I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 194

Nora stood rooted to the spot, her lips parting as she wanted to argue that she wasn't avoiding him at all, but she swallowed the words back down.

Felix stood behind her, watching Xander's retreating figure. He frowned and stepped closer to Nora. "I'll head back to The Vance Institute and cover for you with Mrs. Vance. I'll just say you went to another facility to pull some data this morning. Go with him. Don't make things hard for Bonnie."

Nora turned to look at him, her lips moving as she debated what to say.

But Felix simply waved her off and strode away in the opposite direction toward the parking lot.

She watched his figure disappear into the morning light before finally taking Bonnie's hand and walking toward Xander's car.

Meanwhile, ever since returning from the hospital the night before, Finnegan's expression had been as dark as an impending storm. He hadn't even bothered to take off his shoes before locking himself in his study.

Seraphina had sat in the living room all night, watching the sliver of light bleeding out from under the study door until the early hours of the morning.

She didn't dare knock. She just sat paralyzed on the sofa, her mind racing with panic.

Come morning, Finnegan finally pushed the door open. There was no visible fury on his face, but that dead calm terrified Seraphina far more than any outburst.

She stood up awkwardly and approached him, her voice a hesitant, cautious probe. "Finn... how is Nora doing? I heard she was in the hospital."

Finnegan stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her, his gaze colder than she had ever seen it. "Seraphina, did you have anything to do with this?"

Seraphina's heart violently skipped a beat. She dug her manicured nails into her palms.

Seraphina froze, the words knocking the wind out of her. She stared up at Finnegan, tears still pooling in her eyes, completely blindsided.

"Are you regretting this, Finnegan? Every word out of your mouth is defending Nora now. Do you even remember what you promised me? You told me you would get her out of the Fletcher family as soon as possible. You said I was the only one in your heart. You said taking on Frederick's identity was just to pave the way for our future. How do any of your actions match those promises now?"

Seeing her tear-stained face and hearing the tremor in her voice, Finnegan's harsh expression finally cracked.

He dropped his arm from the wall and took a half-step back, rubbing his temples. His tone softened, carrying a heavy note of surrender. "That's not what I meant. I was just angry. Why didn't you talk to me about this first? Did you really think Sienna's cousin was a decent guy? You practically threw Nora to the wolves. What if something irreversible had actually happened to her?"

He paused, letting out a heavy sigh. "I've already failed her enough."