in her tone. “You’re talking about your feelings?”

She took a small step back, putting more distance between them.

“Did you ever think about mine?” she asked.

“If you didn’t, then why should I think about yours now?”

Each word landed clean and sharp.

Jabco felt something inside him drop.

His expression fell further. His eyes burned, the redness creeping in no matter how hard he tried to control it. He had imagined this reunion a thousand times, but never like this.

Never with her looking at him as if he was nothing but a stranger.

“Riyana,” he said softly, almost pleading.

He reached out, instinctively trying to hold her hand, to ground himself, to feel that she was real.

But the moment his fingers moved toward her, she stepped back quickly.

It was sudden and sharp.

As if his touch disgusted her.

The movement hit him harder than any slap ever could.

His hand stayed frozen in the air for a second before slowly falling back to his side.

His heart ached in a way he had never known before.

“Why are you here?” Riyana asked coldly.

Her voice didn’t shake. Her face didn’t soften.

“I’m here to take you back,” Jabco said without hesitation. “Let’s go back home.”

The word made something snap inside her.

“Home?” she repeated.

Then she laughed.

It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was sharp, almost broken, the kind of sound that came from a place too deep to heal easily.

“Going back?” she said, her laugh fading into bitterness. “You want me to go back there and watch you fall into someone else’s arms?”

Her eyes cut into him.

“And if I had any intention of going back to you,” she added, “I wouldn’t have left in the first place.”

Panic flashed across Jabco’s face.

“No,” he said quickly. “Please don’t say that.”

He stepped closer again, his voice rising without meaning to.

“I don’t understand why you’re suddenly so angry,” he continued. “What did I do? Why did you leave me like that? I thought things were getting better between us. I really did.”

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