The Day I Stopped Waiting Was the Day He Started Begging novel Chapter 113

Madeline stared up at the pale ceiling and let out a soundless, humorless laugh.

Just a second ago, she had actually been holding her breath, desperately hoping for a drunk confession.

Didn't she already know the answer?

Their marriage had been built on secrets from the very beginning. It was inevitable that it would crash and burn like this.

The pathetic part was that, despite her rational mind, a tiny piece of her still held onto the delusional hope that maybe they could have a different ending.

She could no longer lie to herself. The only reason she hadn't completely pulled the plug on her marriage to York was that, deep down, she still clung to a sliver of hope for them.

That hope constantly tore her between logic and love.

Because in all her years, he was the only man she had ever truly loved.

He held so many of her firsts, and he had seen the version of her that loved recklessly.

She didn't even know if she was mourning the loss of the old Madeline, or if she was mourning the York who had seemed so entirely devoted to her when they first got married.

In love, someone was always destined to play the fool.

She had explicitly warned herself to stop setting herself up for humiliation.

Yet, she still couldn't stop hoping.

York's breathing leveled out. His arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, locking her in a fiercely possessive embrace.

She managed to untangle herself from his grip, slipping out of bed to sleep on the small cot by the window.

...

When Madeline woke up the next morning, York was already gone. Strangely, she found herself tucked back into the main hospital bed.

He didn't show up for the next two days, leaving her to slip right back into the life she led before he returned to the city.