The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife novel Chapter 222

Elena frowned as she looked back at the black cloth, trying to figure out any details about her husband. It was a fruitless effort. It seemed all she would learn about her husband today was his name.

“Is that bad?” Max asked. His voice was deep–incredibly deep–which made it difficult to figure out what emotions he was trying to convey. “I know it’s not exactly face to face like you wanted…”

If Elena had to guess, she would say Max was nervous. But her husband was proving to be even more difficult to read than Massimo!

“Well, you’re right about that,” Elena admitted, “but it’s fine.”

Elena had expected her husband might have some kind of commitment or social issues based on their text conversations, but she hadn’t thought they were this bad. It was clear her husband had some major social anxiety issues to work on. But, even so, Max had still made an effort to meet Elena halfway–and Elena couldn’t fault him for that.

“This is fine for now,” Elena repeated. “It’s more about choosing to meet your wife at a church. Are you particularly religious?”

“No, but I thought it was fitting since I have a lot to atone for,” Max said solemnly.

“Oh? How so?”

Massimo took a deep breath. He needed to make a strong case here to sway Elena to his side. At the same time, he needed Elena to not feel guilty over her perceived mistakes–otherwise, she’d stop pretending to be the Mafia King’s wife.

“Elena, I… I made many mistaken assumptions about you, and, without bothering to learn the truth, I asked for a divorce,” Massimo finally said. “I wanted to apologize for that once more, as well as any comment I made that cast doubt onto your character. You’re the most kind, caring, loving person I’ve met, and my life has been fundamentally changed because of you.”

Elena didn’t say anything, so Massimo pressed on.

“I’ve been trying to change for the better these past few months, and I know I still have more change and growing to do. And it’s because of you that I even saw that I needed to change–that I wanted to change. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, Elena, and I think anyone who doesn’t see that is blind.”

“That’s very kind of you to say,” Elena replied. “But I’m far from perfect. So if that’s the only value you see in me, I have more to atone for than I thought.”

“Don’t say that—”

“Let me finish,” Elena said, her voice firm. “I know you don’t care about me pretending to be another man’s wife for work, but I do. And it’s because of this work that I’ve realized my feelings have always been muddied.”

Massimo bit his tongue. He didn’t want to interrupt Elena again, but it was hard to let her just feel guilty about such silly, small things.

“You say I’m amazing now, but you ghosted me before,” Elena continued. “And your texts can range from loving little talks to casually cruel words. Everything is so messy–can’t you see that?”

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“Life is messy,” Massimo instantly argued.

“Not this messy,” Elena said sadly.

Massimo was taken aback by her tone–was this how Elena had been feeling since the wedding? The idea that Elena had been feeling so terribly since then made Massimo want to scream. How had he not noticed her full misery?

“Then we can work on clearing things up together,” Massimo slowly replied. “Many hands make light work, so let me help you.”

Never had Massimo been more desperate to see Elena’s face. As the silence grew, he had no idea what Elena was feeling. Was she silently crying or collecting herself or smiling at his offer?

“My life is already so messy and complicated on its own,” Elena finally said. “I don’t need a man I can’t depend on to add to all my problems. I’m sorry, Max, but I still want to get divorced,”