Elise’s hand paused against her temple, the dull throb beneath her fingertips matching the sudden heaviness in her chest.

"How did he get here?"

Melissa hesitated, shifting her weight before answering carefully. "He said he wants to discuss something with you."

She paused, lowering her voice a fraction. "You told me before not to invite Mr. Bennett inside if he ever came, so Miss Zoey is currently keeping him out in the foyer."

"I understand." Throwing back the heavy covers, Elise swung her legs out of bed, the cold floor sending a jolt through her system.

"Let him in." A profound, bone-deep exhaustion lingered in her voice. "There are things we need to settle."

"Alright." Melissa quietly withdrew from the room, gently clicking the door shut behind her.

Elise washed up, changed into tailored, clean clothes, and spent several meticulous minutes making herself presentable before finally stepping out into the living area. The moment she appeared, Zoey intercepted her, her expression tight.

"Dylan’s outside with Robin," Zoey murmured, her voice lowered to a sharp whisper. Her eyes flashed with annoyance. "And Dylan moved faster than we did. By the time my people reached the nanny, his men had already gotten to her first."

Elise simply nodded, her expression a mask of cool composure. Her gaze shifted across the room toward the housekeeper. "Mrs. Lander."

"Yes, Madam?"

"Take Robin out into the garden," Elise instructed, her tone calm but entirely unyielding. "I need to speak with Dylan alone."

"Of course." Mrs. Lander nodded understandingly and quietly led the child through the French doors.

A few moments later, Dylan entered. He looked noticeably thinner than he had just weeks ago, the stark black shirt and trousers only emphasizing the gaunt pallor of his skin. His features were sharper, chiseled by a profound fatigue he could no longer conceal.

Seated on the sofa, Elise regarded him with absolute detachment, treating him like a stranger who had overstayed his welcome.

"The seventeenth," she said, her voice entirely devoid of emotion. "Don’t forget to show up and collect the divorce certificate."

Instead of responding to the strike, Dylan stepped closer, his voice low and steady. "I’ve already found out why Robin was having nightmares."

Elise remained silent, her posture rigid.

"The former nanny was stealing," Dylan continued, a dark shadow crossing his eyes. "Robin accidentally witnessed it, so she hit him and threatened him into silence."

His jaw tightened, a flash of suppressed rage breaking through his calm facade. "We caught her with the evidence. She’s already been handed over to the authorities."

After a brief pause, he added, "As for Robin, I’ll arrange counseling to help him work through it."

Finally, his gaze settled fully on Elise, softening with something heavy. "Thank you," he said quietly. "If you hadn’t noticed something was wrong, this could have gone on much longer."

Elise’s expression didn’t thaw. "As long as the problem is solved." She shifted her gaze away, adding coldly, "Since you’re out of the hospital, take care of the boy yourself. And unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t come here again."

Dylan said nothing. He simply looked at her, unblinking, his lips compressed into a thin, tight line.

Having barely slept the night before, Elise felt the headache behind her eyes intensify. The last thing she wanted was another exhausting confrontation; all she craved was the quiet sanctuary of her bed.

"Dylan," she sighed, rubbing her temple again as a trace of impatience slipped into her tone. "I’m reminding you one last time. The seventeenth. Don’t forget. It was our agreement, and I expect you to keep your word."

For several agonizing seconds, the room fell silent. When Dylan finally spoke, his voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Elise. I don’t want a divorce."

A sharp, disbelieving laugh escaped her lips. "You don’t want a divorce, so I’m supposed to obediently follow your wishes?"

She stood up, anger finally flashing through her eyes, shattering her calm facade. "Dylan, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?"

Her voice trembled with restrained fury. "How many more times do you intend to humiliate me? How many more times do you plan to treat me like a fool before you’re satisfied?"

Dylan’s expression remained composed, though his eyes never left her face. "I’m serious. I don’t want this marriage to end."

"And I’m telling you right now that this marriage is ending." Every word she spoke struck like cold steel. "I will divorce you."

Dylan lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, a rare, vulnerable trace of fatigue surfacing.

"I made mistakes," he admitted, his voice dropping to a rough murmur. "I didn’t consider everything carefully enough."

