Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 70

Chapter 70

CELESTE

After the call, I turned around.

Julian’s mother was sitting in my living room-like she had always lived there. Julian’s sister was standing by the window with her arms crossed, looking at me like I was something that had wandered in from outside and could not be removed quickly enough.

Julian was watching me with the particular expression of a man who was waiting to see what I would do.

I looked at him. “Can we talk? Alone?”

He followed me to the bedroom. I shut the door and turned to face him.

“Why did you bring them here?” I asked. “You know exactly how they feel about me: You know what it is like when they are in the same space as me. You made me a promise, Julian.”

“They are my family,” he said simply. “I missed them. I have every right to invite them to my own home without asking anyone’s permission.”

“Nobody is stopping you from being close to your family,” I replied. “You can visit them. You can have them over for dinner. You can spend the weekend with them. All of that is fine.” I kept my voice even. “But you gave me your word that they would never live under the same roof as me. That was not a small promise. So I am asking you again. What are they doing here?”

He smiled. It was not a warm smile.

“What matters,” he said, “is that I want them here.”

“And what I want doesn’t matter?”

“You chose to pour all your attention into that laboratory.” His voice had taken on the tone he used when he wanted to sound reasonable while saying something unreasonable. “You chose to wear clothes I have made clear I do not approve of. These are not things I wanted, Celeste. But you are doing them anyway!” He spread his hands slightly. “So let everyone do what they want. Without caring about what the other person wants.”

I looked at him for a long moment.

“Okay,” I said.

“As long as we are on the same page,” he added, and walked out.

The door clicked shut behind him.

The frown I had been holding fell off my face.

A smile replaced it.

す

“Oh, Julian,” I murmured to the empty room. “You are making this so easy.”

I went to the closet and started pulling things out. Everything I actually wanted, everything I cared about keeping, I set aside and began loading into boxes. My good clothes. My shoes. The things that were mine before this marriage and would be mine after

I carried the boxes out into the hallway.

I had watched Julian help them carry their luggage while I was on the phone. I had seen which rooms they went into. Both of them had already chosen rooms. There were eight guest rooms in this house. Eight. They had walked past seven of them to come and stand outside the one I was in.

I thought about the first time I had visited Julian’s family. His father had been the only one who offered me a seat. His mother and sister had looked at me like I was something unpleasant they had not been warned about. When there was nothing to eat, and everyone was hungry, especially Julian’s father, the women couldn’t be bothered and it made me feel uncomfortable. Julian offered to cook, but I told him not to bother and went into the kitchen myself.

I made a full pot of food.

Elizabeth came in while I had my back turned and dumped the entire pot onto me. Hot food, soaking through my clothes, burning my skin. She said it was an accident. She did not look sorry. Julian took me to the hospital and he was furious and after that he had kept them away from me, because he knew and I knew and everyone knew what that woman was.

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Chapter A