Chapter 122: Choosing one man or losing both

Clancy did not say another word. He let go of the doorknob, turned on his heel, and walked straight out of the home office toward the front exit of the house.

The expression on his face as he turned away was a look that Selen had never seen before in all their time together, it was a look of pure heartbreak and deep, profound sadness, completely stripped of his usual defensive confidence.

Selen pulled away from Newton instantly, her breathing ragged and her mind racing with a sudden, chaotic panic.

She did not stop to think about her actions. She did not pause to evaluate the parameters of the situation, and she could not even tell herself why she did that- why she left Newton alone right there on the office couch and ran after Clancy.

Her defensive wall’s focus completely vanished into thin air. She simply moved on pure instinct, sprinting out of the office and down the long, quiet corridor.

"Clancy! Stop, please wait!" Selen called out, her voice catching as she hurried down the hall, her hands still quickly adjusting her rumpled top. She needed to catch him before he reached the front door and walked out of her home.

Clancy stopped right near the foyer, his back completely rigid. He did not walk out immediately, but he did not step toward her either. He turned around slowly, his posture tight, unyielding, and completely guarded as he faced her.

"Why did you run after me, Selen?" Clancy asked. His voice was low, steady, and dangerously quiet, echoing off the clean walls of the entrance hall.

Selen opened her mouth to respond, but her words failed her entirely. She stood right in front of him, her chest heaving as she struggled to find a single logical explanation for why she had abandoned Newton to chase him down.

She stuttered while Clancy looked her dead in the eye, her usual clear speech turning into a fragmented mess. "I- Clancy, I just- I did not expect you to come back to the house at this time. I needed to explain what you just saw-"

"Explain what?" Clancy cut her off, his voice cracking slightly with that unfamiliar heartbreak and sadness. He took a small step closer to her, his gaze locking onto her face with an intensity that made her throat close up completely.

"You do not owe me an explanation, Selen. You already told me that you were with Newton now. You are in complete control of your own life, your own layout, and your own choices. I have no right to dictate who is in your room or who is on your couch." He said.

He paused, his breathing deep and controlled as he stared at her. The sadness on his face deepened, making him look entirely exhausted by the endless emotional distance between them.

"But if you ran out here to tell me how you really feel, you need to say it right now," Clancy said, his tone turning incredibly genuine.

"If you tell me that you want us, if you tell me that you love me and want our family tree to be whole, I will drop everything this exact second.

I will drop my work, my family’s legacy, and every single corporate or diplomatic constraint in this country just to be in your arms. I will walk away from everything to protect you and our babies. But you have to tell me the truth. I cannot keep guessing where I stand in your life." he said.

Selen stood entirely frozen in the foyer. Her mind was spinning through a thousand different thoughts, memories of their past, and the reality of Newton sitting just down the hall.

She wanted to speak, she wanted to provide a clear, professional resolution to the chaos, but she could not find her voice. Her throat felt completely blocked.

Clancy looked at her, his eyes searching her face for even a single shred of reassurance. When she remained frozen, he asked her the one question he had been carrying ever since he returned to England.

"I need you to answer me one thing honestly, Selen. How did you feel when you kissed him just now? When you were on that couch, did it feel the same as when we kissed? Did it carry the exact same weight and the exact same heat as when you and I were together?" He asked her.

Selen could not respond. She was entirely speechless, her lips parted slightly but no sound coming out. The silence stretched between them in the hallway.

She could not tell him yes, and she could not tell him no. Her complete lack of an answer hung in the air like an unyielding barrier, confirming his deepest fears.

Clancy waited for a while. He stood there in the quiet foyer, giving her every single opportunity to break the silence, to say his name, or to give him a reason to stay. But as the seconds ticked by and she remained completely speechless, the last lingering light of hope in his eyes vanished entirely.

He looked like a man who had now totally given up on them, on their history, and on any chance of a future Chapter together. He gave her a single, tired nod, turned back toward the front exit, and walked away, closing the heavy door quietly behind him.

Selen stood alone in the foyer for a long time, staring at the closed door. Her hands were trembling slightly, and the profound clarity she usually possessed was completely gone, replaced by a deep sense of bewilderment.

She had left Newton alone to run after a man she claimed she was moving past, and she had ended up completely empty handed, unable to explain her own heart.

Meanwhile, back in the home office, Newton remained exactly where she had left him on the couch. He sat alone, facing his own thoughts and the painful realization of what was currently going on in the house.

The moment Clancy had barged in and Selen had dropped everything to sprint out the door after him, the entire truth had become completely clear to Newton.

His mind reviewed the past few weeks of phone calls and mutual anticipation. They had both been looking forward to this trip to Kent, planning it out as a brand new Chapter for their relationship.

But sitting alone in the quiet study, listening to the distant murmur of Selen’s voice chasing another man down the hall, Newton had to face reality. It was completely obvious to him that Selen was not ready to come to terms with her feelings.