CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Have you been waiting for me?”
Jane jumped at the sound of her husband’s voice. She had indeed been waiting for him, but now that he was here, she was not certain what to do.
She closed her eyes, praying for the strength to say what she had to say. None of this was as she had imagined things would happen between them but how else was she to ensure the safety of the girls. She couldn’t jeopardize their safety for a chance to be happy.
“Yes, I have.”
She cleared her throat and turned as his footsteps hit the wooden floor announcing that he was advancing towards her. Her heart broke as she watched him.
He looked so beautiful, standing there with that wonderful smile. She looked around the drawing room as she tried to steady herself.
You must not allow yourself to be distracted, Jane. You must be strong.
“I’m quite glad that you waited actually, although I suppose I would have loved it also if you were already asleep,” Colin said. “It is quite late after all.”
“Why are you glad that I waited?” She asked, trying to postpone the inevitable.
She could not bear the thought of seeing his lovely smile disappear from his lips and knowing that she was responsible for his absence. Alas, there was nothing to be done.
She had thought long and hard about this as she sat in the empty room with nothing else to occupy her mind. There was no way out of any of this, at least, none that did not expose the children to harm. She would not be able to look at herself if that happened.
Colin chuckled, smoothing his hair back. His hand shook a little and she frowned as she noticed it. Had something happened.
She fixed her legs to the ground as she fought to regain composure. She couldn’t go to him, couldn’t touch him, not when it would be so difficult to let him go if she did that.
“Oh, good heavens, the look on your face. You need not be so concerned. It is not quite terrible news. Quite the opposite actually,” he paused and frowned. “I certainly hope that it will be.”
Her heart sank. Here she was about to deliver news that was bound to sting. It would hurt his ego even if it did not hurt his heart.
She could not very well, for the life of her, let him speak before she did. She feared that she would lose the strength and push it to another day, continuing with that until she could no longer do so.
“I-I do have something to tell you as well, Colin. It is why I have waited this long to speak with you and I fear that I must go first.”
Colin raised a brow as he watched her with a funny expression on his face.
“All right then. I suppose you should.”
Jane closed her eyes and bit her lip, welcoming the pain that shot through her. With a huge sigh, she said the words that would turn his smile upside down.
“Colin, I want an annulment.”
Colin’s eyes bulged and for a moment, his smile remained as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard.
“Pardon?”
Jane repeated her words.
“I would like an annulment, Colin. I am not quite fulfilled in this marriage. Perhaps it has run its course for me.”
Colin closed the remaining distance between them and wrapped his fingers around her shoulder.
“What do you mean, Jane? Has something happened that I should know about?”
Jane pushed his hands off her although she wished only to wrap them tighter around herself, push into him, and tell him how sorry she was for the words that she uttered. Instead, she watched as they fell to his side.
He can’t know. I can’t put him in danger, too.
