Marrying my secret admirer after my husband's fake death novel Chapter 74

The question drifted through the air at the worst possible moment, just as the waiter arrived with a tray of tea. The gentle clatter of cups and the splash of pouring water filled Edith’s ears, muddling her thoughts.

She was sure she must have misheard. Her eyes, still shiny with tears, fixed on Justin’s face. Edith didn’t know the first thing about reading lips, but in that anxious moment, she couldn’t help but search his mouth for clues, desperate to understand what he was really saying.

Justin looked back at her–her dark eyes wide and glistening, like a startled fawn’s. At that moment, he felt more certain than ever: Edith must have come to break off the engagement.

Otherwise, why would she look at him with such a pleading, wounded expression?

Those eyes seemed to shimmer with silent appeals, and Justin couldn’t stand it. He dropped his gaze, unable to meet them any longer. It felt as if her look cut straight through him, sharp as a blade, slicing all the way to the bone.

Trying to sound casual, Justin said, “If you want to call it off, that’s okay.”

His voice was gentle, meant to comfort her.

“The Hawksley family didn’t send out many invitations. We haven’t made a big fuss about it. Even the reception hall belongs to us–it can be canceled at any time. No one in Northcrest really knows about our engagement. We can just pretend none of this ever happened.”

He just wanted to shield Edith from gossip, to keep her name out of anyone’s mouth.

But Edith looked completely confused.

Strange. Justin was speaking plain English, but somehow everything sounded garbled, as if he was speaking in riddles. She couldn’t make

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sense of a word.

Nearly half a minute slipped by before Edith finally found her voice. She drew a shaky breath and shot back, “What do you mean, calling off the engagement? I never wanted that. Was it you… do you want to break things off?”

After thinking it over, that was the only explanation she could come up with. It had to be Justin who wanted out–that would explain everything.

Honestly, Edith could understand if he did. Even before Kearney’s accident, her own family, the Sumners, weren’t exactly well–off–there were plenty of families like hers in Northcrest. And now, after her family’s troubles, it was only natural for the Hawksleys to have second thoughts.

After all, the Hawksleys were hardly ordinary. Their engagement was like something out of a fairy tale: Cinderella chosen by the prince. But fairy tales belonged in storybooks, not real life, and Edith knew it better than

anyone.

So if Justin wanted to call things off, she could accept it.

She lifted her head and met Justin’s gaze.

He looked completely taken aback. “You don’t want to break it off? Why would I ever want that?”

Edith echoed his words without thinking, “Why would I ever want to break things off?”

There they were, two people who had never dreamed of ending things, now tangled up in a conversation about ending things–both utterly bewildered.

Then, suddenly, it clicked for Justin. He’d misread everything, and because of that, Edith had misunderstood too.

And those words she’d just said–Why would I ever want to break things off?-were like honey melting straight into his heart.

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