He had yielded to her again and again; what more did she want him to do? The matter with Patti Yale was the one thing he couldn''t resolve just yet. James Mercer was his fiercest rival in Greenvale, and they were both waiting for an opportunity to destroy each other. The business world was a battlefield. If he didn''t use ruthless tactics, the Everhart family would be the next to fall.


    "Enough? Why didn''t you say that before?" Gwh let all her pent-up frustrations spill out, fueled by the alcohol.


    Hawthorne asked, "Say what before?"


    She scoffed. “Hawthorne, stop ying dumb. If you had another woman you loved, why didn''t you tell me? We could have gotten a divorce. It''s not like I''m unwanted. You came to my family to propose marriage, only to turn around and go back to Greenvale to keep a woman on the side? What are you trying to do?


    "Her family fell from grace, and you were afraid of the criticism you''d face if you married her. So you married me as a decoration, a cover, while your heart belongs to someone else. Am I wrong?"


    Hawthorne just looked at her, unsure how to soothe her. After a long moment, he simply stroked her long hair. "Gwyn, from the beginning until now, you have been the only woman in my heart and by my side. There is no one else. I know you won''t believe anything I say right now, but please, just give me some time, alright?"


    His pain was invisible to her, and she had no desire to understand it.


    "Fine, I''ll give you time." Hawthorne looked up as tears filled Gwh''s eyes. "When? How long will it take? What are your ns for that Patti Yale? Are you going to keep her in your private apartment, making me coexist with her? I''m the wife and she''s the mistress? She''s willing, right? And you want me to ept this arrangement, don''t you? And what happens next? This is modern society; do you really think she''ll be content to be your secret, hidden lover? That she won''t try to take my ce? Do you n to spend your whole life juggling two women and two families?"


    Gwh''s rapid-fire questions left Hawthorne speechless.


    "Hawthorne, I know men. Once you have two women, you''ll want a third, and a fourth. A man''s greed is insatiable. Do you really think one Patti Yale can satisfy your ambition? Hawthorne, how long are you going to lie to me?"


    Overwhelmed with grief, she began pounding on his chest, perhaps the most out of control she had ever been in her life. Her elegant updo came undone, and her long hair tumbled down her back. Hero tear-streaked, flushed face was all the more enticing.


    Hawthorne could no longer hold back. He pushed her down onto the back seat and began tearing at her dress.


    Drunk, weak, and heartbroken, Gwh was powerless to resist him.


    “Hawthorne, if you don''t love me, don''t touch me. Don''t provoke me. Go find your true love. If it weren''t for my grandfather, I would have called this wedding off long ago."


    She cried as she used him, but Hawthorne under the influence of alcohol, shed his usual refined


    demeanor. He conquered her lipmet


    silencing her protests with a ferocious kiss. He ravaged her mouth, desperate to reim what he had been missing these past few days as Gwh''s cold shoulder and departure had forced him into the life of a celibate man. In his lonely nights, he had even resorted to satisfying himself while fantasizing about her.


    What husband had ever been so miserably repressed? But he knew he was in the wrong. He couldn''t refute any of her usations, and he couldn''t exin the methods he was forced to use. At this moment, a deeper misunderstanding might actually be to his advantage. James wasn''t a fool He had leverage over Patti Yale, so she wouldn''t dare act rashly. But how could he convince James that he had fallen into his and Patti''s trap if Gwh and he appeared to be a loving couple?


    “Gwyn, I want you. Give yourself to me. Let me cherish you. I promise you, one day,


    I will give you the satisfactory answer you want.”