# Chapter 13: The Man Cave Confessions and the Green-Eyed Monster
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 13 of *Marriage on Madison Avenue*. Grab your favorite drink, settle in, and prepare yourself, because this chapter is a slow-burn storm of banter, old wounds, family pressure, and a jealousy Clarke never saw coming.
Chapter 13 opens in Oliver’s man cave, where the dinner party upstairs is still humming, but down here, three men are nursing beers and circling the truth like it might bite. Clarke, Scott, and Oliver have become an unlikely brotherhood. Part of it is friendship. Part of it is shared history with the messy orbit of Brayden Hayes. Scott married Claire, Brayden’s widow. Oliver fell for Naomi, Brayden’s ex-mistress. Clarke started as Audrey’s occasional tagalong, but somewhere along the way, he became one of them.
Scott teases Clarke about the fake wedding, joking that the bachelor party better come with a stripper. Oliver smirks and suggests the bachelor party might be a good time to finally see the house. Clarke reminds them that Scott was at the engagement party, so he knows this is not a joke. Scott drawls that he was there, and he didn’t see much that looked fake. Oliver clarifies: he means the kiss. Clarke immediately stiffens. He asks if this is why he was invited to dinner, so they could interrogate him. Oliver says no, Naomi invited him so she could interrogate him. Oliver is merely offering a temporary reprieve, but the man cave moments are limited before they are summoned upstairs for salad or something equally civilized.
Clarke says he doesn’t want to spill. The moment the words leave his mouth, he realizes it is a lie. He does want to talk about it. These two men are as good a bet as any. He stands and paces, barely seeing the big-screen TV, the pool table, the built-in fridge, the wet bar full of whiskies. Finally he says, “You guys think I’m nuts.”
Scott answers honestly. Going through wedding planning without even getting sex out of it? Yeah, a little bit. Then he asks, wait, Clarke isn’t getting sex out of it, is he? Clarke says no. Oliver notes that Clarke doesn’t sound entirely pleased about that. Clarke ignores the comment. He does not want to talk about sex. Or the fact that he isn’t having any. Or the fact that he has been thinking about it more than a teenage boy lately. And especially not the fact that the subject of his very vivid fantasies is completely off-limits.
Scott asks if Clarke at least got to taste cake. That was his favorite part. Clarke is confused, thinking Scott and Claire eloped. Scott says they did, but he meant cake tasting at his first wedding. Well, almost wedding. Clarke remembers then that both Scott and Oliver were engaged before. Scott’s fiancée cheated on him. Oliver’s fiancée bailed when she learned that being married to Oliver meant dealing with his sick parents. Oliver points out that Clarke will soon be joining their club. Clarke asks what club. Oliver says the broken engagement club.
Clarke lets out a light “Ah.” Scott’s eyes narrow. Oliver straightens and says that “Ah” was loaded. Clarke denies it, but the men keep pressing. They confirm that Clarke and Audrey are engaged for pretend, right? Clarke says yes. Then they ask for his story. Something about his mom being sort of… Scott finishes the sentence: a bitch. No offense. Clarke says none taken. She can be. And his ex, too, right? She and his mom are in cahoots trying to rush him down the aisle.
Liz’s plea whispers through Clarke’s mind: *I miss you.* But that little bombshell is nothing compared to the wallop his father delivered hours later. Clarke and his father haven’t spoken since the bizarre meeting in his office a few days earlier. Clarke had been half hoping it was all a dream, that his father hadn’t actually dangled the company in front of him like a carrot to entice him down the aisle. But though his father hasn’t pushed him on the issue, he also hasn’t retracted it. Clarke is terrified, and quite certain, his father meant every word. York would be his if he and Audrey went through with the wedding. The idea is preposterous and… not nearly as unappealing as it should have been.
Clarke asks Oliver for another beer. Oliver tells him to help himself. Scott asks who the ex is. Clarke says Elizabeth Milsap. Both men shake their heads. They dated for a year or so a few years back. They broke up when she went to DC. Scott asks if Clarke didn’t want to go with her. Clarke says he wasn’t invited. Oliver utters a telling “Ah.” Scott bluntly asks if Clarke wants her back. Clarke says he doesn’t. In fact, this whole fake-engagement thing started as a childish need to tell Liz she was wrong about him.
