The air in the room, already thick with the lingering tension of Noelle's return, crackled with a newfound energy after the bombshell dropped. A stunned silence had settled, broken only by the soft rhythm of Noelle's breathing.
"What. Did. You. Say?" Vernon said slowly, willing what he had heard to be a mistake.
"I am her husband." Flynn said smugly and pulled Noelle closer, his smile smug.
The silence that followed was profound, a vacuum of disbelief. Evan, his face pale and drawn, was the first to break the spell. He surged to his feet, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"Husband?" he exclaimed, his voice laced with incredulity. "What do you mean, husband? There is no way you are married! I am your fiancé, have you forgotten that?"
He looked at Noelle, his eyes pleading, his voice laced with a desperate hope. "Noelle, please," he begged, his voice barely audible. "Tell me you're joking."