Chapter 176 I Cannot Share a Man with Another Woman
Upon hearing his question, Patricia burst into laughter, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "So what if it is? What difference does it make if it isn't?"
She did not deny it.
Martin took her non-denial as an admission, and his handsome face darkened like the bottom of a pot, his eyes filled with brooding shadows.
"I don't agree."
"Haha..." Patricia laughed even harder, her snort of derision loud and unmasked. "And might I ask, who are you to me? By what right do you interfere? What does it matter to you whom I'm with? At best, you're nothing more than my ex-husband. Remember, ex-hus-band."
She enunciated the words “ex-husband” deliberately, making sure he grasped their significance.
Martin's normally composed brows furrowed, wrapping him in an aura of cold sternness.
He was clearly displeased with these words. Then silence hung in the air, heavy and enigmatic.
He spoke with grave seriousness, "Let's remarry!"
As he spoke, a chilly wind blew past them, its whistling sound drowning out Martin's voice and muffling his words in Patricia's ears so that she caught only a faint mention of 'marriage.'
"What did you just say?"
Thinking he was purposely using this tactic to reject her, Martin raised his voice and repeated with solemn intent, "Patricia, let's remarry! I mean it sincerely."
This was the second time Patricia had heard these words from him. The first was that morning.
Suddenly, Patricia found the situation ludicrous. He was living with another woman, and now he wanted to remarry her.
What was he trying to convey? Was he brazenly stepping into two boats at once?
Faced with this, Patricia firmly refused. "Impossible, I will never remarry you! I think the answer is clear, I've already made it very clear to you last time."
Martin replayed her words in his mind again.
“I don't love you anymore...”
Those five words struck him like a sledgehammer, crashing heavily into his heart.
Unable to contain himself, Martin pulled Patricia into an embrace, his voice hoarse as if painfully suppressing something, he slowly said, "I never regret the choices I make."
Patricia coldly replied, "I'm not interested in your affairs! It's none of my business."
Having seen her indifferent gaze too many times, Martin felt an unusual calmness as he said to himself, "But I do regret divorcing you."
For a moment, Patricia thought she heard wrong and looked at him with wide, astonished eyes.
Martin repeated, undeterred, "I truly regret it, I shouldn't have divorced you."
Patricia stared at him as though she had seen a ghost. Martin regretted divorcing her. What was going on with him today? Had he taken the wrong medicine?
Seeing her silent, Martin continued, "Patricia, please give me another chance. I want to make it up to you, to make it up to Charles."
So, it was about making amends, not for other reasons. Patricia lowered her eyelids, a barely perceptible flash of disappointment swept through her heart.
"There's no need for amends! I don't feel you owe me anything! As for Charles, if you want to make amends, that's between you and him; it has nothing to do with me."
Her cold and distant words sent a shiver of panic through Martin.
"What do I have to do for you to forgive me? To give me a chance? Just say the word, I am willing to do anything."
His earnest appeal caused Patricia to pause.
"Why are you so determined to remarry me? Don't you already have a live-in girlfriend? If so, why do you want to be with me? I may be ordinary, but I absolutely refuse to share a man with another woman."
Even if she loved him. She would never share. This was her line in the sand.
Martin, caught off guard, asked in confusion, "Live-in girlfriend? Who?"
Patricia fought the urge to roll her eyes, her voice tinged with a jealousy she herself hadn't recognized. "You're living together, who else could it be?"
Then, Martin finally got it. After a moment of silence, he burst into a suppressed chuckle.
"That's my sister."
"Huh?" Patricia looked at him, bewildered and half a step behind.
Martin realized she was jealous, and his mood lifted considerably. "We are siblings."
Patricia repeated, "Are you really siblings?"
Martin nodded affirmatively: "Absolutely, full siblings born of the same parents!"
In the biting cold, Patricia's small face visibly flushed at a visible rate, turning crimson like a cooked shrimp, the redness spreading to her ears.
How mortifying it was to find out they were really brother and sister, and to have mistakenly thought their relationship was of a different nature.
Patricia wished she could just burrow into a hole and never come out.
Martin gently grasped her chin, lifting her head, and asked again, "So, with the misunderstanding about Charlotte cleared up, are you willing to give me another chance?"
As she gazed into his handsome face so close to hers, Patricia's heart started to pound uncontrollably, beating against her chest. She knew, she was moved.
Had this happened before, she would have unhesitatingly refused.
But witnessing his tender moments with Charlotte, her heart ached as if she wished to die right there and then. In that moment, she realized clearly that she loved Martin. Far more than she had ever imagined.
Yet, regarding the events from five years ago, she harbored a grudge she couldn't quite let go of.
Martin did not press her. He just quietly watched her, waiting for her answer. In his eyes, her lack of an immediate refusal was a sign of hope.
After wrestling with her emotions for a while, Patricia still couldn't decide on the spot and said with a heavy voice, "I don't know. Give me some time to think about it."
She loved him. But what about him? Did he also love her?
Martin cradled her face, looking deeply into her eyes, visibly elated, "Promise me you'll think about it. I'll be waiting for your answer."
And yet, he couldn't help but add, "Please, whatever you do, don't reject me!"
His contradictory statement made Patricia involuntarily roll her eyes at him.
After a short pause, the snow began to drift down again, and a chill wind rolled over the river, giving Patricia goosebumps, and making her rub her hands together for warmth.
"Martin, it's so cold. Let's go back! We'll get sick if we keep standing here."
The large snowflakes like goose feathers settled on Patricia. Martin's eyes softened, and he brushed the snow from her forehead, then took her icy hands into his own, warming them with his breath.
Patricia froze in place, her tranquil heart like a lake disturbed by a pebble, rippling gently.
Warmth traveled from the palm of her hand through her veins, wrapping her shivering body as if coated in a small furnace, heating right through to the core of her heart.
Her breathing and heartbeat became erratic. A soft blush crept over her cheeks. The bitter cold wind seemed to turn warmer.
Martin asked tenderly, "Are you still cold?"
His voice was so soft it seemed to drip with tenderness.
Patricia's mind was a bit fuzzy, and she shook her head instinctively. "No, not anymore!"
She was still lost in the excitement Martin had sparked in her and hadn't snapped back to reality when Martin's face suddenly hardened, and he spoke with a dark tone, "We're done talking about us. Now we need to talk about you and Hunter."
His voice carried a faint hint of grinding teeth.
Patricia's expression froze, and as she looked at Martin's furious face, a sense of foreboding surged in her heart.
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