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1| CHARITY CASE
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2026-03-25 15:46:09Valerie’s POV
I heaved a deep sigh as I looked over the well-arranged meals on the dining table. I had spent four hours preparing a five-course meal, even as my wheelchair held me back a lot of times. Every movement was a struggle but I was determined to make sure the meals came out perfectly well. I smoothed the front of my oversized grey knit sweater, my fingers brushing over the wool to calm the frantic beating of my heart. I had lived in this place like a prisoner for five years, not daring to take a step out. It wasn’t always like this. I lost my ability to walk when I was seventeen. I could still hear the screech of tires and the sickening crunch of metal as my father’s car spun out on the interstate. The last thing I remembered before the blackness swallowed me was the sight of my father slumped lifelessly over the wheel and the searing, hot pain in my spine that made me pass out. Cassian had appeared in the hospital like an angel in disguise. He was a distant acquaintance from my father’s business circles, a man who claimed he had always admired me from afar. I lost my dad to the accident and lost my ability to walk as well. As the world stared at me with pity and greed because of my dad’s enormous wealth that was automatically passed down to me, Cassian looked at me with what I had thought to be devotion. He had held my hand through the funeral and promised to protect the remnants of my father's legacy while I healed and of course, I believed him. We got married shortly after and I handed him my heart, my trust, and eventually, every liquid asset I possessed to fund his start-up. But as the years rolled by and the main inheritance that was worth billions of dollars remained hanging, Cassian began to get irritable. I had prepared this meal in hopes of having a good conversation with my husband. The sound of the front door opening pulled me out of my thoughts. A hopeful smile tugged at my lips as I wheeled myself toward the entrance of the living room. "Cassian, you’re home! I made some food for you and made the lamb exactly how you like it." I said, my voice soft and eager to please. Cassian didn't even stop to look at me. He tossed his blazer on the couch in irritation. "I ate at the club, Valerie, and I told you not to wait up. The sight of you hovering by the door is exhausting." The smile wavered but I didn’t back down. "I just wanted to celebrate since I received an update from the legal team today. My father’s inheritance... the final trust is finally moving through the last stage of probate." Just like I had thought, I caught his attention immediately. He finally looked at me before walking over to me. "Finally," he breathed, his voice thick with something I couldn’t recognize. "So, is it in the account? Can I access the capital tonight?" I swallowed hard, my fingers twisting nervously in the fabric of my sweater. "Not yet, Cassian. There are still some biometric verifications and final signatures required. It is still on its way, but the bank says the process is nearly complete." The eagerness on his face quickly melted away and was replaced by anger. He slammed his hand down angrily on the armrest of my wheelchair, making me jump. "Still on its way? I have heard that excuse for over two years, Valerie. I am bleeding cash into the new expansion and I need that liquidity now." "I am trying, Cassian," I whispered, the tears starting to sting my eyes. I only wanted to please him, not get him angry. "The lawyers said it is just a matter of time..." "Time is a luxury I am tired of wasting on you," he snapped. “I am sorry, it’s just out of my control,” I begged. “How about we just sit and have a little good time? I’ve been unproductive all day and I would like to speak with you.” I couldn’t believe I was begging my husband to spend some time with me but as the years rolled by and he got tired of waiting for my main inheritance, even if he was already in charge of my company and assets, I could only beg for him to be a little patient with me. He let out a dry chuckle at my request. Then, he reached down, gripped the handles of my wheelchair, and spun me around to face the dining table I had spent hours preparing. He looked at the untouched food with utter disgust. "If you can't be useful with your signature, then do something else to earn your keep," he sneered. "Clean this mess up and throw it in the trash. The sight of this domestic performance nauseates me when you know the only thing that would make me feel better is your inheritance.” I stifled a sob at his harsh words. "Please, Cassian, I just wanted a nice dinner..." "I don't want dinner. I want a sign of appreciation for marrying you and being your shield for all these years while you’re like a vegetable," he interrupted, his voice thick. He never missed an opportunity to tell me how lucky I was to have him as a husband but I didn’t really mind. “Cassian—” “You know what I want already. Get it done so we can be one happy family like we used to be but until then, stay out of my hair." He turned on his heel, heading toward our suite without a second glance at me. "Cassian, wait!" I called out, my voice echoing pathetically but he didn’t slow down. The first tear had just slid down my cheeks when I heard a chuckle from a corner. I didn’t need to check to know who it was. No, they. They were the twins that were after my life. After the death of their mom, who was Cassian’s ex, I raised them like my children but they treated me like a lowly maid. With a shaky breath, I began to pack the meals.
