He Said I Was Clingy, So I Walked Away on the Day Our Contract Ended Chapter 09

He Said I Was Clingy, So I Walked Away on the Day Our Contract Ended Chapter 09

Asher’s throat was raw, his voice barely audible.

“What did you just say?”

I couldn’t shake the thought he was far more prone to over-the-top theatrics than I was, almost to an obsessive degree.

“Just sign this paper. We agreed we’d get divorced once this three-month agreement was up.”

Asher’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the contract, his fingertips even paler than the paper.

“Maddie… you can’t be serious. I thought this arrangement stopped being valid a long time ago.”

I frowned at him.

“Who told you this agreement isn’t still binding?”

His dark gaze roiled with a raging, unspoken tempest.

“If you’re so set on abiding by this contract and being nothing more than contractual spouses, why did you tempt me into intimacy every single night?”

Watching him carry on like this, I nearly laughed out loud.

“Wait—did you not enjoy it? You’re making it sound as if I pressured you into it every time.”

It sank in that he was genuinely upset, not just putting on an act, and my own mood soured.

“Please. If you value your own purity this deeply, why are you the one always climbing all over me every night…”

Asher’s face drained of more color. He pressed his lips thin, his breathing growing heavy and labored.

“We’re both adults, Asher. You have a high libido, and I have my own needs too. Even if we weren’t legally married, it’s completely normal for two lonely people to seek solace in each other.”

The words barely left my mouth before he wrenched my wrist hard in his grip. Every word he spoke was gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Does being an adult excuse reckless intimacy? Does being married make it okay to throw yourself around? Are your physical needs just an excuse?”

It was clear he’d been bottling this up for a long time. The corners of his eyes flushed red.

What on earth was he going on about? I was convinced he was overacting, and I strained against his hold, trying to pull free.

“Let go! Don’t touch me!”

My words struck him like a blow. The broken look in his eyes deepened, as if a storm was building behind his gaze.

“Madison Moore. All this time—do you see me as your husband, or nothing more than a tool for your physical release?”

The moment that question landed, a dead, suffocating silence blanketed the dining room.

Staring at his bloodshot eyes and lips pinched pale, irritation bubbled inside me.

Damn it. Asher was an even better performer than I was.

I’d always daydreamed about being the one abandoned someday, staring at someone in utter despair to make them wracked with guilt — it fed my own craving for drama.

So why was I the one tangled up in guilt now?

No, no, no.

This made no sense. This man threw himself into our nights together night after night, greedily indulged in every night we spent together, and now he was pretending he’d been taken advantage of?

I rubbed my temples in frustration.

“Can you drop this ridiculous act? This divorce is happening one way or another. Quit stalling and dragging this out.”

My remark seemed to wound him further. His breathing turned rapid and shallow, and every word that followed was forced out slowly through clenched teeth.

“This divorce isn’t going through. I put our marriage certificate locked up ages ago.”

My eyes flew wide. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Asher slid the contract across the table.

“The safe is inside our bedroom. If you’re set on a divorce, you can open it yourself.”

I thought he’d lost his mind. No sane person locks a marriage certificate in a personal safe.

“What’s the combination?”