He Swore Flowers Would Kill Him, Then Came Home Smelling of Roses novel · Chapter 18 of 32

Chapter 18: On His Knees

Torin let him in.

I did not understand it at first. Then I saw his face, and I understood that he wanted the Redfern elders to watch.

Rhett walked across the yard on foot, with no guards.

His jacket hung off his shoulders. He had lost weight, and there were grey smudges under his eyes.

He stopped at the long table on the Redfern porch, where the elders sat in a row.

He went down on both knees on the boards.

"I came to ask for your forgiveness," he said.

He was looking at me, and nobody else.

I stood at the end of the table with Pia beside me and Torin at my back. I folded my arms.

"Get up," I said.

"No."

"You're making a show."

"I am," Rhett said. "I'll make as much of one as you want. I'd lie in the dirt if it helped."

A murmur ran along the elders' bench.

"I was a coward," he said. "I let my mother tell me what to be. I let her pick my wife. I let her hand me a woman to hide behind, and I took it, because it was easy."

"Is this an apology?" I said. "Or a list?"

His throat moved.

"It's an apology. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the lavender, and the garden. I'm sorry for the fits. I faked every one of them and watched you cry."

I felt the old rope in my chest twitch, though it was cut.

It was only a nerve, a phantom ache. It meant nothing.

"I knew you were hurting," Rhett said. "I knew, and I let you apologize to me."

"Yes," I said. "You did."

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend