Dear Wife, I Hate You (by Josephine Mbanefo) novel Chapter 41

Lilith’s Pov

The dining room was so quiet, you could hear the spoons hitting the plates. No one moved. No one even chewed. After Nolan told Maya to watch her tongue, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“You don’t get to say that to me,” I said softly, but firmly. My voice shook, but I meant it.

Maya scoffed. “I just asked a question, jeez.” She stabbed a piece of fish with her fork and shoved it into her mouth like she hadn’t just torn me apart with her words.

I blinked back the tears. But they came anyway. Warm. Sharp. Silent. My throat burned from trying to hold it all in.

“You don’t talk to her that way, Maya,” Nolan snapped. “She’s your brother’s wife. You don’t get to disrespect her like that.”

Maya rolled her eyes, lips twisted into a smug smile. “Why are you acting like this, Nolan? It’s just a question.”

“No. It’s a question you should never even think, let alone say out loud.”

She laughed. “Her husband didn’t complain, so why are you complaining?”

I felt that in my chest. Heavy. Cold.

Yeah. Killian didn’t complain. He didn’t say a word. He just sat there quietly like I didn’t matter.

I looked at him. I wanted to see even a flicker of care in his eyes. But there was nothing. Empty.

So I spoke.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I said, my voice tight with pain. “If you knew the truth, you would choke on your words. This will be the last time you ask me that.”

Killian’s eyes darkened. “You don’t get to talk to my sister like that.”

I froze. My heart dropped.

That’s what you choose to say? That’s where you draw the line?

“So you can talk now?” I said, my voice breaking. “She asked me if I go around murdering people and that’s okay with you?”

He looked away.

I turned my eyes to the others. His mother looked bored. Like she was waiting for the next course. Not a single flicker of shame on her face. Maybe she liked the scene.

His father… expressionless. Like a stone wall.

Zoey was the only one who looked at me. Her eyes wide, full of pity. She mouthed a soft sorry, but it only made it worse.

I stood up. My legs wobbled but I needed to get out. I couldn’t breathe in that room.

As I walked past, Nolan caught my wrist.

“You can’t keep running from this,” he said.

In front of his family.

I stared at him. “Just let me go, Nolan.”

He let go. Slowly. Like he didn’t want to.

I ran up the stairs. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I broke.

Tears gushed down my face. I couldn’t even cry properly. I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop the sound.

But the pain didn’t care. It came anyway. Loud inside me. Loud in my chest. Loud in the shaking of my hands.

I hit the bed. Again and again. Screamed into the sheets. Threw the pillows. Kicked the floor. I grabbed the lamp on my nightstand and smashed it against the wall.

Nothing helped. Nothing made the pain stop.

I wanted to vanish. I wanted someone–anyone–to love me. Hold me. Say I mattered. I needed my mum. I needed someone to fight for me.

I needed peace.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt joy. Real joy. Not fake smiles. Not pretending. Just happiness.

This was not the life I dreamed of.

This was not the love I deserved.

I fell to the floor. Clutching my chest as I cried.

The door creaked open, and I turned around, chest still rising and falling from the pain I’d been trying to swallow.

It was Killian.

The same man who sat there in silence while his sister gutted me with her words. The same man who let me bleed in front of his family and didn’t even flinch. My husband.

My husband.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, voice low and broken. “Are you here to finish what you started? Or maybe throw in one last insult before bed?”

He leaned against the doorframe like he didn’t just walk past my shattered heart downstairs.

“I bought those things you’re throwing around,” he said, eyes scanning the mess. “So don’t go scattering my property all over the place.”

I stepped forward. Something inside me snapped as I stood up from the floor

“That’s what you have to say to me?” My voice shook. “That’s what you came up here for? After everything that happened downstairs?”

He tilted his head, like he was confused. “What happened downstairs?”

I blinked. My jaw dropped a little, I could feel my soul cracking inside me,

“Is this a joke to you?” I whispered. “Are you really asking me what happened downstairs?”

He shrugged. “I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. Maya just said what she said because-”

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