Mana: Before The Rise 230 Seven Year Itch 9

"Why? Because I found out?" she scoffed, feeling he'd been unfaithful in spirit if not in action, and she didn't believe him, anyway.

"Because I didn't want to."

"Not out of any sense of caring about me,"

"I, Very much caring for you, Rowen," he said softly, his eyes boring into hers with urgent intensity. "And caring about making the best of our marriage."

"That wasn't how it looked to me," she retorted. She'd done all the caring and the work on it. He'd resisted her efforts except when it suited him not to.

"Please, just stop it!" she begged.

"Rowen, if you'll just give me a chance—"

"It's useless, useless!" she cried, anguished by his pursuit of a compromise. It wouldn't wear. It was too repulsive to her. "Can we please get onto something useful?"

He expelled a long, ragged sigh. "What would you suggest as useful?"

"How we're going to act in front of the children when we get home." It was a matter of deep anxiety to her. "I don't know if you've called them this week. I've only spoken to them about the tourist stuff I've been doing."

"Yes, I called." He gave her a wry look. "It was a relief to find them all still talking to me normally."

"..."

"Don't do this to us, Rowen." He said his words low and intense. 'It's not too late to try again," he pressed, reaching across the table to touch her hand in appeal. 'I promise you...Rowen, I swear to you there's only one woman in the world I want—" his voice throbbed with pa.s.sion, drumming for the entry she had denied him up until now "—and that woman is you."

"It's not that easy, Rowen," she warned him, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng with resentment at so many of the a.s.sumptions he'd made recently.

He opened his hands, inviting her to elaborate. "What do you want, Gina?'

"Were you deeply in love with Tan Hee-Yung, Lucas?"

"That's over, Rowen. Finished with," he stated dictatorially. He always dismissed it.

"No, it's not finished with."

He looked needled. "I a.s.sure you—"

"Its not if she was still in our lives, Lucas I was never worried about Ms. Knight." Rachel said seriously.

"Then…."

"Lucas, you are the worst. How could you forget what your Ex-Wife looks like." Rachel said simply.

"???" Lucas looked surprised at the sudden

"Bonnie Tillman got married and her name changed to Knight. Your a.s.sistant is your Ex-wife, Lucas, and if you remember correctly the one who suggested you to hired her two years ago was me. Me and Bonnie went to the same school, and we have been good friend, I was also at your Wedding at the time. So, when her husband came down with Cancel and was hospitalized, I had brought up her file to you. And to my surprise you hired her before going back to work. Bonnie told me you fired her Monday, that is why I left the hotel."

"Row-"

"I'm not done, Lucas, you barley knew enough about me and you didn't even try. Otherwise you would have known something as simple as me being your ex-wife's friends. Your last marriage was such a wreck but, in the end, you barely remembered the face of the women you ended up divorcing says a lot about you Lucas." Rachel's tone started to get deadly. "and Then there is Ms. Tan, birthdays, parties, and anything she had asked you to do. You show up, regardless of work, Curious I wanted to know more, that's why I had Ms. Knight hired because she was the best option to understand, because you had always dismissed my questions and appeals without a thought."

"….." Lucas grew pale.

"End us you say, there was never and us in the first place. That much I cane not when you didn't remember the anniversary of the day we met and the day we got married. It didn't really matter much to you in the first place."

"Rowen….."

"As for Bonnie suggesting Waverley house, that was my Idea. You probably even forgot that house once belonged to my parents. After their Car-accident the deed to the house belongs to me. I had planned to move their after our Divorce"

"Divorce…." His face got even worse.

"Lucas, this whole trip was for me to a.s.ses you. I wanted to see if it was worth still being your wife or not. Your mother of Course knew about this, that is why she quickly left with the kids so that she wouldn't have an argument with me." Rachel shrugged her shoulders, she thought it was pretty funny how Lucas didn't question his mother's action of not greeting him before taking off with the children. "As for our kids, I have thought long and hard about them. I will always love, but, I have never been one for unnecessary sacrifice. I am not in Love with you Lucas, and neither are you. So even if you had cheated, I wouldn't have cared."