CH.110

Talia felt her heart plummet into her stomach, tears instantly filling her eyes.

"I...I can't believe you would ever say something so vile and degrading to me," she choked out, her voice breaking with the depths of her hurt and disappointment. "You've really changed so much, Robert. And not for the better at all."

A flicker of guilt and remorse passed across Robert's features for just a fleeting moment before the stony façade slammed back into place.

He stepped away from her with tensed jaws before he spun on his heel and stormed out of the room, leaving a shaken and tearful Talia alone with only her swirling thoughts for company.

The anger and self-loathing radiating off Robert was palpable as he retreated to his room down the hall, slamming the door behind him hard enough to rattle the frame.

He flung himself down on his bed and buried his face in his hands.

“Damn you, Robert!” he cursed his own stupidity and lack of self-control.

How could he have said such an awful, unf