Tears formed in her eyes and it felt to me like it was completely forced. “They did that to me. I remember everything quite vividly. They brought a witch and made her put a spell on me. It’s something like a sleeping spell, except without breathing. They knew that they had to make everything believable and they did.”
“Who are these people?” Esma asked. “Your words don’t make any sense at all Maggie. no one hated my brother as much as you expect us to believe, at least not back then. He was nice to everyone, they adored him.”
Maggie shot Esma an annoyed look and it completely surprised me. How could she go from crying to glaring at Hunter’s sister in a few seconds?
Besides that fact, Esma was someone important to Hunter and she was extremely kind. Why would Maggie hold anything against her? In my opinion, Esma was someone that she should have had a good relationship with.
“I d-don’t know.” Maggie stuttered. “They made sure to keep everything from me.”
“for five whole years?” Esma asked in disbelief. Maggie’s story wasn’t adding up, there were things that she was clearly hiding.
But … why would she?
“Who is this woman Hunter?” She asked as her eyes went over to me once more.
Everyone in the room stiffened as she waited for him to answer her question.
Hunter finally looked at me for the first time since Maggie returned home. Our gazes locked and there was so much emotion in that one look that I wanted to run to him and bury my face in his chest. Hunter’s hand started to shake and even my own body began trembling.
“She’s my wife … Isabella.”
Maggie’s eyes widened in what seemed to be feigned shock. There was this knowing look in her gaze. I didn’t think that this was the first time she’d heard this. She tried to hide her knowledge of our relationship but she’d clearly failed.
Our gazes collided and there was this raging storm between us that only intensified with each passing second.
“Well you do know that you aren’t his wife anymore now that I’m here?” She asked me directly. “I mean we never got divorced, so technically, I’m his only wife …”
“Maggie.” Hunter growled, surprising all of us. His reaction snagged all of our attention and all eyes were now on him. His jaw was pulsing and he looked like he was having an inner battle within himself.
Why did he seem angry by her words? He gave her a warning glare and it left me totally flabbergasted. She was the woman he wanted all along and yet he got angry at her for insinuating that he and I were no longer husband and wife? That did not seem normal to me.
Did Hunter really care that much for my feelings? His body was shaking with rage and I wanted to hug him so badly. He looked constricted and confused. Maggie remained quiet after the glare he’d sent her way. She didn’t seem happy with the way he’d spoken to her.
If I’d read her right, she looked like she wanted to hurt someone, probably me.
Esma cleared her throat; she looked pleasantly surprised with her brother’s actions. In fact, there was this smirk in her face as she turned to face Maggie.
“I think we should continue these discussions another time. Clearly we’re all in a rough space right now. Maggie, I’ll take you to one of the guestrooms. When Hunter’s ready to talk again, I’m sure he will come find you.”
Maggie glared at Esma before staring down Hunter. He wouldn’t look at her however. He kept his gaze down. She then chose that moment to turn her glare directly on me. The woman looked like she wanted to pounce on me. I quirked a brow at her, not sure what she wanted from me. If I wasn’t in so much pain already I would have laughed at how stressed she looked that Hunter wouldn’t give her any attention right now.
What was he thinking?
I stayed back after Maggie angrily stomped off with Esma trailing behind of her. I was thinking of something to say to him. neither one of us spoke. I didn’t know what any of this meant for us. I tried opening my mouth multiple times but nothing came out from it. He was frozen like a stone and eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t just stand here and watch him be broken over another woman.
I spun around and rushed for my room.
This time I couldn’t stop the tears. When I had first gotten here, all I would hear about was Maggie, everyone spoke about her. And now Maggie was in this house again. She was loved by everyone here … well most of them anyway.
I wiped at the tears and felt my heart skip a beat.
Would this mean that I would have to leave Hunter?
………..
***HUnTER***
“What are you planning on doing now that Maggie is back? You know that this means that your marriage with Isabella is now null and void?” Bruce asked me.
I heard myself growl at his words. It wasn’t the first time I’d growled after someone had said that to me. I was surprised at myself when I’d growled at Maggie earlier, it was almost like I was more protective of Isabella than anyone else. I could sense that Maggie returning was hurting her and I wanted to take the pain away but didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t like the idea of no longer being married to Isabella. I hadn’t been able to think clearly about anything ever since Maggie showed up out of nowhere. I’d been in so much shock that I haven’t even gotten the time to focus on Isabella and what we stood as now.
I knew that I was not okay with us not being married. I wanted to own every part of her and now that we were no longer bonded in marriage I was extremely pissed.
I buried my face in my hand and tried not to show how vulnerable I was with this entire thing. I didn’t like to show weakness in front of anyone. In fact, Isabella was the only one I’d shown my weak side to since Maggie’s death … Or faked death as it was known as now.
“I don’t know Bruce.” I admitted to him with a broken look. “I’ve destroyed my life these past few years thinking that I’d failed Maggie. Wishing for a chance to make up for what I’ve done. Wishing that I didn’t fail her as a mate. now I’m being given the opportunity to do all of the things I’ve wanted to do in the past but-
“But now Isabella is also in the picture.” He answered for me when I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
I nodded. “I won’t let her go.”
His brows furrowed. “Isabella or Maggie?”
…………
***ISABELLA***
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