Chapter 458
When he didn’t receive an answer, Eric reached for a familiar piece he had seen her wear before and stepped out.
Suddenly, he heard something fall onto the floor with a loud thud. “Hadley!”
Eric’s pulse slammed against his ribs. He was at her side in a heartbeat, gathering her up in his arms.
A deep furrow creased his brow. “What just happened? How did you fall?” A beat passed, and an unsettling thought seized him. He couldn’t bring himself to believe it. “Did you do that on purpose?”
Hadley neither looked at him nor answered.
But what else could it be? The truth was written all over her—she had done this to herself.
“Why did you jump out of bed?”
Eric’s temper flared, rising like a storm he could no longer contain. His hands tightened around her shoulders, his grip just shy of punishing. “Or what? To chase after Denver?”
Hadley’s swollen, tear-streaked eyes wavered, her lips trembling as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Eric was livid.
“Why are you still chasing after him? Have you forgotten that he is now with his mother?!”
Eric felt a deep frustration at her lack of self-respect. “His mother has done nothing but hurt you, and yet you are still holding on? Do you really think there is hope? Are you so naive to believe that love is just about two people?”
Wilma despised Hadley—there was no doubt about that. And if she had been capable of harming Hadley once, what was stopping her from doing it again?
“What about you?” Hadley lifted her tear-streaked face, her eyes burning with raw emotion. “What does any of this have to do with you? Why are you hurting?”
Eric faltered, caught off guard.
“Speak!” Her voice cracked as she suddenly shouted at him. “I’m asking you a question!”
“Like I told you before. I want you!” Eric blurted out, his agitation spilling over. “I want you, Hadley!”
She had turned him down before, and he had forced himself to walk away.
However, he realized he couldn’t really let her go.
Eric’s words lingered in the air, swallowed by the heavy silence that settled over the room.
Their eyes locked, and Hadley’s expression twisted as if she had just heard the most absurd joke.
Her tears hadn’t even dried, yet a chuckle escaped her lips. “Ha-ha…”
“You… Why are you laughing?” Eric stiffened. A strange unease crawled up his spine.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s funny.”
Hadley blinked, pushing back the fresh sting in her eyes. “Tell me, Eric, what do you want me for? Why do you want me?”
Eric faltered, the question catching him off guard.
He had never thought about that question before.
Hadley studied him, her gaze piercing. “What’s wrong? No answer?”