He paused, looking up at her. "You didn’t want to adopt Robin. Fine. We’ll do things your way. I’ll tell him the truth about his parentage." His eyes darkened. "But he’s still a child. Until he becomes an adult, he’ll still need to live with us."

For a moment, Elise stared at him in utter disbelief. She genuinely wondered whether he was pretending to be blind, or if he truly didn’t understand the depth of the fracture between them.

Did he really convince himself that offering these minor concessions could somehow erase the wreckage of their past?

The thought was almost absurdly laughable. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she forced down her rising anger.

"Dylan," she said, her voice turning to absolute ice. "I don’t care whether you raise Robin as his father or his uncle. That is a Bennett family matter. It has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Her eyes sharpened, pinning him to the spot. "The reason I want a divorce has never been Robin."

A deep frown pulled at Dylan’s brows. "If you’ve accepted Robin, then why insist on divorcing me?"

He took a step forward. "I already explained everything regarding Quinn. There was never an affair. We were cooperating on a business venture. I never betrayed our marriage. If you’re divorcing me because of infidelity, that accusation simply doesn’t stand."

Elise’s bitter laugh echoed in the quiet room. "You and Quinn were seen together everywhere. Everyone in the city knew. How is that not a betrayal?"

"It was an act," Dylan dropped his voice, pleading.

"An act?" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Then let me remind you of a few things."

She stepped around the table, confronting him face-to-face. "When you celebrated Robin’s birthday with Quinn, I watched from inside my car in the rain. You stayed out all night. One night, she called me from your phone and made me listen to the sounds of the two of you together."

The sheer weight of the memory made her chest tighten, but she pressed on. "And during the fire..."

Her voice finally faltered, genuine, agonizing hurt flickering through her eyes. "When everything was burning around us, you ran to her first. You used the very body that once took a knife to save my life..." She let out a hollow, broken laugh. "...to shield Quinn instead."

The words became too heavy to carry. Elise closed her eyes, a long, painful breath leaving her lungs. When she opened them again, every trace of vulnerable emotion had vanished, replaced by a terrifying, crystalline clarity.

"Dylan," she said, her voice dropping to a lethal calm. "Every one of those moments was a betrayal. Every one of them destroyed a piece of me. Isn’t that enough?"

A suffocating silence stretched between them, thick with the ghosts of their past. Finally, Dylan spoke, his voice barely a whisper.

"What if I told you that nothing physical ever happened between Quinn and me? What if I told you that things weren’t what they appeared to be?" His eyes searched hers, desperate for a glimmer of the warmth he used to find there. "Would you believe me?"

Elise slowly shook her head. Whether she believed his technicalities no longer mattered.

"It changes nothing," she answered instantly. "Because regardless of your intentions, I was hurt. The pain was real. The humiliation was real. The loneliness in this house was real."

Her eyes glistened faintly with unshed tears, but her jaw remained set. "Those experiences don’t disappear just because you offer a convenient explanation afterward."

She drew herself up, her voice strengthening with absolute conviction. "I want this divorce. No... I need this divorce."

For the first time, Dylan seemed momentarily stunned, looking at her as though the veil had finally been ripped from his eyes.

Elise met his gaze steadily, a faintly mocking smile touching her lips.

"We know each other too well, Dylan. The truth is, when you chose to do all those things, a part of you already knew exactly where they would lead. So don’t stand here pretending to be the innocent victim."

Her words cut deeper than anger ever could. "In the adult world, the ugliest kind of selfishness is the kind committed in the name of love."

Silence flooded the room, heavy and absolute. Then, she delivered her final verdict.

"Come to the bureau on the seventeenth, and we can end this peacefully." Her eyes hardened into granite. "But if you don’t show up... I’ll see you in court. And when that happens, don’t expect me to spare even a shred of the feelings I once had for you."

The moment the threat left her lips, Elise turned away without a second glance. Without an ounce of hesitation, she walked straight back to her bedroom. The heavy oak door clicked shut behind her—a solid, unyielding barrier. A final, definitive rejection.

Standing entirely alone in the vacant living room, Dylan stared at the closed door. The silence around him felt endless, heavy enough to crush.

Slowly, the remaining light faded from his eyes. For the first time in his life, the distance between them felt entirely insurmountable—and for perhaps the first time, he finally understood that some wounds could not be healed by explanations, and some hearts, once shattered, could never be persuaded to stay.