Chapter258 Psycho
"What do you want?" Her voice was flat and unwelcoming. She didn't bother with pleasantries.
Harrison stood a few steps from her desk. His usually immaculate suit was creased, his hair slightly disheveled.
He was looking at her face, still striking even under the office lights, but his eyes were bloodshot.
The state he was in genuinely surprised her.
In all the time she had known Harrison, she had never seen him like this. Something must have happened.
Before she could think further, Harrison had already crossed to her desk.
He planted both hands on the edge and leaned in, his red-rimmed eyes fixed on her.
"You married the Prescott heir. Is that true?"
His voice was rough, barely contained, like every word was being dragged up from somewhere deep.
As he leaned closer, a faint smell of alcohol mixed with expensive cologne drifted over.
Miranda caught the scent and wrinkled her nose slightly.
She shifted back in her chair, putting a bit more distance between them, her expression unchanged.
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
That offhand reply cut straight through him.
Harrison's throat worked. He let out a short, bitter laugh at himself.
He had gone to Dominic a while back and asked him to help patch things up with Miranda. Dominic had agreed without hesitation.
But the word never came. Every time Harrison followed up, Dominic brushed him off with some vague excuse.
That was when Harrison knew something was wrong.
He had someone look into it, and that was how he found out. Miranda and the mysterious Prescott heir had already registered their marriage.
It all clicked into place. Dominic had said yes to his face and blocked him the entire time behind his back.
Miranda had no idea any of this was running through his head. She just found him irritating.
She glanced at her watch, folded her hands on the desk, and looked up at him.
"If there's nothing else, you can go. I have work to finish."
"Miranda!" The words hit him like a switch. Something in him panicked.
He shot his hand across the desk and grabbed her wrist before she could pull it away.
His palm was burning hot. His grip was painfully tight, pressing into the bones of her wrist.
"Miranda, I know I was wrong." His eyes had gone even redder, filled with something between desperate regret and obsession. "Prescott's heir is disfigured. He might not even be able to have children. Divorce him. Come back to me."
He held on, leaning in, his voice dropping into something that sounded almost like begging.
"You've always wanted kids. We can have one together. I swear, I will take care of you both."
The words seemed to feed something in him. His head slowly dipped toward hers, moving in to kiss her.
Miranda watched his face get closer and her eyes went ice cold.
The slap cracked across the room.
Harrison's head snapped to the side. Five clear finger marks bloomed across his face almost instantly.
Miranda was on her feet, her chair scraping back against the wall behind her.
She looked at him, her voice absolutely cold.
"Harrison. If you want to lose your mind, do it somewhere else."
"You didn't appreciate what you had when we were married. Now that we're divorced, what exactly are you trying to prove?"
She pulled her wrist free, the disgust on her face completely undisguised.
"And Clifton's condition is none of your business."
The sting spread across Harrison's cheek, but it was nothing compared to what was happening inside his chest.
He slowly turned his head back to her, his eyes dark with pain and confusion.
"Why?" His voice was hoarse. "After everything we had, after all those years, you'd still choose a cripple over me?"
The word cripple landed, and Miranda's expression went completely cold.
She had no interest in discussing Clifton with him.
"Whatever his condition, he's my husband."
Something shifted in her eyes, and the curve of her mouth flattened.
"And unlike you, he has never neglected me for another woman. He has never cost me a child."
"That's enough for me."
Dragging up the past hit Harrison like a physical blow. The blood seemed to stop moving in his body. Something invisible closed around his chest and squeezed.
Only now did he fully understand how badly he had gotten it wrong back then, and what exactly he had thrown away.
But even knowing that, he couldn't make himself let go.
The possessiveness went too deep. The idea of Miranda belonging to someone else was something he couldn't accept.
"Miranda, I..."
He started to say something. Miranda picked up the desk phone first.
"Leave now, or I'm calling security."
Her eyes were flat and cold. She wasn't bluffing.
Harrison looked at her for a moment. Then he took a stiff step back and forced out a rough apology.
"Sorry. I lost control."
He straightened his collar, trying to pull together what was left of his dignity.
But at the door, he stopped. He didn't leave right away. He stood with his back to her and spoke.
"Miranda. I love you. I'll spend everything I have making up for what I did. I'm not giving up on you."
Then he walked out quickly, almost like he was running, and the office door swung shut behind him.
Miranda stared at the closed door.
The energy drained out of her. She sank back into her chair and pressed her fingers against her throbbing temple.
"Psycho," she muttered under her breath.
--
In the suburbs, inside a private villa.
The crystal chandelier cast a warm glow over the lavish living room.
Evelyn had been doing quite well for herself lately. The pregnancy had given her plenty of leverage over Dominic, and she had made full use of it. Designer bags, custom jewelry, a few properties.
But it still wasn't enough. It was never enough.
Right now, Evelyn was curled up against Dominic on the couch, her fingers tracing slow circles on his chest.
"Dominic, that money you moved out of my account a while back, when are you putting it back?" she asked, tilting her head up to look at him.
"I'm not in a rush for it," she added, her voice softening. "It's just, someone told me yesterday that when a pregnant woman carries sharp, it's usually a boy."
She took Dominic's hand and gently pressed it against the small, rounded swell of her belly, her voice taking on a dreamy, loaded quality.
"If it really is a boy, I should start setting things aside for him early, don't you think?"