While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Chapter 197 Cold War

Dorian remained standing near the middle of the lounge area.

​The small brown glass bottle was still firmly gripped in his hand. The custom leather gloves were still sitting on the dark sofa cushion where she had left them. Across the room, Veyra’s back was still turned and her posture completely motionless.

​His sharp mind pieced the whole picture together within seconds.

​She had found the essential oil inside his study trash can. She had pulled it out of the garbage, saved it, and kept it hidden among her things.

​Then she had stood in front of him and asked for it back in that casual, gentle tone, acting as though she had no idea where it was.

​She had been testing him the entire time.

​She might have initially assumed the bottle had tumbled into the waste bin by pure mistake. Or perhaps she knew all along that he had discarded it in a moment of cold irritation.

​Either way, she had opened a clear door for him to speak the truth.

​And he had failed her test completely.

​A sudden wave of deep regret washed over him.

​He knew he should have taken a breath and admitted the truth on the spot. He should have looked her in the eye and said, I threw it away. I was angry, I was frustrated, and I made a mistake.

​Yet he had chosen the coward’s route instead. He had looked her in the face and spun a lie, claiming he had left the bottle behind in a hotel room in the Etran Empire.

​To stop the growing guilt in his chest, he forced himself to believe that this outcome was actually for the best.

​He told himself he wanted distance between them. He wanted a clear boundary and a wall she could not cross.

​At the end of the day, she was merely the mother of his future child and nothing more.

​That was the core agreement they had made from the start. That was the contract.

​By all logical rules, he ought to feel relieved that the distance between them was growing wider.

​Yet relief was the one thing he did not feel.

​Instead, a heavy, restless weight settled inside his mind, making him feel far more troubled than before.

​Whenever she showed him soft gratitude, he felt deeply uncomfortable and on edge. But now that she had stopped being grateful and pulled away, he felt equally uncomfortable and restless.

​There was simply no winning this game, and no peace to be found anywhere.

​He could not understand why his own mind was acting so irrationally.

​He should have been pleased that she was no longer trying to thank him for every little thing. He should have been glad she was no longer looking at him with those warm, gentle eyes or offering him homemade remedies. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

​Yet he felt no satisfaction at all.

​He was simply irritated, deeply frustrated, and thoroughly confused by his own conflicting emotions.

​He reached down and picked up the tactical gloves from the sofa armrest.

​The rare lizard skin felt smooth and cool against his fingers, and the dark metal plating over the knuckles caught the dim lighting of the room. They were solid, masterfully crafted, and tough. He had spent hours at his private workbench making sure every single seam was strong enough to protect her.

​He cast a long look at Veyra, but she had not shifted her weight an inch. Her back remained firmly turned to him like a stone wall.

​He did not offer a word of explanation. He did not attempt to apologize, nor did he make a single sound to break the heavy silence.

​He simply turned around, walked directly into his walk-in closet, and shut the door tight behind him.

​Veyra stood by the window, listening intently to every sound in the room.

​She heard the closet door click shut. She heard the soft thud of his footsteps fading away, followed by the deep, heavy silence that settled over the bedroom.

​Only then did she finally turn her body around.

​The lounge area was completely deserted now. The custom gloves were no longer sitting on the sofa, and the small trash bin near the counter was completely empty.

​She slowly let out a long, quiet breath that she had been holding in her chest.

​She had always hated the feeling of owing favors or debts to anyone. That was the primary reason she had taken off those expensive gloves and set them down for him to find. They were far too valuable, crafted with rare materials and high skill. Wearing them made her feel as if she carried a heavy debt toward him.

​She simply could not keep taking such gifts without feeling bound to him.

​And more than anything, she refused to feel indebted to Dorian Thorne.

​A part of her felt a sharp spark of anger over the whole situation.

​He had taken her thoughtful gesture, the natural sleep remedy she had carefully blended with her own hands to soothe his terrible sleeplessness, and thrown it straight into the garbage like worthless junk.

​Yet despite his harsh behavior, she did not harbor true hatred for him in her heart.

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