The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY novel Chapter 65

The street around me pulsed with chaotic energy.

Sitting alone at this roadside dive, drinking beer and demolishing skewers, I actually felt more content than I had

months.

Someone dropped into the seat across from me without invitation. I glanced up to see Kieran in his pristine busin

armor.

He’d slung his suit jacket over his arm and unbuttoned his shirt halfway, giving him an unexpectedly relaxed, almost dangerous appeal.

His expression was unreadable as he casually snagged one of my grilled skewers and took a massive bite.

Spicy sauce immediately dripped onto his expensive shirt, but he just glanced down, smiled with amusement, and kept chewing.

I stared at him like he’d lost his mind.

He raised an eyebrow, completely unbothered by my shock. We’re not officially divorced yet, so consuming some marital assets seems perfectly reasonable, don’t you think?”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I think I’m being railroaded.”

“Excuse me?”

He looked genuinely offended. “Why do you actually want this divorce? Is it really just because of the Mila situation? Or is this about Caspian being back in the picture?

I was genuinely confused. “What does Caspian have to do with anything?”

He made a knowing sound. “So it IS about Mila…”

His smug, presumptuous tone made my blood boil. “Could you try some self–reflection for once in your life? In seven years of marriage, have you ever genuinely prioritized me?”

“Our first anniversary, I had an entire romantic weekend planned, but you claimed you had some emergency investor meeting.”

“The second year, I brought up wanting kids, and you said the timing would he ‘career suicide.”

“The third year, you started pulling hundred–hour weeks like it was a competition.”

The Verdict on My Hushabit the fudge: GUILTY

Chapter 6

“We fought constantly about everything, and every time we did, you’d just throw expensive gifts at the problem. Later I discovered your assistant was picking them all out.

Even during our worst fights, you never had the patience to actually communicate with me. This pattern repeate many times that eventually I just gave up trying.”

He mumbled defensively, “I’m sorry. It’s just that you never seemed to like anything I picked out personally.”

“Kieran, you never bothered learning what I actually wanted.”

Kieran poured himself a beer with shaking hands. His smile was bitter and self–aware. “But I genuinely didn’t wa

you to have any regrets.”

“What?”

“I wanted to give you an incredible life. I wanted you to never worry about money again, to never think twice abo buying first–class tickets.”

“I didn’t want people whispering behind your back that you’d dumped wealthy, perfect Caspian to settle for some broke nobody like me.”

“But Kieran, I never gave a damn about any of that materialistic bullshit. I just wanted a warm home where I felt loved, and you were fundamentally incapable of providing that.”

“I know. It was completely my fault.”

“Since he’s back in your life now, I guess I can’t keep wearing this anymore.”

He reached into his pocket and placed something on the grease–stained table between us.

His wedding ring.

“You cared so obsessively about this ring–was it because it represented our marriage, or because it was originally

meant for Caspian?”

So the ring hadn’t been lost after all. He’d just decided to stop wearing it.

I laughed at my own naivety. “I made this ring a full year after we got married.”

“If you’d bothered to look carefully, you could’ve seen the A- engraved inside.”

The man’s usually brooding expression suddenly showed surprise. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and it took him a moment to speak.

“I know A is for Aurora… but I thought C was for Caspian, so it’s Cross?”

I sneered: “Who the hell would engrave their ex–boyfriend’s name on a ring for their current partner?”

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The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY

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Chapter 6

He looked sheepish but refused to back down: “Then why do you get to use your first name while I only get my last initial?”

“Are you kidding me? You think A–K looks good? Huh? You want a goddamn gun engraved on a wedding ring? You

absolute idiot.”

The alcohol was definitely hitting me, because my language was deteriorating rapidly.

Before I could grab it, he pocketed the ring again with lightning speed.

Kieran could be such an infuriating bastard, grinning like he’d won some kind of victory.

“About the Mila situation–I can actually explain that. I never expected her to pull that publicity stunt, but once the speculation started trending, I figured we might as well capitalize on it. The strategy was to officially announce her as our brand ambassador, then clarify that she’s just a college friend. It would have been brilliant marketing for our product launch. I was dead wrong not to consider how it would

affect you.”

He glanced at me nervously before adding, “Mila was fully aware of the marketing angle too. Adults don’t get tangled up in romantic melodrama–this was pure business strategy.”

“As for everything else you mentioned, you’re absolutely right. I fucked up completely.”

Tonight had been an endless parade of revelations.

I smiled with exhausted resignation. “Kieran, we’ve been married for seven years. Not seven months, not seven weeks–seven entire years.”

“I’ve been emotionally neglected in this marriage for seven years straight. A few apologetic words can’t magically erase all that accumulated damage.”

“You’ve disappointed me too many times to count.”

His eyes gradually lost their spark. He looked utterly defeated, only able to repeat, “I’m so sorry.”

The most harmonious conversation Kieran and I ever had was ironically on the night I demanded a divorce.

We consumed an alarming amount of beer at that tiny barbecue stand, finally saying things we should have said

years ago.

I guess this perfectly illustrates what people mean when they say married couples can simultaneously be the closest and most distant people in each other’s lives.

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