Chapter 160 Making An Issue
On their way back, the display of the teasing couple was gone. With their gazes out of the window, filled with inscrutable feelings.
"You didn't have to do that," Luke said suddenly, his voice devoid of the warmth that had just been there.
Peach turned her head slightly toward him in confusion, "Do what?"
"The scene in the office. Threatening a client over a few pathetic words." He shifted, his gaze remaining on the road but the discontent was visible.
"You don't need to defend me, Peach. Especially not at the cost of your own reputation."
Peach felt a sharp sting in her chest, gaze softening with dismay. He was dismissing her- treating her protection like an unnecessary business expense.
She turned fully toward him, her eyes narrowing with a quiet, fierce intensity, holding his arm.
“Your respect is my respect, Luke.”
Luke’s lips parted to say ‘Lies. Lies. lies.’ But, he couldn’t.
He pulled away from her.
Though her words were highly unwanted for the man he kept silent during the ride, trying not to create a scene but the moment they went to their home, Luke could no longer keep quiet.
The moment they stepped into their main hall, Luke turned to her, grabbing her arm with a displeased look.
"Was that the 'devotion' you were talking about in the car?" he asked, his voice low but enraged.
"Or is this just another way for you to control the narrative?" He stepped forward, a deadly aura surrounding him that made Peach flinch.
Peach stopped, her back to him. She squeezed her eyes shut as an unwanted tremble evoked from her.
"...I was trying to help you."
"Help me?" Luke laughed, a dry, hollow sound that echoed in the air, releasing her roughly, holding his sides in frustration.
Peach turned him slowly, her gaze softened with dejection. She wasn’t in the mood to fight or have an argument but taking a deep breath, she put up her frontage and stared coldly.
"You don't help people, Peach. You decide what they need and you force it upon them. Are you doing this again? Are you trying to show this world that I am your possession?” He hissed.
Her action revived an old memory that was nothing but painful.
“Are you planning to ruin me again?”
“Where are you leading one simple thing, Luke? No. These are not my intentions. I defended you because I am your wife.” She argued, taking a step closer.
“I find it hard to believe, Peach.” He whispered, lips quivering, “I find it hard to believe in anything you do or say.”
She faced him, her face pale, unwanted tears pricking in the corner, "This isn't what I wanted. Not anymore… I won’t hurt you again, Luke."
“You said it like this last time too,” He snickered, curling his hand in a powerless fist before resting it in his pocket to hide it from her.
"And now I simply wonder, how did you feel victorious, Peach?" He stepped into her personal space, his eyes dark with the memories of her manipulations and sorrow.
"How did your victory satisfy you? Back then and now too. Is this going how you want? Didn’t it hurt?"
"It hurts, that is why I did it!" She snapped, "I didn’t realize the damage, I didn’t realize where this would lead us. I did not calculate!"
"But you followed your head," Luke countered, his gaze cold. Holding her chin, he forced her to stare into his disappointed gaze with a furious whisper.
"You followed your true, unlovable nature: 'Get what you want, and if you can’t, destroy what you can’t have.'"
"Luke, please, don’t speak of it, please," she whispered, her hands trembling, holding his wrist to choose softer words to break her heart.
But, he was a man finally letting the poison out of a wound. And the more it throbs, the more he coated his tongue with venom.
"And after that, you start giving yourself fake consolations. Trying to justify your actions and thoughts with your notorious catchphrase. What was it? Yeah..."
He leaned down, his lips reaching near her ear, letting out a dry, mocking chuckle, demeaning her with her own philosophy.
"Love isn’t the only painful thing in the world."
Shutting her eyes when Luke exposed the foundation of her whole personality, it made her wail, "Luke, please...!"
"Is that why you're 'defending' me now?" He demanded, pulling back to look her in the eyes that could no longer look at him.
"To soothe your own conscience?” He asked harshly.
“Stop being an asshole, Luke!” She screamed, unable to carry the weight of his words anymore, breaking into a painful sobbing.
“You also married me to forget Arabella. You also have your selfish reasons!” She shouted, making tight fists to stop the wreckage but to no avail.
“You are no saint either. You are also using me! You aren’t doing this to fix the past or us too, so stop repeating my mistakes!”
Luke’s expression didn't shatter; it hardened, turning into something as cold and impenetrable. He kept staring, watching her emit a sob for a few seconds.
“I do, I married you to bury a memory.” he admitted, his voice painfully quiet.
“But I am not trying to sugar-coat it, Peach. As I stand here. I don’t see my wife, I see the woman who was still where she was years ago.”
Her eyes widened in horror, “I am trying, dammit!” she sobbed, the dam finally breaking.
She stepped into his space, grabbing the lapels of his coat, “What do you want me to do!? What should I do so that you forgive me!?”
Her voice dropped to a broken, desperate whisper, her forehead thumping against his chest as her strength failed her.
“Tell me how to fix it. Tell me how to make you look at me without seeing a mistake. What do I have to give up? My name? My pride? Just tell me!”
Luke was stunned. This was something new. Peach falling apart.
He stood stunned while she had embraced him, crying into his chest, seeking a chance.
A path, a future for them.
Suddenly, the sharp sound of her sobs hit him with the realization that he went too far. He made an issue out of nothing.
His hands hovered near her waist, trembling with the urge to either push her away or pull her so close she couldn't breathe.
The silence stretched, thick and agonizing, until the only thing left between them was the past they were impotent to bury.