Semua Bab His Wife: Bab 41 - Bab 50

MaxJames arrives with his wife and children. They look surprised to see me. I give a polite greeting. There is an awkwardness as we all wait for Ellie in the large room where family day often takes place. Sarah and the twins play a game while James and I sit trying not to interact with one another.“Why is Ellie so late?” James mumbles.“The bus route is twice as long today. She left our house at eight this morning. Ellie can’t control traffic but she is doing everything she can to make it here,” I reply. I try to keep the annoyance from my voice, but it is hard. It may sound hypocritical, but it upset me when James yelled at Ellie last night.James scoffs, “Why didn’t you arrive with her?”“Ellie didn’t know I planned on being here. She planned for me to be out of town this weekend. I overslept and Ellie thought I needed rest,” I tell him.James shrugs but doesn’t say anything.A short time later, Ellie arrives. I can see she is tired. Kelsey and Kaylee ran to her. Ellie greets them

Bea’s face lights up when she sees Max. “My Max,” she says as he bends down to hug her. Ben looks surprised to see us together.Ben hugs me, then shakes Max’s hand. He looks between us. “Max, I’m short a partner today in golf. Why don’t you join me? We can let the ladies talk about us while we are gone.”Bea smirks at Ben, patting my hand, she says, “He snored, all night.”Ben smiles. The way he looks at Bea says how in love he is. “Let’s go, Max, before they start talking about you.”Bea shoos them away with her right hand. They begin walking down the hall. Bea taps me, “He’ll look.”“Who?” I ask. Ben puts an arm on Max’s shoulders and says something. He turns back and gives Bea a wink.I smile, “Ben loves you so much,” I tell her.Bea smacks my arm. It didn’t hurt, but the suddenness of her movement startled me. In a teasing tone, Bea says, “Grampa, to you.”I nod, “I’m sorry Granma. Grampa loves you so much. It is sweet to see.”Bea nods, “I know.” I begin pushing Bea to the elevat

I sit next to Max on the couch as he watches a game. I’m not interested, but I don’t want to deal with his anger. During one of the endings, Max’s phone rings. I see Taylor’s name and know they are likely going to go out to a bar.“No, not tonight. Ellie and I are watching the game,” Max explains.Max hangs up the phone. Curious, I ask, “You aren’t going out tonight?”Max shakes his head, “No, I’m done with that. Unless you ever want to go, my nights at the clubs are done.”“Really?” I asked surprised.Max nods, “I am going to be a better husband to you. We can go out if you want. I know you don’t drink, but you like to dance.”I shake my head, “Not like how they dance in clubs. I’m very boring.”Max is silent for a moment, then says, “I don’t believe you are. I think you are a lot of fun when I’m not around.” Max smiles, “You build blanket forts, you tell jokes, you know how to ballroom dance.”“I don’t tell jokes,” I explain.“Chad said you do. Lucy told him some of the jokes. It ma

I finish getting ready to leave. I’m not sure I trust Max yet. Thinking about Kendra’s words I question if I should try to convince Max that all is forgiven, and we can try to have a real marriage. I have no intention of loving him, but on the chance, this isn’t a game to him, I have the opportunity to change his view on love. If I leave him without breaking him, then he won’t be a jerk to the next woman. That would give him a chance to be happy.I’m wearing a 1950s-inspired sage dress. It’s off the shoulder and hits just above the knee. I paired the dress with a simple pair of white heels.“Is this okay or should I change?” I ask Max as I enter the living room.Max’s eyes travel over me. “You look beautiful.”“You won’t be embarrassed by me?” I ask.Max shakes his head, “No. It is missing something.” I look at him curiously. Max goes to his room and quickly returns with his grandmother’s ring.“Maxwell, I can’t take your grandmother’s opal ring. Do you know how much it means to her?

I stand on the balcony looking out onto the city. Tonight, my mother’s necklace will belong to someone else. I’m not going to try to bid on it. Since I’m on the board, I need to mingle with guests and be available for any potential issues. My father said he won’t bid on it, and I don’t want to ask Ellie. If I try to bid, it will give me false hope. This whole ordeal is making me mourn my mother again. For the last few days, I’ve avoided Ellie. I think she knows something is wrong, but she hasn’t tried to push me to talk.I found the professor that harassed Ellie. It turns out he didn’t just harass her. I had my attorney file a lawsuit against him for the other girls and threatened the tenure board at the university with legal action if they did not resign. As of today, all board members have resigned and Professor Kyn will never work in a university again.“Are you ready, Maxwell?” Ellie’s voice breaks my thoughts.I turn to face her. Ellie looks beautiful. The silver grey gown compli