Oliver doesn’t follow. Clarke sighs and leans against the wet bar. When Liz left, it wasn’t acrimonious necessarily, but it didn’t feel good either. She has always been career-focused, goal-oriented, the type of woman who has her life plan outlined in an Excel spreadsheet. She made it clear that Clarke hadn’t made the necessary growth to warrant a spot in that plan. Scott asks what sort of growth. Clarke shrugs. Not marriage material. Scott asks if Clarke thought he was. Clarke says he thought he deserved a chance to try. Back then, at least. Now he knows he isn’t. Now he knows she had it right the first time.
Scott calls bullshit. Clarke is a good guy. Clarke smiles and says he knows, appreciating the compliment. But he is also sort of a man whore. Scott says they are all man whores until they are not. He had a different woman in every city and never promised a single one that he’d call again. Clarke asks what changed. Scott looks at him like he is an imbecile. Claire. Clarke asks how and why. Scott says he didn’t even really think about it. He just woke up one day and felt that ending that wild-oats part of his life wouldn’t be a sacrifice in the least. Given the choice between sleeping with a dozen different women or sleeping with the woman for the rest of his life? No-brainer.
Oliver asks Clarke if he is thinking he might be the marrying type after all. Clarke admits, “Maybe.” He is surprised to hear himself say it out loud, and even more surprised to realize it doesn’t fill him with immediate terror. Maybe it is just getting older, but the thought of coming home to someone—the same someone—sounds a lot more appealing than it ever has before. Oliver asks if Elizabeth has changed her mind about Clarke’s husband potential. Clarke says he doesn’t know. She came to his office on Wednesday and made some definite noise about wanting to get back together. Scott whistles. That is ballsy, as far as Liz knows, Clarke is engaged. Clarke says Liz has a pretty good sense of just how engaged he and Dree really are. Which is to say, not at all. But—
Before he can finish, Audrey bounds into the man cave. “Hiya, boys.” She is dressed in dark jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and her usual ponytail. She is the epitome of the girl next door. His girl next door. No. Not his. Not for real. Not in the way that matters. Audrey waves a hand in front of her face and jokes about the testosterone in the room. She is surprised there isn’t a dartboard and a humidor. Oliver grins and says they are getting delivered on Monday. Audrey says figures, then tells them Naomi sent her up. Appetizers are done.
Scott asks skeptically if they are real appetizers or fussy canapés. Audrey tilts her head and says a man with scruff on his chin, wearing a faded bomber jacket, who also says words like *canapés*, might be just about the sexiest thing she has ever seen. Scott laughs and hooks an arm around Audrey’s neck as they head toward the door. He offers more fancy words: hors d’oeuvres, foie gras, indubitably. Audrey laughs and says if she swoons, he will have to carry her down the stairs. They leave the room, Oliver at their heels.
Clarke takes a moment longer. He stares after them with a frown, trying to place the unfamiliar emotion settling in his stomach. When he finally identifies it, his scowl deepens. It is a first for him, and he understands now why it has a reputation for being so unpleasant. Jealousy.
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## Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter is a sharp, funny, and quietly devastating turning point. The banter between Clarke, Scott, and Oliver is so natural that it feels like eavesdropping on real friends, but underneath the jokes, the chapter is doing serious emotional work. Clarke’s confession about Liz, his father’s offer, and his growing awareness that he might actually want a real marriage makes him far more vulnerable than he lets anyone see. And that final punch of jealousy? Perfect. It lands softly but changes everything.
The chapter balances humor and heartbreak beautifully. Scott’s bluntness, Oliver’s knowing looks, and Audrey’s effortless entrance all push Clarke toward a truth he has been avoiding. The fake engagement is no longer just a game. It is becoming a mirror, and Clarke does not like everything he sees in it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Next, Clarke will have to survive the rest of the dinner party with Audrey nearby and Naomi’s interrogation likely aimed straight at him. Liz may make another move, perhaps a text or an unexpected appearance, while Clarke’s father may increase the pressure about York. Audrey will probably notice Clarke’s strange mood, and their fake engagement may edge dangerously close to something real. I predict a private moment after dinner where Clarke almost confesses the truth—or where a kiss stops being pretend. The broken engagement club may gain a new member, or Clarke may finally decide he wants to fight for the one woman who never made him feel like a project.
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