Moments later, Hadley returned with a blanket in her arms. She tossed the one on the bed at him and said, “You use this.”

Upon saying this, she spread out the new one on her side of the bed. “I’ll use this one.”

“Why?” Eric’s expression sank, a hint of frustration in his eyes. “We’re a couple. Why would we sleep under separate blankets?”

To him, sharing the bed and blanket meant commitment and unity.

A couple?

Hadley let out a humorless laugh. “Did you forget? We’re not married yet.”

“W-what do you mean?” Eric gripped her wrist, his eyes wide with anxiety. “Are you thinking of leaving me again?”

His lips drew into a thin line, and he growled, “You promised. You said you’d never leave me.”

“Let… let go!” Hadley’s eyes dropped to her wrist. Her body stiffened, every muscle coiling with tension. Frustrated, she snapped, “I said let go!” Something in her shifted.

Eric noticed it. Startled, he quickly released her. “I let go! See? I let go.” Without missing a beat, Hadley spun around and bolted into the bathroom.

“Hadley?” Eric jumped out of bed and followed after her.

The bathroom door was locked from the inside. Eric gripped the handle and gave it a try, but it wouldn’t budge.

He raised his hand and knocked instead. “Hadley, are you alright?” The image of her flashed in his mind: her pale face and her eyes wide like a cornered animal.

It unsettled him more than he cared to admit.

“Are you feeling sick?” he asked again.

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Still, no answer.

Only the sound of running water echoed from inside the bathroom.

The sound of cascading water beyond the closed door stirred something deep within Eric’s memory, causing his brow to furrow with uncomfortable recognition.

Hadley had recoiled from his advances only minutes earlier with unmistakable revulsion.

This frightened, defensive version of Hadley awakened echoes from their troubled past.

The memory stretched back over a year, to those early days when Hadley had first returned to Srixby with wariness etched into every gesture. ? ?s? ?s FιndNovel.net

An instinctive possessiveness had consumed him then—a primal urge that defied rational explanation and refused to be dismissed. During those tentative weeks, he had pursued her with relentless determination.

Her resistance mirrored tonight’s rejection—fierce, visceral, and unambiguous.

Yet somehow, her defenses had eventually crumbled, yielding to an acceptance that had seemed genuine.

Countless intimate moments had followed, tender encounters where she had never displayed such raw terror.

Consequently, he had relegated those early warning signs to forgotten corners of his consciousness.

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