Page 30 of The Defiant Wife

"They do. I am that stable figure."The answer comes immediately.Without hesitation.Without doubt.

"You aren't the problem."My anger falters.Only slightly.Just enough to make me hate this conversation more.

He continues."They trust you."

"They trust the volunteers too."

"Exactly."

I stand. The chair scrapes against the floor."Do you know what these children need?"

His expression remains calm. Which somehow makes me angrier.

"No."

"Love." The word bursts out before I can stop it.

My chest rises and falls rapidly. "They need love."

I point toward the window.Toward the courtyard.Toward the children."They've spent enough of their lives being unwanted."

My voice cracks slightly. Just slightly."They need people who care."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

His jaw clenches."There it is."

"What ?"

"The assumption."

I stare.His eyes sharpen."You think because I disagree with you, I don't care."

"I think you see everything as a problem that needs fixing."

"Everything needs fixing." He snaps.

And suddenly I understand why he frustrates me so much.Because he sees the world like a puzzle.A machine.Something logical.Something solvable.While I see people.Messy.Complicated.Broken.Human.

"You think everything is about money?"

I ask quietly.The anger in my voice surprises even me. "Money fixes people?"

His expression hardens.For the first time since meeting him, genuine frustration flashes across his face."No."

"Then what?"

"But love alone won't feed them!"The words hit harder than they should.Because part of me knows he's not wrong.Which only makes me angrier.

"That's not what I said."

"But it's what you're implying."

"I'm saying they deserve love."

"And I'm saying they deserve stability."