The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 144

She didn't melt into his embrace. Her hands remained resting on her lap, keeping her original posture completely frozen.

Gideon felt her stiffness, but he didn't pull his arms away. His chin brushed lightly against her hair, and with a low voice, slightly raspy from the hangover, he broke the silence himself.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I lost my temper."

His gaze drifted over Nora's shoulder, naturally landing on the coffee table ahead.

His eyes snapped onto the object, locking in place.

Resting quietly on the smooth glass surface were several crisp white pages. The bold black text at the top was glaringly obvious.

It was the divorce agreement he had refused to sign.

He thought the tension between them had thawed recently. He actually believed she had given up on this ridiculous idea.

Gideon let out a breath, a surge of panic creeping into his tone that even he failed to register.

"Why did you bring this out again?"

He reached out, trying to snatch the papers away.

Nora beat him to it, slamming her hand down flat over the agreement, completely blocking his reach.

Staring at her hand covering the pages, the panic in Gideon's chest violently spiked.

"I know I scared you at the manor yesterday."

Gideon's voice came out rushed, totally stripped of its usual iron control. "I admit I lost control of my temper and I got physical. But those things... those things are important to me. They’ve always sat right there, and I can't handle people going through them. Just don't touch them again, okay?"

He genuinely viewed this as a compromise—a mutual step back. He thought of how hard they had worked to bridge the gap lately, and he absolutely refused to let everything reset to zero over this incident.

Listening to him, Nora nodded calmly, having zero desire to argue.

Those things are important to me.

Important enough that he could obliterate her dignity and scream at her. Important enough that, even while apologizing, he still had to furiously defend that territory as his off-limits sanctuary.

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