Chapter 89 A Fractured Trust
Ava found herself at a loss for words, her heart fracturing into two jagged halves.
He was blind to her, even after a decade of knowing her. Ten years of shared experiences, of laughter and tears, all eclipsed by a single falsehood spun by Isabella. Alexander had swallowed Isabella's lie whole, discarding Ava's attempts at explanation like chaff in the wind.
It wasn't just Alexander who was blind, Ava realized with a bitter pang, she was too.
"Come to the hospital with me to apologize to Isabella!" Alexander demanded, his voice echoing harshly in the quiet room. He grabbed a coat from the rack, thrust it into Ava's arms, and hauled her out of the door.
"I won't apologize to her. Even if you drag me there, it's pointless!" Ava protested, her voice echoing in the chilly night air.
Alexander, however, remained silent, steering Ava towards his car with a grim determination.
Upon reaching the hospital, Alexander's grip on Ava's wrist tightened, his voice a chilling whisper, "Once we see Isabella, you must not say anything to upset her."
"I won't say a word, but don't expect me to apologize. That'll never happen!" Ava retorted, her voice filled with defiance.
"You have to apologize to her!" Alexander insisted, quickening his pace. "Otherwise, this isn't over."
"What are you going to do, kill me?" Ava shot back, her voice trembling slightly. Alexander stopped abruptly, pinning Ava against the sterile hospital wall with a fierce grip.
"Isabella's already tried to take her own life. What more do you want? Are you so bent on driving her to her grave? She's at a point where she doesn't even care about her own life, and still, you insist on slandering her. How can you be so heartless?"
"What about you? How can you be so cruel to your own wife? Dragging me out here in my pajamas to apologize to Isabella. Did you ever think about how that would make me feel, how others would see me?" Ava countered, her voice filled with hurt and frustration.
"Why did you push her to that point in the first place? When you were insulting her, did you ever consider this moment? If she really had died, could you have lived with yourself?" Alexander shot back, his voice filled with accusation.
"If she really had died, I would give my own life for hers!" Ava exclaimed, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. "Are you happy now, Mr. Mitchell?"
Alexander's grip on her shoulder tightened, his voice a low growl, "Ava, I truly don't understand you – why do this? You said yourself you were fed up with our marriage, so how could Isabella have been any threat to you? Why be so venomous? And now you boldly claim you'd give your life for her! Tell me, what kind of person are you, really? Have these ten years been nothing but an act?"
Ava lifted her tear-streaked face to meet Alexander's gaze, the disappointment in his eyes mirroring her own. It wasn't just him who was disappointed. She was too. Such words – venomous, pretentious – coming from him, directed at her.
After a decade, all she had to show for it was being labeled malicious and fake.
Seeing Ava unable to respond, Alexander took it as confirmation. He led her to the door of the hospital room, his grip on her arm unyielding. "Once we're inside, I expect you to speak to her properly."
"Alexander, I just want to ask you one thing: do you want to hear why I threw water on her at lunch?" Ava asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What other reason could there be? You’re jealous of her, so you and my mother ganged up on her. Isabella, poor thing, had no idea you’d be there when she went to have lunch with my mom!" Alexander retorted, his voice filled with certainty.
Hearing his unwavering conviction, Ava felt her desire to explain evaporate. What more could she say?What use was explaining if he wasn't going to believe her?
And if he did believe, why didn't he trust her from the start instead of treating her this way?
As a married couple, if they couldn’t trust each other, what was the point in trying to salvage anything at all?
