Chapter 106
Josephine looked at the ring, then at his bloodshot eyes. Calmly, she said, "We're finished. There's no point keeping it."
Gideon's fingers clenched violently. The ring pressed into his palm, pain sharp and bright.
Lorelei watched their standoff, biting her lip before suddenly speaking. "Gideon, she just wants to leave you completely. Since she's so heartless, why should you—"
"Shut up." Gideon forced the words through clenched teeth, gaze locked on Josephine's face.
"But—"
"I said shut up." Gideon's voice rose several notches, carrying a danger Lorelei had never heard before. "If you can't stand it, get out."
Lorelei's face went pale. Her eyes instantly reddened.
Gideon acted as if he couldn't see her distress. His entire focus remained on Josephine. Only facing her did he reveal any vulnerability. "These things—you arranged them all so carefully. Do you truly not want any of it?"
Josephine grabbed her suitcase handle. "I've taken what's mine. I'm leaving."
"Wait."
Gideon reached out, gripping her wrist. Not hard, but firm.
Lorelei rushed forward anxiously to intervene. She couldn't understand—Josephine was so heartless, so why wouldn't Gideon let her go? "Gideon!"
Gideon ignored her, pulling Josephine toward the stairs.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Josephine struggled hard. His grip hurt her wrist.
Gideon seemed to notice, loosening slightly before bending to hoist her over his shoulder. He even swatted her rear once. "Keep moving, and I can't guarantee what I'll do."
Josephine's face flushed. Hanging upside down, already struggling to breathe, she went rigid and still.
Gideon carried her back to the master bedroom.
The door slammed shut in Lorelei's face as she tried to follow.
Outside—suffocating silence.
Inside, Gideon set Josephine down but didn't release her. He stood before her, hands gripping her shoulders as if afraid she'd flee.
Close enough to feel each other's breath.
He studied Josephine carefully. She seemed thinner, but her complexion looked better than when she'd lived here. Those eyes that once held such gentle warmth now contained only icy calm.
That calm hurt worse than any anger.
"Josephine." He enunciated each word, voice suppressing roiling emotions. "Let's talk."
Josephine stepped back, creating distance. "Your lawyer already discussed everything that needed discussing."
"I'm not talking about the divorce agreement."
"Then what else is there?"
Gideon stared at her, eyes full of confusion, incomprehension, and near-obsessive persistence.
"I need to know why." His voice came out strained. "Why can you let go so easily? Seven years. This home. Me. You feel no attachment at all?"
Josephine looked at him, finding it almost laughable.
Had she truly loved this Gideon? Or had she only loved the image of a perfect husband she'd imagined?
"Gideon." She spoke softly. "When you were with Lorelei, did you ask yourself that?"
Her parents weren't wealthy, but they loved each other deeply. They'd always made Josephine long for a beautiful marriage and happiness. The one thing she could never tolerate was a lover's betrayal.
He knew all of this!
Yet he'd still cheated!
"What's between us has nothing to do with outsiders." Gideon's eyes flickered before he insisted stubbornly, "Lorelei was just a transaction. I didn't fall for her. Never."
Even if his body had succumbed, his heart had always remained with Josephine.
Josephine laughed.
It was a laugh Gideon had never seen before—carrying bleak sarcasm.
When Josephine spoke, her words were sharp as needles. "But you still got Lorelei pregnant, didn't you? What made you so confident I'd accept my husband's child with another woman?"
Gideon's expression shifted. "I was drunk that time, I—"
Josephine looked at him with disgust. "When you say that, it makes me feel our seven-year marriage was a joke from start to finish."
She moved around him, preparing to leave.
Gideon reached out, blocking the door.
"Move."
"No."
They faced off, silent tension filling the air.
Gideon studied Josephine's profile—her tightly pressed lips, the undeniable resolution in her eyes. A panic he'd never felt before wrapped around his heart like vines.
He suddenly remembered Josephine walking toward him in her wedding dress. Back then, her eyes had held stars, filled with warmth that could melt ice and snow.
