Her eyes and mouth go wide, ready to protest whatever he's about to say to defend himself, when those three words hit her like a punch to the gut and she staggers back. Literally. The back of her knees hit the edge of the mattress and she slumps down on the bed once again, easing the tension, no longer of the offense.

"I..." Is all she manages to get out, stumbling over her words and her thoughts. What she wants to say is, I love you, too. And, I never stopped. But they get choked off at everything else he says.

And for the second time tonight, anger flares when she looks at him. Except it's not directed at him, though. "My mother?" She bites out, honing in for a second on that revelation. She knows what the Mayor said had gotten to him. It was meant to, so they'd be torn apart ─ divided ─ distracted. A plan B to his plan A. One that succeeded even if the other hadn't. But her mother? That she had no clue about. And her question makes it clear she wants to know what the visit entailed; she wants him to tell her.

"And what does that even mean? You were wrong in breaking up with me, but not leaving?" She asks, more annoyed at herself for not understanding, than at him. Maybe if he hadn't thrown so much at her all at once to process, she'd have been able to decipher it.