All Chapters of The Unexpected Affair : Chapter 41 - Chapter 42

The silence between us hung thick like fog, dense, choking, unescapable. After I said the words “It was Xander”, I could feel my mother’s whole body freeze beside me. She didn’t move. She didn’t speak. She barely breathed.The garden around us had gone quiet too. Even the wind, which moments ago was dancing softly through the branches, seemed to have stilled. I could hear the soft ting of my spoon tapping gently against the side of my forgotten teacup. It felt like a countdown, ticking toward the moment everything would fall apart.Mom didn’t look at me at first. Her eyes were set on the distance, unfocused, like she wasn’t really here anymore. I waited, for anger, for heartbreak, for something. But when she finally turned her face toward me, what I saw made my stomach twist.There were too many emotions flooding her face at once. Confusion. Hurt. And something deeper, something guiltier, that flickered for just a second before it was gone. She opened her mouth but closed it again. Th