All Chapters of When Obsession Wears a Ring: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The event went off pretty well, with Raymond and Tessa being the highlight of the evening. Tessa noticed Raymond’s presence around her throughout. He never left her side for a second. Even when people tried to take him aside to discuss something, he would still hold her tight. It did make her feel a tad bit important, but something about her guards was still up.Her heart was clenched for a good part of the evening, as a part of her half expected the other woman to show up. She would occasionally make out figures that looked like her, only to realize it wasn’t when they came closer.It would not have been unusual for her to show up if she eventually did. She was already high-profile and always followed Raymond to events like this. Tessa was a bit relieved, embarrassingly so when she discovered at the end of the evening that Danielle didn’t show up. She tried to hide it to preserve her nonchalant aura around Raymond while beaming inside. But something told her that Raymond had already

Tessa extracted herself from Raymond's loose grip and pushed back the covers, locating the robe that had been draped over the armchair at some point the night before and wrapping it around herself as he crossed the suite to get the door."Good morning," the young man said professionally. "Your breakfast order, sir."When the door clicked shut again, she was facing Raymond with her arms folded inside the robe. "You ordered breakfast?""I ordered breakfast," he agreed."And before you say anything, I remembered how you like your coffee."She opened her mouth and closed it back."Two sugars," he said, watching her. "No milk. A crime, but it's yours."She stared at him for a moment longer than she intended to, then moved toward the cart because it was easier than standing there feeling things about the fact that Raymond Anderson had, apparently, held her coffee order in his memory for however many years of distance had passed between them.They ate in silence.It was Tessa who broke the qu

Raymond knew he had to do something. He wanted badly to stop speaking and pull her into a tight embrace especially after seeing the broken look on her face. But he knew better than to stop now. For all it’s worth, she would think of him as the devil - a title he so deserves… but he needed her to know the reason behind the act and he silently prayed that she understood.* The silence that followed his words was the loudest thing Tessa had ever heard.She sat with it for exactly ten seconds… she had counted, without meaning to and then something in her chest that had been pulled taut since the moment he said promise me finally snapped, the way old elastic does when you've stretched it one time too many.She pulled her hand from his and stood up almost immediatelyRaymond reached for her in that instant, but she turned and the look on her face stopped him. It was something colder than anger"I should have known," she said.Her voice was steady. She hated how steady it was, hated that s

The suite felt enormous without her in it.Raymond had walked through every corner twice, not because he expected to find her in the bathroom or out on the balcony, but because moving was the only alternative to standing still, and standing still meant thinking, and thinking right now was something his mind was doing with a cruelty he hadn't anticipated.He had ruined it.He had taken the best morning he'd had in years, maybe longer, maybe the best morning he could remember, full stop and he had opened his mouth and handed her a reason to walk out. He'd known it before the words were even finished leaving him. He'd watched her face change in real time, watched the warmth drain out of it and something careful and closed move in to replace it, and he'd felt completely, utterly powerless to stop it because the truth was immovable and the situation was what it was and there was no version of this conversation that ended cleanly.But he should have told her sooner.That was the thing that

Derek didn’t speak immediately.Not because he didn’t know what to say, but because for the first time since Tessa had known him, he looked like he was choosing his words carefully. Like whatever came next couldn’t be unsaid once it left his mouth. He wished it didn’t come from him, but Tessa was hurting badly, and she deserved to know.“You’re sure you want the rest?” Derek asked quietly.Tessa nodded confidently. Even though her chest already felt tight and something inside her was whispering that once she heard this, nothing would go back to normal. She had never been more sure of anything..Derek exhaled slowly and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His coffee sat forgotten on the table.“Alright,” he said finally. “Then I’m going to tell you what I know. But Tessa…” He paused, eyes lifting to hers. Her stomach tightened.“You said Raymond used to be different,” he began.Tessa nodded softly. “Yes he was. He was… softer and kinder before everything changed.”“Hmm… w