Chapter 203: Matured Lover
Rafael hesitated then, words catching in his throat, his gaze searching hers.
The room hung silent, heavy with words unsaid, the soft hum of the air conditioner the only sound between them. And Mara... Mara didn’t know if it was fear or love that made her chest ache more.
"Unless what?" Mara asked, her voice barely a whisper. It wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t defensive. It was small, fragile, like a girl afraid to hear the words she already knew.
Rafael let out a long, weary sigh, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to say it. Didn’t want to give those thoughts shape, but it clawed its way out anyway, quiet, hesitant.
"Even anger is an emotion, Stef," he said, his voice soft, like he was speaking to the ghost of a feeling. "The same as love. Maybe... maybe you’re angry because he couldn’t be the man you needed him to be. And maybe... maybe some part of you still wishes he could."
The words hung there, thick as fog, too heavy to brush aside.
Mara blinked, her heart giving an uncomfortable, traitorous lurch. She grabbed her bag, rising from the bed like it burned her skin. "I—I can’t do this right now."
Rafael’s jaw tensed, but his voice stayed calm, steady, the way it always did when he was trying to anchor her. "Stef, baby, we’re not fighting. We’re just having a conversation. Couples talk, they misunderstand, they figure it out. They don’t walk away in the middle of it."
Her fingers curled tightly around the strap of her bag. "I don’t know what you want me to say, Rafael!" Her voice cracked, emotion spilling over like a dam breaking. "That’s because I’m angry, I’m in love with him? That I’m fooling around with you while secretly wishing he were you? Is that what you want to hear? Because I’d rather leave than be accused of that."