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153.

Author: Christie Bassey
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-29 21:44:58

ERDEN

The words hung there longer than they should have.

Lyssandra didn’t turn around right away. Her hands stayed on the counter, palms flat, like she was steadying herself. The brownie batter sat between us, spoon half-submerged, forgotten.

“What do you mean?” she asked eventually.

I watched the back of her neck as she spoke. The small pause before the question. The way her shoulders lifted and dropped a fraction too deliberately. It wasn’t fear or guilt, just surprise.

“You haven’t mentioned Nyra,” I said. “Not in weeks.”

She shrugged without looking at me. “There’s nothing to mention.”

I stepped closer, not touching her, just close enough that she had to know I was there. “That’s not an answer.”

She reached for the spoon and stirred once, too fast, batter sloshing up the side of the bowl. Then she stopped and let it drop back in.

“I told you,” she said. “I’ve given up on that.”

The phrasing landed wrong.

“Given up how?”

She finally turned around. Her face was calm, almost too calm
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  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   163.

    ERDENTrent lingered by the door longer than he needed to.He’d already packed up his tablet and jacket, already checked his phone twice like there was somewhere else he was supposed to be, but he didn’t leave right away. He leaned one shoulder against the frame and looked at me the way he did when he wanted to say something but hadn’t decided if it was worth the argument.“I’m heading out,” he said finally. “I’ll follow up on Christian’s end and see who’s been touching that shipment. We’ll catch up later.”I nodded, eyes still on the box on my desk. “Don’t wait too long to get back to me.”“I won’t.” He hesitated again. “You good?”I looked up at him. Trent wasn’t soft, but he paid attention. He noticed patterns the same way I did. The difference was he sometimes believed in everything he wanted to, despite the evidence in front of him. “I will be later, just not today.”Not after seeing that chain, and certainly not after being informed my father might have another trap he was set

  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   162.

    ERDENI left Lyssandra’s house without saying goodbye. No, it wasn't because I was angry, even though anger would have been easier to justify, but because I could feel the lie sitting between us like a third presence. Lyssandra might think she had me deceived, but she hadn’t denied it outright. She had just redirected my attention and my question, and she thought I wouldn't notice? I chuckled under my breath as I got into my car. She was going to meet Nyra.She might not do it today, or tomorrow but eventually, she would met her sister, but it wouldn't be her sister at all. I knew her well enough to recognize that particular resolve. The calm she wore when she’d already made a decision and was simply waiting for the moment she could act on it without having to answer to anyone. Including me.That realization followed me down the drive and into the car, settling heavy in my chest as I pulled away. I didn’t speed, nor did I slam the door. I drove like someone who needed the time to

  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   161.

    LYSSANDRA “I didn’t know what she wanted,” I say. “And I didn’t want to cause panic without proof.”“Without proof,” he echoes, glancing pointedly at the chain.“I didn’t have this then.”He straightens slowly, hands dropping to his sides.“You let her move in your orbit for weeks without saying a word to me.”“She wasn’t in my orbit,” I push back. “She called. She left messages. That’s all.”“Did you answer.”I hold his gaze. “No.”That part, at least, is true.His eyes narrow. “Did you meet her.”“No.”Also true. Just not the whole truth. The tension between us sharpens, not because he knows I’m lying, but because he knows I’m capable of it.“You’re telling me this now,” he says, “because you think this proves something.”“I’m telling you because I want you to know I’m not hiding this,” I say. “I want you to believe me.”“That’s not the same thing.”“I know.”He turns his attention back to the chain, finally lifting it from the box. The metal clinks softly, an innocuous sound for

  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   160.

    LYSSANDRA He stares at me for a long moment, then looks away. “I don’t have the luxury of avoiding him,” he says. “Not if Meredith’s on the line.”I soften despite myself. “Neither do I. But walking into his orbit again…”“...is dangerous,” he finishes. “I know.”“Do you?” I ask. “Or do you just think you can handle it better this time?”He exhales through his nose. “You think I want this?”“I think you think it’s inevitable.”“That’s not the same thing.”“It is when you stop fighting it.”His eyes flick back to mine, sharp now. “I am fighting. This is me fighting.”I open my mouth, then close it. Because arguing semantics won’t change the truth sitting between us.“What does the meeting look like?” I ask instead.“Neutral ground,” he says. “No witnesses I don’t control. Short.”“And you expect him to just talk?”“I expect him to enjoy it.” That makes my stomach twist.“When?” I ask.“Soon. I’m waiting for confirmation.”I rub my forehead. “You’re not bringing me into this, are you?

  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   159.

    LYSSANDRA The room stills.Even their lawyer looks uneasy now.“You don’t get to speak about entitlement,” Erden continues, voice low and lethal. “You exploited access. You isolated a child. And now you’re clinging to technicalities because you know morally you’ve already lost.”Marianne stands abruptly. “We refuse double custody.”There it is.The words hit the table like a thrown knife.“We’ve had her longer,” she says, voice trembling with rage. “We deserve to keep her.”I feel something cold slide through my chest.Deserve.Erden rises slowly to his full height.“You don’t deserve a child,” he says. “You earn the right to be in her life every day. And you forfeited that the moment you turned her into leverage.”Victor slams his hand down. “This isn’t over.”“No,” Erden agrees. “It isn’t.”He turns to their lawyer. “You’ll receive our revised terms by end of day. Full custody returns to us. Supervised visitation. Non-negotiable.”Marianne laughs, brittle and furious. “You think y

  • An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge   158.

    LYSSANDRA Just hearing his voice loosens something between my shoulder blades. I didn’t realize how tightly I’d been holding myself together until that exact moment.“Hey,” I say. “Where are you?”“Out,” he replies. I can hear movement in the background. Footsteps. A door. “What’s wrong?”Nothing ever gets past him.I swallow. “Nothing. I justgot an email.” He doesn’t interrupt, but waits patiently “There’s another meeting with the Chests,” I continue. “This afternoon.”“I know,” he says.Of course he does.“Are you coming?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”Something warm flickers in my chest at that, stubborn and unwanted but welcome all the same.“Okay,” I say softly.“You sound tired,” he adds.“I am.” “Did something happen this morning?”My grip tightens on the phone. I’m suddenly acutely aware of every call I’ve made, every near-call I’ve aborted, of the way Nyra’s name still hangs around in the corner of my chest like a bruise.

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