I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 287

Seeing her shut the idea down so instantly made Finnegan's brow furrow in frustration.

He pushed the folder back toward her hands. "You haven't even investigated it yet. How can you call it absurd?"

Nora didn't reach for it, letting the envelope slip from his grasp and hit the pavement with a sharp smack.

Finnegan stared at her face, the fragile thread of his patience finally snapping.

He lunged forward aggressively, his expression turning downright vicious. "Nora, have you really lost all feelings for Finn? Are you trying to remarry? Is that it? He's only been dead for five years, and you're already desperate to jump into another man's bed. How can you live with yourself?"

He paused, a darker, more paranoid thought twisting his features into something ugly. "And what about that Xander guy? Do you have any idea who he really is? Do you know the disgusting things he's done? If you wanted to marry anyone else, I would support you. But not him."

Nora stood perfectly still, waiting for him to finish his pathetic rant before responding with the exact same deadpan tone she had used in the hallway. "Frederick, I've always treated you with respect because of your position, but at the end of the day, we share no blood relation. Without my marriage to Finn, I am not a member of the Fletcher family."

She paused, a mocking smile curving onto her lips. "Even if I were with someone else, what does that have to do with you, Frederick?"

Finnegan's lips parted, but no sound came out. His face drained of color, leaving him looking thoroughly powerless.

Nora refused to give him a single second to regroup. "Are you just trying to chain me to a dead man? Let me tell you, that doesn't look great to outsiders. If people start talking, how do you think Seraphina is going to feel about it?"

A sudden, terrifying gleam flashed in Finnegan's eyes. Nora had mentioned Seraphina. She had mentioned rumors. That meant she still cared.

A woman wouldn't bring those things up unless she was burning with jealousy.

Nora let out a heavy exhale, turned around, and headed toward the parking lot.

By the time she got home, the sky was pitch black. She swapped her heels for slippers, hung her bag by the door, and walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.

The glass barely reached her lips before her phone rang. Zelda Vance's name flashed across the screen.

She picked it up, and Zelda's reliably warm voice poured through the speaker. "Nora, how are you? Are you home yet? Was work incredibly exhausting today?"

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Nora rubbed her stiff shoulder. "It wasn't too bad, Mrs. Vance. I can handle the workload."

Zelda chuckled softly. "That's good to hear. I actually called because I want to discuss something with you."