Eric felt momentarily thrown off balance.
“Oh, Linda…”
He had only caught Hadley mentioning it in passing once and had failed to commit it properly to memory. But that detail seemed insignificant now.
“Is it true? Was there something between us? Did I mistreat Hadley because of her? Was our divorce also because of her?”
On the other end of the line, Ernest remained completely silent. How could he possibly respond to such a loaded question? Should he claim it wasn’t true? Yet there was undeniably partial truth in it. Ernest’s prolonged silence spoke volumes.
Eric’s throat went parched as an icy dread settled deep within his chest.
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Eric.” Ernest’s brow furrowed as he selected each word with painstaking care.
“Linda saved our lives… You had legitimate reasons to treat her well—”
But those carefully chosen words did absolutely nothing to alleviate Eric’s crushing discomfort.
He nodded grimly.
“Hadley already explained all of that to me, still.”
In that devastating moment, Eric found himself utterly unable to confront his reflection.
“I can’t believe I turned out to be such a terrible person.”
Ernest lapsed into silence once more. He found himself unable to contradict that harsh self-assessment. Eric had genuinely wronged Hadley during those painful years, accumulating a debt to her that seemed impossible to ever repay.
“That’s all ancient history now.” Ernest could only attempt to deflect from the uncomfortable topic.
“And you and Linda never actually crossed any inappropriate…”
“Boundaries. Besides, you eventually released those feelings and genuinely wanted to be with Hadley…”
But those well-intentioned words provided no solace whatsoever to Eric.
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He clutched his phone with such fierce intensity that his knuckles bleached completely white. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it—the entire situation felt utterly surreal.
“I wronged her terribly, and I owe her everything,” he murmured.
“Yes.” Ernest nodded solemnly, his voice dropping to a grave tone.
“So what do you intend to do about it?”
Eric felt momentarily stunned before letting out a bitter laugh.
“Hadley claimed she’s satisfied with the alimony arrangement. I just… desperately want to see my daughter.”
Upon hearing this resigned response, Ernest remained silent, releasing only a soft, melancholy sigh.
Hadley had been right—Eric now knew the devastating truth but had failed to recover his former deep feelings for her.
Now, his attitude toward Hadley bore no resemblance to what it had been before.
Combined with Hadley’s resolute stance, it appeared that this hollow arrangement was all that remained between them.
After ending the call, Eric twisted his wrist sharply and hurled the phone aside, squeezing his eyes shut while massaging his throbbing temples.
No wonder Hadley had stubbornly refused to reveal the truth to him, persistently maintaining the pretense that she didn’t recognize him.
.
.
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