“I expect you to give me the space I asked for.” Each word cracked like a whip. She never spoke with such high emotion, but she was so angry that he’d intrude on her time here.

“I can’t do that. We can’t fix our relationship if you’re pretending I don’t exist.”

“There’s nothing to fix, you jackass. You cheated on me.”

“Oh, that’s nice. That’s…” He twisted away from her with a look of distaste. “I see this place has done wonders for you.”

“It has.”

“Look, I never slept—”

“Shut your stupid, lying, stuck-up mouth. The fact that you’re still saying it means you don’t get it at all. You don’t listen to me.” She paced away from him on the wide-planked porch. “It’s over, Marcel. There’s no coming back from who I’ve become.”

The truth shot out, taking her by surprise. She shook her head. “I meant from what you’ve done.”

“That’s not how relationships work. Do you think our parents didn’t go through rough patches? No marriage can survive decades without struggle.”

“I don’t care about other couples. I don’t care how people suffered in loveless marriages. We’re not right for each other, and I won’t do it. And, no matter what my family’s going through, I know in my heart they wouldn’t want me to.”

“It won’t be loveless. You’re angry right now—rightfully so—but it will pass.”

“The anger has passed, but the doubts won’t. If I stayed with you, I’d wonder every day for the rest of my life if you’re cheating on me, hiding things from me, or working behind my back to sink my business plans. You’ve shown your true character, and I thank God every day you did it before we got married.”

His features burned red. “I didn’t go into that meeting with a plan to block your idea. We gave it tremendous consideration, but in the end…” He drew in a breath. “In the end, my father thought it made the most sense to hold off on any changes. Growing the business isn’t the priority right now.”

“It is to me. This isn’t some vanity project of mine. You and I both agreed it’s time to move House of Villeneuve forward, and to do that we have to grow. It’s absurd to have one, single product.”

“If you’d seen your father during the meeting, you’d understand why we decided to table the discussion.”

Fear stuck a pin in her heart. “What does that mean?” Her mother would have told her if something were wrong. “Is he all right?”