Chapter 41
Before, Liliana thought she knew.
She thought Cedric liked her.
Now, she just shook her head. "I don't know."
"Because you were obedient," he said, leaning back against the seat, making a rare effort to reason with her. "I thought you were different from other women."
He hated arguments and women who made trouble. He believed a man's place was in the world, and a woman's was in the home, and for the last two years, Liliana had played her part perfectly. He'd been very satisfied. She never asked about his whereabouts or interfered with his work. In return, he never brought the stress of his job home; there, he was just a husband. They were compatible in bed, and other than her stamina sometimes flagging before he was fully satisfied, he thought they were a perfect match.
Of course, he had no idea that besides being a competent lover, he failed at every other aspect of being a husband.
Confused, Liliana turned to study him, her face suddenly draining of color. The Forrests were well aware of how her parents, Vida and Chuck, interacted. The Forrest and Preston families had been allies for generations, and her marriage to Cedric had been arranged by their grandfathers. However, due to Chuck's blatant favoritism for his son and his questionable character, Stoddard had distanced himself from him over the years.
Did Cedric think she was just like her mother, a woman to be molded and controlled by her husband? Is that why he'd married her? Did he assume she would quietly tolerate his affair with Sylvia and play the part of Mrs. Forrest without a single complaint?
"Do you know why I want a divorce?" she asked, her brows knitting together as she pressed her lips into a thin line.
Cedric said nothing, either because he didn't care or because he truly didn't know.
She answered for him. "Because I'm just like other women. I don't want a loveless marriage, I don't want to be a tool for your pleasure, and I certainly don't want to be the cover for your affair!"
Her voice rose to a low shout on the last sentence. Veins stood out on her slender neck, and her cheeks flushed with anger.
"Don't look at me like I'm the one who wronged you," Cedric shot back, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized her. "If you had so much pride, you wouldn't have run to the family estate to complain."
He wasn't really listening to her words. Instead, he was thinking of all the nights she'd fought back, biting and scratching him like a kitten when she was too exhausted to go on in their two years of marriage, that was the only time she ever resisted. This defiant woman before him felt like a stranger, but her resistance only fueled his desire to conquer her. Was this some new trick she'd learned? Playing hard to get?
"What... what are you talking about? I didn't complain," Liliana stammered, her anger faltering. Had Stoddard spoken to Cedric? She was sure she hadn't said anything to disparage him. But the fact remained that she'd gone to the Forrest Estate behind his back. Her confidence evaporated, and like a punctured balloon, she deflated.
"Liliana, let's make a deal," Cedric said, his expression hardening as he adopted the tone of a business negotiation. "Be the proper Mrs. Forrest, and I'll give you anything you want. But you will behave yourself from now on." He played his trump card. "If you still want access to every hospital's medical records, you'll agree."
Liliana's eyes widened. So Stoddard had passed the matter on to Cedric after all. He had her right where he wanted her.
Seeing the change in her expression, Cedric's face relaxed. He was back in control, the master of the situation. He spoke to her not as a wife, but as if he were bestowing charity upon a beggar on the street. As if the title of Mrs. Forrest was a blessing she should have spent lifetimes She was expected
to be grateful and obedient, never
dreaming of asking for love or
anything more than the position he
allowed her to occupy.
The color drained from her lips and her breathing went shallow under the weight of
his condescension.
She looked utterly broken in that moment.