CHAPTER 45

CARMEN

“Let me have it, Carmen,” Jasper ordered me, outstretching his hand for me to place my phone on his palm. At that point, I knew that there was no lying to get out of it; he had heard me talking to Emily.

“You don’t understand, Jasper. I just…” I pulled the phone away from my ear, hanging up and placing the phone behind my back to avert his attention from it, but that only triggered him even more.

“Let me have the phone, Carmen!” he demanded even louder this time, stepping forward as if ready to take the phone away from me in an instant if I didn’t do it.

“I wanted to be sure,” I said as I gave in and fixed the phone in his hand.

“You wanted to be sure about something that I had already told you?” He narrowed his eyes at me as he asked. “You do know that trust is a key factor in marriage, right? If you don’t trust me, how are things going to work between us? How are we ever going to get past the circumstances surrounding our marriage?”

I wanted to know that I could trust him, an