When had that light in those eyes extinguished, bit by bit?
"If I made Lorelei terminate the pregnancy and disappear forever..." Gideon suddenly spoke, voice hoarse. "If I apologized for everything, would you..."
Give him one more chance?
"Gideon." Josephine turned to look at him, eyes clear as a mirror reflecting all his current wretchedness. "You've already wronged me. Do you plan to wrong another woman, too?"
"Then what? Tell me—what would it take for you to stay?"
Josephine said nothing, just looked at him quietly. "No matter what, I'm not staying."
At that moment, Lorelei's cautious voice came from outside. "Gideon, can I come in? I have something to say..."
A vein throbbed at Gideon's temple. "Shut up!"
Silence fell outside.
Josephine looked at him, suddenly asking, "Gideon, do you know what hurt me most?"
He watched her, waiting for her to continue.
"It wasn't that you had someone else." Josephine's voice was light as a feather. "It was that you knew I couldn't tolerate infidelity, yet you still tried to deceive me with wishful thinking. We're not even divorced yet, but you've already brought Lorelei into our home. Don't you find what you're saying now ridiculous?"
She had two bottom lines—deception and infidelity.
Having said this much, she felt it was pointless. What happened had happened. She could never forget that moment when the child she'd anticipated with such hope miscarried and left—her complete despair and bone-deep hatred.
"Forget it. None of it matters anymore. You and I have nothing left to say."
She pushed past his hand. This time, Gideon didn't stop her.
The door opened.
Lorelei stood outside, eyes red-rimmed, looking deeply wronged.
Josephine walked past her, descending the stairs step by step.
Gideon stood at the bedroom doorway, watching her retreating figure.
Between spouses, arguments didn't matter—they could fight until the world turned upside down, and it would be fine. What mattered was having nothing left to say. She wouldn't even bother hating him anymore.
In the living room, Mila quietly wiped away tears.
Lorelei wanted to say something, but seeing Gideon's expression, she swallowed her words.
"From today forward..." Gideon spoke, his hoarse voice echoing in the empty living room. "This house stays exactly as it is. No one touches anything."
He looked at Lorelei, eyes ice-cold. "Including you."
Lorelei's face went ashen. "But—"
Gideon's gaze frosted over. "Leave this place immediately. I don't want to see you again."
He finished speaking and turned toward the study.
But at the staircase landing, he stopped.
The study door stood open, revealing the bookshelf inside. Josephine had designed it herself, having it professionally custom-made. It held her technical books and small decorations.
One small compartment had been specifically for her toolbox.
That silver toolbox.
Filled with all her various tools—tape measure, level, screwdrivers in every size... She'd loved fixing things herself, saying it calmed her mind.
Gideon remembered once when the study door hinge had loosened. She'd knelt on the floor with her toolbox, tightening the screws bit by bit, focused as if performing precision surgery.
He'd teased her. "We could just call maintenance for this kind of thing."
But she'd said, "Our own home—fixing it ourselves gives it meaning."
Back then, sunlight had streamed through the window onto her profile. Her smile had been impossibly beautiful.
Gideon stood at the landing, staring at the now-empty toolbox compartment.
Where was the toolbox?
Had she taken it, or...
He spun around sharply, looking toward the front door, nearly colliding with Lorelei. "Where's that toolbox?"
Lorelei averted her face guiltily. "What toolbox... maybe she took it..."
But Gideon clearly remembered—Josephine had only taken one suitcase. He'd searched through it. Just a few clothes inside, pitifully empty.
Gideon ground his teeth. "Get out of my sight!"
Lorelei was frightened by his icy demeanor. With Mila watching from the side, Lorelei felt humiliated. She covered her face, crying as she ran out.
Outside, she pulled out her phone and called Briana.
"Mrs. Getty, " Lorelei sobbed into the phone. "Gideon's gone too far. He doesn't want me. He doesn't even want the baby anymore."