Chapter 136
Hadley stared at him, her expression unreadable. Wasn’t he capable of that? There had been plenty of times before when Eric had turned his back on her without a second thought.
“Alright then.” Hadley gave a weary nod, too drained to argue. “I appreciate it.”
Some of the tension in Eric’s expression softened. “Come on.”
“Okay.”
They walked side by side, neither of them closing the deliberate gap between them.
A short distance away, the middle-aged man stood in silence, his brows furrowed in deep contemplation. Though he had stepped back earlier, he had never truly left.
As Eric and Hadley disappeared from sight, he remained rooted in place, his mind racing to make sense of it all.
He knew they had been married once, but he also knew their relationship had been far from easy. Four years ago, Eric had sent Hadley away, casting her off without hesitation. Yet now, she was back.
But what did that mean for the two of them? Were they still husband and wife, or had time changed everything?
As the car moved down the road, Eric kept stealing glances at Hadley beside him. “You alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Hadley gave a small nod, though her body language told a different story. Her grip on her backpack was rigid, fingers locked around the straps as if she were holding on for dear life.
Eric didn’t miss the way Hadley clung to her bag, her fingers curled tightly around the straps. His brow furrowed.
There was no mistaking it—she was still shaken from what had happened. The thought of that middle-aged man made irritation flare inside him. “Who the hell was that guy? What was his problem?”
No matter what excuse that man had, Eric wasn’t the type to let anyone lay a hand on his family and get away with it.
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“I’ve never seen him before,” Hadley said with a small shake of her head after a brief silence. “He must have confused me with someone.”
“Really?” Eric’s brows knitted together as he processed that. Was that really all there was to it? Something about that man’s behavior didn’t sit right with him. It hadn’t felt like a simple misunderstanding.
“Yeah, that’s what happened,” Hadley confirmed with a decisive nod. “I tried explaining, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he started grabbing…”
Eric let out a low grunt, accepting her explanation. “What a lunatic!” But if Hadley had no idea who the guy was, that meant Eric had no way of tracking him down.
Eric frowned, realizing too late that he hadn’t pressed for more details when he had the chance.
“You know…” Eric began, still unsettled by everything that had happened.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t shown up?”
Hadley turned to him, the question catching her off guard. Uncertainty flickered in her gaze.