Chapter 41

Howard in tears, tells her that if them being together hurts the people around them then maybe they shouldn't be together at all. Tiffany takes that as him not wanting her to return and bids him goodbye.
Howard still sits in Bernice hospital room and worries about her when she wakes up. He asks if she's feeling better but she only looks at him and hugs him saying that she didn't think he wanted her anymore. He tries to calm her down and she asks if he'll stay with her and never leave her again. He promises but makes her promise that she'll never hurt herself again. She agrees to that and whatever else he wants as long as he stays with her. She asks about the other promise, wondering if he'll make good on that one too, and he agrees but seems so lifeless.
Tiffany dreams that Bernice lackeys are calling her someone's mistress and are making fun of her. Next it's susanne and Bernice who is in a wedding dress with Howard as she says she'll become his wife. Tiffany wakes up from the nightmare and reads a text from Howard that just apologizes a ton of times. He says that no matter what he does people get hurt and that he doesn't want to do it but has no choice.
Howard goes out to the balcony of his room where his father joins him. He tells him not to easily admit defeat and that he believes in him. He admits to not being the greatest father around, failing to take Howard's feelings into considerations, and can understand if Howard hates him. But Howard knows that he's always cared about his career, revealing that Tiffany told him about it when she accidentally entered his room that was filled with his albums.
Howard tells his father that he never resented him he was just afraid that he didn't care about him. Howard's father apologizes to him and pats him on the head praising him and telling him that Howard's in control of his own life and no matter what he chooses to do, he'll fully support him. Howard thanks his father.
As he's thinking about that conversation an employee informs him his car is ready and Jeff comes in stopping him. He demands to know what the invitation he got in the mail was and what he means by a non-disclosure agreement. What he's holding is an invite to his and Bernice engagement party. Jeff wants to know how he could just do that to Tiffany but Howard doesn't say anything about that matter, he just hopes Jeff can come.
Jeff is angry and wants an explanation but Howard just tells him how it is. He and Bernice are getting married and he's invited to attend their engagement party. Jeff pushes Howard saying that everyone knows he doesn't like her and Howard explodes asking if he thinks it's easy for him. He admits to not liking her but he can't let her hurt herself over and over again. Jeff is confused and Howard informs him of Bernice's current situation of how she tried to commit suicide again. He confesses to Jeff that he's afraid and points out that Victoria's death was blamed on him therefore he can't let anything bad happen to Bernice as well.
Jeff, think it would've been better if he just punched Howard right then and there. Howard brought up before how he'd like to duke it out with Jeff sometimes than listen to his reasoning and think that that would've been the perfect moment to do that to try to make him see the reality of things. However, if Jeff had been there when susanne was saying all of those things then surely he would've understood how she was trying to manipulate him and basically guilt trip him into marrying Bernice. But since he didn't know the full situation of what had happened up until that point, he probably thinks that Howard is doing it out of guilt not thinking that susanne could also be involved.
But my goodness what a terrible person she is. To think of a plan that even involves Bernice's life and to do it all just so they'd trap Howard into marrying her. she doesn't think of the consequences associated with it. Howard doesn't like her therefore it'll be easy for his attention to turn elsewhere, even if he's married to her. He clearly doesn't want to marry her so why is she trying to set Bernice up for a life of disappointment and unhappiness? The answer is that she's a bad person she doesn't want Bernice to go further in life.
Bernice mom wasn't on the plot, she was probably very concerned for her daughter and was speaking from her heart when she said she didn't want to lose Bernice as well after losing Victoria. It's just that susanne made it worse by not letting Howard explain things and basically pretty much offered him up for the engagement without him being able to express himself. And since susanne keeps asking him questions about whether he wants Bernice to continue to hurt herself like that and what not, he's beginning to feel like everything is his fault when it's clearly not.
Tiffany and Howard wasn't to blame for acting the way they were on the phone. They were both under pressure from their separate lives at this point and it's just all catching up to them. For Howard, he feels like he's being blamed for the way that Bernice is and somewhat of an extension of Victoria, and is slowly being backed into a corner he can't escape from. Tiffany on the other hand is surrounded by people, and even her grandfather, who talk about how old he's becoming and how difficult it is for him to run the family business alone. Shows that she's now realizing that she can't escape from her home forever and that eventually she'll be called back.
But Howard, forcing himself to marry someone he's not in love with wasn't a really his intention but his worried about losing someone's sister the sister of a lady he love in the past and that is Victoria. Jeff wish he could've hit Howard a good one for him to try to see the reality of it all and try to talk him out of going through with the engagement party, but didn't because he didn't know the main reason Howard is doing that. He doesn't know about susanne telling Howard to do that. Like Jeff said, everyone knows that Howard doesn't like her hoping that somehow someone talks him out of actually going through with it.