NovelEnglishChapter 198 Back to How It Used to Be
“The truth behind our…?” Brendan’s ire was palpable. “What’s that supposed to be?”
Deirdre panicked a little. He knew exactly what she meant and had asked her this question anyway.
How was she supposed to answer that?
Brendan closed his fingers around her wrist as his handsome face loomed close to her own. “We. Are.
Husband And Wife, Deirdre McKinnon,” he stated, prolonging each word. “You should remember that.
I’m not some polyamorous man loving a harem of women. All you have to do is stay in your lane and
stop trying to harm Lena–and I swear, you’ll always have a shelter in me.
“It’s not impossible for us… to go back to how it used to be.”
Brendan stiffened. Had he really said that? Why would he say that?
Was this his deepest wish after all? To go back to that time?
Deirdre was so taken aback that she could not even reel out of her own shock. His voice–his request-
reverberated within her brain like a cursed echo. What was the point of telling her this? Was he trying
to explain the nature of his relationship with Charlene?
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe felt like her head was about to explode. The gale was so strong that her headache seemed to
pulsate along an unknown rhythm. It was so hard to think in this state.
She closed her eyes and felt Brendan pulling her into his arms. She then felt his coat wrapping her
tight. Cold air had ceased to reach her, and it was his scent that surrounded her now.
A sense of discomfort coalesced, and she began to wriggle.
Brendan locked his arm around her waist. “Weren’t you the one who asked for my help maintaining this
facade?” he stated matter–of–factly. “I’m not some A–list professional actor, so don’t expect me to
know what an award–winning performance means. If you really want our act to work, then I’m gonna
have to method–act until you’re satisfied starting today. That way, she won’t be able to sense that
anything’s
amiss.”
He made a lot of sense, but Deirdre was still unaccustomed to the intimacy between them. Her voice
was trembling when she said, “J–Just acting like we used to be back then will be enough.”
“And when is that?”
Deirdre had to push the next words out of her teeth. “The two years following our marriage.”
Brendan froze a little. “But I wasn’t treating you right at all back then.”
Hell, he had been genuinely abusive. She had been his sexual outlet, a doll to receive him when he felt
like it, someone he could walk away from when he was done. He would come back from work and not
spare her more than a glance before heading straight to his study or Charlene’s room on the second
floor. 1
“That was good enough,” Deirdre said calmly. She had not dared ask for more back then, but now, she
would not dare ask for much at all.
Brendan’s eyebrows were furrowed as he scanned the young woman’s apathetic face.
A thought formed in his mind. Could this be it? The chance he had been waiting for–the opportunity for
things to go back to how they used to be?
“I can do that… if I haven’t forgotten exactly how I used to treat you back then,” he argued. “Look. Let’s
get inside before discussing this further. We’ll start by having meals together. You’ll remind me.”
It was too cold outside. Deirdre could not withstand it any longer, and in the end, decided to answer his
call to return to the house. Dr. Ginger had prepared their meal by that point, so the two of them took
their respective seats.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“What was it like back then… whenever we ate together?” Brendan asked.
Deirdre did not even need to consciously exhaust her memory–it came to her at the smallest of
summons. They had never talked. The man’s focus had always been on his papers. The woman’s
focus… had always been on him.
It used to be a moment of respite and warmth–which was why it hurt her like a knife. “I don’t
remember,” she lied.
Brendan was not in a hurry. “Fine, then. You have ten whole days to recall anyway. No rush.”
Deirdre said nothing.
They finished their meal, and she went up the stairs and headed to her room. Before she could shut the
door, though, a hand rested on the handle and his towering figure squeezed through the gap and went
inside.
He closed the door, and Deirdre felt the air somehow become thinner. She froze before calming down.
She had lost any regard for self–respect, so the first thing that leaped to her mind was removing her
clothing. She had stripped down to her last article when Brendan suddenly stopped her hand. “What
are you doing?”
She looked at him unseeingly, feeling confused. “Aren’t you here for sex?”
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