Chapter 174 One Hundred And Seventy Four

Chapter 174 One Hundred And Seventy Four
Kennedy stared at his wife.
And for the first time in a very long time, Antonia could not hold his gaze.
The silence between them became unbearable.
Heavy.
Sharp.
Dangerously fragile.
“Antonia…” Kennedy’s voice came out quieter now. “Answer me.”
Her lips parted slightly.
Then closed again.
Because how could she explain this?
How could she explain something she barely understood herself?
Kennedy’s chest tightened harder with every second she stayed silent.
And suddenly, he already knew.
His jaw flexed.
“He kissed you.”
It wasn’t a question this time.
Antonia’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Kennedy…”
His expression darkened painfully.
“He kissed you.”
The hurt in his voice cut straight through her.
Antonia quickly shook her head.
“I pulled away.”
“But he kissed you.”
“Yes.”
The confession finally shattered the fragile restraint Kennedy had been holding onto.
He turned away sharply, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair.
A bitter laugh escaped him.
“Unbelievable.”
Antonia’s heart broke hearing that tone.
“It wasn’t planned.”
Kennedy turned back toward her instantly.
“You still went out with him.”
“I was lonely!”
“And that justifies this?”
“No!”
Her voice cracked loudly now.
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
Kennedy stared at her in disbelief.
“You spent the entire day with your ex.”
“You let him get emotionally close to you.”
“And now you’re standing here telling me he kissed you?”
Antonia wiped at her tears quickly.
“I didn’t want it to happen.”
“But it did.”
The pain in his eyes made her chest ache violently, this wasn’t anger alone anymore.
This was heartbreak.
Real heartbreak.
Antonia stepped toward him desperately.
“Kennedy, please listen to me.”
“What exactly am I supposed to hear?”
“That I’m sorry.”
He scoffed bitterly.
“You’re sorry because you got caught.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then what is true?”
Antonia inhaled shakily.
“The truth is…”
Her voice trembled badly now.
“I’ve felt abandoned.”
Kennedy froze slightly.
Antonia continued before fear could stop her.
“You stopped talking to me.”
“You stopped touching me.”
“You stopped being present.”
“I know the company is struggling but—”
“So you ran to Daniel?”
“No!”
“I needed someone to talk to.”
“And apparently he was available.”
The sarcasm in his voice stung deeply.
Antonia’s temper flared slightly through her tears.
“Oh, and Sofia wasn’t available for you?”
Kennedy’s expression hardened instantly.
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because nothing happened.”
“But she keeps calling you.”
“She was helping me.”
“She texted you at night.”
“And I already handled that!”
Antonia blinked slightly.
Kennedy exhaled harshly and stepped away from her again.
“I called Sofia to my office this morning.”
That caught her off guard.
“What?”
“I told her clearly that whatever happened between us in the past is over, and there was no chance in hell anything would happen between us.”
Antonia stared at him.
Kennedy’s voice lowered.
“I told her my marriage comes first.”
The shame hit Antonia immediately.
Hard.
Because while Kennedy had been setting boundaries, she had been spending emotional time with Daniel.
Letting herself get vulnerable.
Letting herself drift.
Kennedy continued coldly.
“She’s only been assisting with company matters. Nothing else.”
“And I made that very clear to her.”
Antonia’s chest tightened painfully.
“Oh God…”
Her hand slowly covered her mouth.
The realization crashed over her heavily now.
She had let her fears consume her.
Let Daniel feed her insecurities.
Let loneliness blur her judgment.
And now, she had deeply hurt the man she loved.
Antonia stepped closer quickly.
“Kennedy, I’m sorry.”
He didn’t respond.
“I swear I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Still silence.
“I should never have gone out with him.”
Kennedy’s jaw tightened again.
“No. You shouldn’t have.”
Tears streamed freely down her cheeks now.
“I was jealous.”
“I was emotional.”
“I thought maybe you and Sofia were getting close again.”
Kennedy laughed bitterly.
“And instead of talking to me…”
His eyes met hers painfully.
“…you emotionally ran into another man’s arms.”
“No.”
But even she heard how weak that denial sounded.
Antonia cried harder now.
“I made a mistake.”
Kennedy looked at her for a long moment.
A very long moment.
And what hurt Antonia most, was the disappointment in his eyes.
Not rage.
Not fury.
Disappointment.
Like she had broken something fragile between them.
Finally, Kennedy spoke quietly.
“You know what’s sad?”
Antonia’s breathing trembled.
“What?”
“I was actually planning to fix things between us, starting tonight.”
Her heart dropped.
Kennedy rubbed his forehead tiredly.
“I’ve been horrible lately. I know that.”
“I know I’ve neglected you.”
Antonia shook her head quickly.
“No, Kennedy—”
“But despite everything…”
His voice cracked slightly now.
“…I never crossed that line.”
The guilt nearly crushed her completely.
“Kennedy, please…”
“I kept telling myself this pressure at work was temporary.”
“That once I fixed things, I’d focus on us again.”
His eyes hardened with hurt again.
“But while I was fighting to keep everything together…”
“…you let your ex kiss you.”
Antonia burst into fresh tears.
“It meant nothing.”
“But it happened.”
The words echoed painfully through the room.
"I pushed him away, and warned him off."
"It doesn't change the fact that he kissed you."
And neither of them could escape that truth anymore.
A suffocating silence followed.
Then Kennedy finally grabbed his car keys from the table.
Antonia immediately panicked.
“Where are you going?”
“I need air.”
“Kennedy please don’t leave like this.”
“I can’t stay here right now.”
Fear gripped her chest instantly.
“Kennedy…”
He paused briefly near the door.
But he still didn’t look back at her.
Antonia hurried toward him.
“I love you. Please...”
Those words nearly stopped him.
Nearly.
But the image of her hesitating earlier when he asked if Daniel touched her still burned in his mind.
Kennedy closed his eyes briefly.
Then finally spoke without turning around.
“I love you too.”
His voice sounded broken.
“But right now…”
He swallowed hard.
“…that’s the problem.”
And with that, he walked out.
The front door closed heavily behind him.
Leaving Antonia standing there alone in the silence.
Crying.
Ashamed.
And finally realizing just how badly everything had fallen apart.