The End of a Marriage (Colette and Matheo) novel Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Her lips curled into a wry smile as she looked away, as though ashamed of her own reflection. “I had once wanted him so much, too

much, and when I couldn’t have him, he became that impossible

dream, that treat always just out of reach. When he came back to me, I thought–no, I convinced myself–that this was my second chance, my moment to have what I had always wanted. That everything would

go back to normal when we got married.”

Carlotta let out another laugh, this one sharp and self–deprecating.

“But now? Now I doubt there was ever a ‘normal‘ to return to.”

Her shoulders slumped, her confidence crumbling in front of Amber’s

eyes. “Never mind that,” she said softly, waving a hand as though brushing away her own pain. “When Nico was born…” Her voice

caught at the mention of the little boy, and she took a deep breath

before continuing. “When Nico was born and I saw him again at a

family gathering–not long after you gave birth, when you were still

recovering–I asked him how he was. How he was doing. Just a simple

question, really.”

Her voice trembled as she paused, her eyes distant, as if reliving the

moment. “And he smiled. God, how he smiled. And do you know what

he said? He said he’d never loved anything more in his life than his

little boy. That the only thing that came close was his mamma.”

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Chapter 173

She blinked, and when her gaze met Amber’s, there were tears

shimmering in her eyes. “Not long after that–weeks, maybe–you left

him.”

Amber felt the heaviness in those words, though Carlotta’s tone

carried no blame. Just a resigned sorrow, the weight of loss etched

into every syllable. “And suddenly,” Carlotta continued, her voice

softening, “with the encouragement of my family and his, I was back

in his life.”

She gave a bitter smile, her tears now falling freely down her cheeks.

“By the next month, we were ‘together.‘ Officially. Attending parties,

galas, smiling for the cameras. Kissing behind closed doors. Telling

each other lies about a relationship that never really existed.”

Carlotta exhaled shakily, as though the weight of her words was

exhausting her. “It was nothing more than pretense,” she said, her

voice quiet but filled with conviction. “We fooled the world. Hell, we

even fooled ourselves. He pretended he was over his wife and child.

And I…” She paused, her lips trembling as she tried to hold herself

together. “I, the forever fool, pretended that he loved me.”

Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face, the years of

buried pain finally spilling out. “He was so desperate to feel

something, anything close to what he had with you, that he asked me

to marry him. And I-” She let out a shaky laugh that dissolved into a sob. “I was so desperate to believe it was real that I said yes.”

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Chapter 173

Her hands trembled as she wiped at her tears, looking at Amber with a rawness that was impossible to ignore. “But it wasn’t real. None of it was real.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, filled with the kind of sadness that clung to the air, suffocating in its intensity. “And I

think… deep down, I always knew that.”

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