After Divorce, I Became The Ex-husband's True Love

"Stage II heart cancer. Less than three months to live."Bellatrix walked out of the hospital, the doctor’s words echoing in her head. She sank weakly onto the steps. All week she’d been battling nausea, thinking maybe she was pregnant—that’s why she’d taken off work for the doctor’s appointment.Tears fell without warning. Why was fate so cruel to her? She wanted to call her husband, but couldn’t bring herself to dial. She wasn’t ready to face that familiar cold indifference.No doubt about it: the person who hated her most was her own husband—Cillian Alexander Laurente.Twenty-four-year-old Bellatrix Laurente had carried a torch for Cillian since they were kids. He’d always been unreadable, mysterious. After his parents died, he’d been hit with recurring fevers. She’d stayed by his side nursing him back to health, believing her kindness would eventually make him love her.But everything changed after he recovered. Cillian suddenly declared Regina was the one—the love of his life. Wh

Bellatrix set down the phone. She didn’t want this marriage at all anymore. She was certain Regina would be more than happy to see it end.Regina was the illegitimate daughter of her father had after a drunken mistake. When Bellatrix angrily confronted her father about it, her mother stood up and accepted Regina.Her kind-hearted mother believed that a child was innocent. She taught Bellatrix that resentment would never lead to happiness. Even when Regina always stole her toys, her mother still urged her to forgive.On the day her mother died unexpectedly, Regina didn’t even attend the funeral. Yet Bellatrix held on to her mother’s words—do not resent Regina.Even when Cillian suddenly declared Regina to be the love of his life, Bellatrix never outwardly showed her heartbreak. But now, Regina returned, acting like their whole family had wronged her—again. And once more, Cillian didn’t think—he just sided with her.Bellatrix refused to bow to Cillian’s authority. Her father could never

The woman Cillian had...brought for him?Hearing those words, Bellatrix's heart skipped a beat and she snapped her gaze in Cillian's direction, only to be met with a cold, indifferent expression like a stone statue. There was no reaction or any effort to refute what the stranger had just said.Seeing this, her heart clench and her body trembled ever so slightly.As if on cue, the stranger stood up and approached her. Thanks to his long legs, he was in front of her in seconds. His gaze fell on her and it scanned her entire body in an invasive manner.At her side, Bellatrix's hands clenched. She had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. She looked at Cillian and when their eyes met again, the message in his gaze was clear as day; 'If you mess this up, your father’s company is finished'.Ah, So that was how it was; she thought bitterly. Fine then, if it was for the sake of her father's company, then she was willing to play along no matter what.Pleasing one measly client was nothing

Before Bellatrix could react, she felt herself being ripped out of Damien's arms and shortly after, her back slammed into a familiar chest.Although she couldn't see his face, she knew who the body belonged to, after all, jf was the body she had dreamt of night after night and the voice that followed shortly after, edged with a venomous calm, was a testament of that."What the hell is going on here?" Cillian repeated, his voice lower, harsher.Bellatrix didn't need to look back to know he was glaring at Damien. Instead, she focused on getting out of his hold.However, just as she took a step back, Cillian grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to his side."You," His eyes bore into her, flickering between the lines of silent anger and possession, while his grip tightened. "Stay."Stay? Was he treating her like some kind of obedient dog?Bellatrix felt a spark of anger and her eyes narrowed into a weak glare. However, before she could do anything, Cillian turned his attention back to Dami

A week has gone by since the incident with Cillian. He hadn't returned home since then, but Bellatrix did come across him at the office—always in tailored suits, eyes cold, voice businesslike—but he never glanced her way beyond necessity.The distance between them had solidified into something almost professional, the usual way he treated her, like she didn't exit. But surprisingly, Bellatrix didn’t feel the usual hurt that wrapped itself around her heart.She felt peace.At home, the house, although quiet and lonely, gave her the type of peace and solace she never found when she was in Cillian's suffocating presence. It was a quiet, solemn kind of serenity. One that Bellatrix could easily see herself getting used to for the next 3 months of her life, after the divorce.That weekend, after work, she met Avery and Claire, another friend of hers, at the bar where Claire worked. It was mid-afternoon, and the place was still asleep from its nightly riot. Wooden stools stood like sentries,