Chapter 559

Chapter 559:

Once her initial surprise faded, a strange twinge of hurt welled up inside her, something she couldn’t quite name.

“Eric.” Linda’s voice slipped into a soft laugh. “Are you actually in love with Hadley?”

Love?

For a moment, Eric looked as though he’d been struck.

What was love? It was a word too heavy to toss around casually. Rather than answering directly, he sidestepped. “Hadley’s my girlfriend. Of course I’d make allowances for her.”

He really said that?

The corners of Linda’s mouth lifted into a taut, chilly smile. He seemed to have forgotten that Hadley was once his wife—someone he certainly hadn’t cared for this much back then.

He’d changed.

Suddenly, Linda felt a pang of regret—maybe urging Eric and Hadley to stay together in order to keep Ernest close hadn’t been such a good plan after all.

Eric barely managed to rest that night.

He rose early and wandered downstairs, only to find Linda awake even sooner.

“Eric, you’re up?” Linda called from the kitchen, giving him a warm wave. “Come sit down—coffee’s ready.”

He pulled out a chair at the table, and Linda came over with a steaming mug. “Have some coffee first. I’m making breakfast. Toast with butter, eggs, and bacon… You still like them, don’t you? It’s been ages since I last made any for you.”

“You’re making breakfast?” Eric echoed, setting aside the coffee he’d just lifted to his lips. “What time did you get up?”

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“I couldn’t really sleep,” Linda said, offering a wry smile. “I saw we had everything we needed in the fridge, so I decided to make us breakfast.”

Eric nodded. “With Hadley staying here, it’s simpler to cook at home.” Normally, he’d just eat out when he was by himself.

At those words, Linda’s smile tightened ever so slightly.

Linda let out a gentle sigh. “You’re so considerate toward Hadley… Ernest never bothered with the little things like that for me.” She had spent so many years by Ernest’s side. True, he was accommodating—but only if she voiced her needs.

When she looked back on it, he almost never took the initiative to anticipate what she might want.

Eric noticed the sadness in Linda’s eyes. “Don’t dwell on it. Your situation with Ernest is different. Aren’t you in charge of the Flynn family’s finances?”

Eric believed that because she held the purse strings, she rarely had to go through Ernest to get what she needed.

“No…” Linda shook her head, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “It’s not about money. It’s about the gesture—showing me that he cares. Sometimes… I don’t think Ernest worries about me nearly as much as you do.”

The conversation veered into dangerous territory.

“Linda!” Eric interjected, a furrow forming on his brow. “You’re overthinking things. You know Ernest—once he makes a promise, he always follows through. And he made a promise to you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah…” Linda nodded, though her agreement felt hollow.

“Try not to worry,” Eric continued, assuming his words had set her mind at rest. “Ernest would never betray you.”

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