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THIRTY THREE

Author: J.O
last update publish date: 2026-04-13 22:22:54
THALIA

“When are you two finally giving me my grandbabies?”

Catherine asked it so lightly, with that bright, hopeful smile on her face, as though she had tossed a harmless little question into the air.

But the moment the words left her mouth, something inside me froze.

My fingers tightened around the fork in my hand until the metal pressed painfully into my skin.

A baby.

That word had once meant everything to me.

There had been a time when nothing in this world mattered more than becoming a moth
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  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   HUNDRED

    Thalia"...we're taking you live now to Langford Pharmaceuticals, where CEO Brandon Langford has just arrived for an emergency press conference."My eyes widened before I could stop myself."What are you doing...?" I whispered under my breath.The camera followed Brandon as he stepped onto the platform. Flashes exploded from every direction while reporters shouted questions over one another, each of them trying to be heard first.He didn't rush.He didn't look flustered.He adjusted the microphone, waited for the room to settle, and gave a small nod to someone standing off-camera before the questions finally began.For the first few minutes, everything stayed professional. The reporters asked about the company's recent projects, the market, and the rumors surrounding Langford Pharmaceuticals, and Brandon answered every question without raising his voice once.I watched him carefully because something about him felt different today. He looked exhausted, but there wasn't a trace of hesi

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   NINETY NINE

    CLARA"No...""I want your access card turned in before you leave, and security will escort you out." Brandon continued as he straightened his jacket. "From this moment forward, I don't want to see your face anywhere near me, my company, or my wife ever again.""Brandon... please."But no, the bastard walked straight past me without slowing down.I hadn't realized how many people witnessed the show until I noticed employees staring at me before quickly pretending they weren't.Heat climbed into my face as I straightened my clothes and lifted my chin. I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break, so I walked past every single one of them as though nothing had happened.The whispers followed me all the way to the elevator. Even after the doors closed, I could still picture the looks on their faces, and every one of them felt like another slap.The moment I reached the parking garage, I yanked my car door open and threw my handbag onto the passenger seat. I climbed in, sl

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   NINETY EIGHT

    BRANDONThe moment I stepped out of the conference room, I loosened my tie and kept walking without looking back. Reporters were still shouting my name behind me, but security quickly blocked them from following as my secretary hurried to keep up with my pace."Sir," she called, matching my stride as we entered the executive hallway. "I've already started looking into the accounts responsible for the smear campaign against Mrs. Langford."I stopped so abruptly that she nearly walked into me. "Already?"She nodded and held her tablet against her chest before speaking again. "I didn't wait for instructions because the timing was too suspicious, and I thought it would be better to move before anyone had the chance to delete evidence.""Tell me what you found.""We traced several of the first fake posts to newly created accounts," she said. "At first they looked unrelated, but they all interacted with each other within minutes, pushing the same story until the larger blogs picked it up."

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   NINETY SEVEN

    BRANDONEvery camera in the room was pointed at me before I even reached the podium. The flashes came one after another without stopping, turning the conference hall into a sea of white lights while reporters shouted my name from every direction.My secretary stepped beside the podium and placed a folder in front of me before quietly asking if I needed anything else. I looked at her, gave a single nod, and she immediately understood it was time to begin.She adjusted the microphone and looked toward the reporters filling the room."Mr. Brandon Langford is ready to take your questions."The room erupted immediately. Dozens of hands shot into the air while voices overlapped one another, each reporter trying to be heard before everyone else."You in the front," my secretary said, pointing to the first journalist.The man stood up with a notebook in one hand and a recorder in the other. "Mr. Langford, is Langford Pharmaceuticals affected by the recent rumors surrounding your personal life

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   NINETY SIX

    BRANDONThe shouting didn’t stop the moment we stepped inside the building. The glass doors muffled the noise from outside, but I could still hear people yelling through them as eggs and bottles continued hitting the entrance behind us.I kept my body between Thalia and the doors until we were several steps into the lobby. Only then did I lower my arms and turn to look at her properly.Blood had trickled from the cut beside her eye and stained the side of her face. The sight made my jaw tighten because just a few minutes earlier, I had walked over thinking the biggest problem I had to solve was convincing her to attend a press conference with me.“Let me see it,” I said as I stepped closer. “You’re bleeding.”She wiped at the cut with the back of her hand and looked down at the blood for a second before brushing it off like it didn’t matter.“It’s fine.”“It isn’t.”Without thinking, I reached for her shoulders and gently pulled her toward me. My only intention was to check the injury

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   NINETY FIVE

    THALIA After Olivia and Knox left, my apartment became quiet and for the first time all day, I thought I might actually get some rest. I changed into comfortable clothes and settled onto the couch with a blanket over my legs. A reality show played on the television while I absentmindedly scrolled through my phone, paying more attention to the contestants arguing than anything happening in my own life. For a little while, everything felt normal. Then my phone buzzed. I barely looked at it at first because notifications had become a constant part of my life lately. The second buzz came almost immediately after the first, followed by a third, and then a fourth. My forehead creased as I reached for the phone. The notification count attached to my name made absolutely no sense. I clicked on it. The moment the page loaded, I sat upright. “What the hell is this?” I muttered as I stared at the screen. The article displayed my picture beside Clara’s and Brandon’s like we were part o

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   FIFTY NINE

    THALIABy the time the clock on the lab wall passed eight in the evening, almost everyone on the research floor had already gone home, leaving only the low hum of machines and the occasional sound of glass equipment to fill the silence around me while I worked through another set of recovery simula

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   FIFTY EIGHT

    BRANDONWe failed the preliminaries…woefully!This morning was already a disaster before the clock even reached nine.The moment I arrived at Langford Biotech and got updated on the Ravens Elite situation properly, I immediately called for an internal meeting without involving the board. The last

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   FIFTY SEVEN

    BRANDONBy eight in the morning, Clara had already succeeded in exhausting every remaining ounce of patience I had left.She sat across from me in my office dressed like she was headed for champagne brunch , while I had barely gone through half my emails because every few minutes she somehow found

  • I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON   FIFTY FIVE

    THALIABy the time I got to work the next morning, I was still irritated from Brandon showing up at my apartment the night before like he had lost every remaining ounce of sense he possessed.The nerve of that man still annoyed me.I walked into the lab with my coffee in one hand and my laptop bag

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