I realized that his body had gone stiff. Before he could say anything, I continued, "When I married you, I thought that you were perfect. You were the prince charming in every girl's dream. I felt blessed when I married you. I cherished our marriage. I accepted whatever came my way regarding your relationship with Andrea. I thought that as long as I continued staying with you for a long time, you could see how good I am and you would stop treating me like this. However, it's been three years."
"Yes, you are no longer cold to me. But Hendrix, let's think about this carefully. Though you are no longer cold to me, the way you treat me is more terrible than indifference. I am exhausted. When I think of you now, all I feel is the urge to escape. My love for you is not enough for me to want to continue being married to you. So, I'm sorry."
The air was filled with coldness, but he didn't speak. A long, dead silence ensued.
After a long while, he finally spoke up and asked me in a low and muffled voice, "What can I do to make you stay?"
His question caught me off guard, and suddenly, I felt tongue tied.
Seeing that I was silent, he turned me over to face him. "Arianna, I'm working very hard to manage this marriage. Tell me, what is it that you want?"
We gazed at each other, but my mind and body were weary. I closed my eyes and didn't want to talk any more.
Yes, it seemed that I was the problem and I did struggle with mental health issues, but I couldn't tell him what was wrong with me. I just could no longer cope with how we always fought over the tiniest and pettiest matters.
I knew that divorcing each other was not the way to solve the problem, but I was really out of ideas for solutions.
"Hendrix, I..."
"I know. I don't mind what you want to do in the future as long as you tell me what they are. You can continue meddling in the Granger family's affairs, but don't get yourself stuck in it. As for other things, you can do whatever you want. Arianna, just stay with me and live happily with me, okay?"
I never knew that he could talk this calmly to me. His tone indicated that he was pleading and was willing to compromise.
It appeared that we had differing thoughts about the matter since the start. When all I could think of was to escape, all he wanted to do was to solve the problem.
I didn't speak. I closed my eyes, feeling extremely uncomfortable. That night, I didn't sleep well. Perhaps it was because I had something on my mind, or because I was drowning in a sea of my own confusion.
The next day.
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