Hadley opened her mouth, searching for words, but none came.
“Enough!” Ernest’s voice sliced through the room like a blade. His eyes were dark, unreadable, as he took a slow step forward. “Elissa, you’re coming home with me. Now.”
She flinched but didn’t move. Her shoulders squared, and she turned her face away.
“You’re not coming?” His tone dropped to a low, dangerous pitch. “Fine. Then let me put it this way—do you want your ex-husband to live or not?”
Elissa snapped her head toward him, eyes wide with disbelief. “What are you talking about? What the hell do you mean by that?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” Ernest didn’t blink. “If I wanted to crush the Torres family, I could do it before breakfast.”
In Hadley’s memory, Ernest had always been a paragon of grace and charm, his words as warm as a summer breeze, his demeanor polished to perfection.
He was nothing like Eric, whose temper flared like a storm—unpredictable and raw.
Yet, it seemed that the calmer the facade, the more jarring the revelation of what lay beneath.
Hadley’s brow furrowed as she let out another sigh. “What’s your take on the situation now?”
“My take?” Elissa echoed, a wry smile tugging at her lips, tinged with bitterness. “You’ve seen Robin’s state. I can’t add to his burdens.” Whatever Ernest desired, Elissa felt bound to comply, no matter how unreasonable his demands appeared.
“And…” Hadley’s voice softened, laced with concern and a touch of sorrow. “What about your feelings for Ernest? Where do you stand with him now?”
“I don’t know,” Elissa admitted, her voice heavy with anguish and uncertainty. “I lean on him, that much is true, but the Ernest I thought I knew… he is only part of the man he is.”
She shut her eyes for a fleeting moment, as if to block out the turmoil. “I’m not sure if a bond like ours can truly endure.”
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Hadley fell silent, at a loss for words.
Her thoughts drifted to Linda, still confined to the hospital.
Perhaps, Hadley mused, she and Elissa were fated to tread a path far from the light of untroubled joy.
Suddenly, the car slowed, easing to a stop by the roadside.
“What’s happening?”
Hadley and Elissa exchanged bewildered glances before peering out the window, curiosity mingling with unease.
Outside, Ernest leaned down and rapped gently on the car window. “Hadley,” he called, his voice smooth yet tinged with urgency.
“Yes?” Hadley lowered the window, her brow creasing with puzzlement. “Is something amiss?”
“Eric is here to take you home,” Ernest replied, gesturing toward a car parked across the street. “He’s heading over now.”
“Oh.” Hadley’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the news.
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