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Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 80| PROJECT WHEELCHAIR
Dante's POVThe file came through at seven in the evening.I had it on the laptop on the kitchen table. Valerie sat beside me and we read it together. Neither of us spoke for the first twelve minutes.Her father had been meticulous.Dates. Names. Transfer records going back twenty-two years. The documentation of money leaving the St Claire estate through management fees that were too large.Investment decisions that moved funds into entities that should not have had access to them, and a paper trail that was layered and careful and had been built specifically to be difficult to follow.But he had followed it."He was thorough," I said."I told you," she said. "He read the full manual.""This took years," I said. "This is not something you build in months. He was watching this for a long time before he started documenting.""He knew something was wrong," she said. "He just needed to be able to prove it."I scrolled further. The middle section was the case file itself. The sequence of t
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 79| SOMEONE BIGGER
Valerie's POVWe did not go inside immediately.We sat in the parked car outside the building, the city went on around us and neither of us reached for the door."He said someone pointed him at your father," Dante said. "Someone with an interest in the estate.""Yes," I said."Is he telling the truth?" he said. "Your honest read."I had been asking myself the same question since I walked out of the supervised room. "He has told me things that turned out to be true," I said. "The gate confession. The visitation room. The open court testimony about the tires. Every time he said something I could not verify immediately, the verification eventually came.""So his track record supports it," Dante said."His track record on the things he eventually confessed to supports it," I said. "But he also has a track record of saying things specifically designed to keep me coming back. The full truth, one more meeting. There is always one more thing.""Both can be true," Dante said."Both are probabl
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 78| ON THE DRIVE BACK
Dante's POVShe was quiet for the first five minutes of the drive.Not the processing quiet. The sitting-with-it quiet. The kind that meant she had taken in more than she could immediately sort and was letting it settle before she touched it.I drove and let her have it."He was not the beginning," she said finally."No," I said."He was the instrument," she said. "Someone pointed him at my father and he went.""That is what he says," I said."Do you believe it?" she said.I thought about it honestly. "I believe it is possible," I said. "Cassian is capable of planning things himself. He proved that for years. But the specific targeting of your father. The timing. The knowledge of what your father was building legally. That level of information about a private individual's legal activities." I paused."That takes access Cassian may not have had on his own.""Someone with access to the estate management structure," she said."Or access to your father's legal communications," I said. "Hi
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 77| THE LAST ROOM
Valerie's POVThe supervised visit room was smaller than the glass room.One table. Two chairs on opposite sides. A guard stationed at the door with the door open. A camera in the upper corner of the wall. Everything recorded, everything visible, nothing hidden.I sat down first.He was brought in two minutes later. He had lost more weight since the open court session. His clothes were the facility's.His hands were folded in front of him when he sat down and he did not immediately speak.I waited."Thank you for coming," he said."I am here because the court ordered the visit," I said. "Say what you have to say."He looked at his hands. "I know why you are here," he said. "I am still grateful.""Cassian," I said. "The note said the full truth. So say it."He looked up at me. "I need you to understand that I did not know the full extent of it until much later," he said. "What I arranged was the accident. The tires, the brake line. That was mine. I have told you that.""Yes," I said."
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 76| THE NOTE
Dante's Pov"The full truth will destroy everything you think you know," she said. "That is the line.""Yes," I said."What does that mean?" she said."It means one of two things," I said. "Either he has something real that genuinely changes the picture. Or he is using the language of something real to get you in a room one more time.""The second option is more likely," she said."Yes," I said. "Statistically. Given his history.""But the first option is possible," she said."Yes," I said. "It is possible."She put the note down on the table. The photograph Marcus had taken of it. The handwriting she had known for years still recognisable even in a photograph of a photograph."He said what I told you in the visitation room was not everything," she said. "He told me he changed the tires himself. He said he needed me to need him. He named Webb.""He named Webb as being present," I said. "But he also said someone helped him. The person who was present and the person who did the work mig
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 75| WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS
Valerie's PovThe forensic consultant's report came through at eleven in the morning.Forty-two pages. I read every one of them. Dante read them beside me without being asked, which was the way things worked between us now.The chain of custody was clean. Every transfer documented. Every signature present. Every timestamp consistent with the sequence of handling.The consultant had gone back to the original investigation archive and traced the tire samples from their initial collection point forward through every stage to the recent lab analysis.No gaps. No anomalies. No indication of interference."It is clean," I said when I finished."Yes," Dante said. He had finished a few minutes before me."Cassian's team is going to challenge it anyway," I said."They have already challenged it," he said. "The planted claim is filed, but the documentation responds to that claim directly. The court will see both.""And decide," I said."Yes," he said. "And the documentation is very strong."I p
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 66| ONE MORE TIME
Dante's PovShe told me about the request over dinner.Not immediately. She waited until we had finished eating and the plates were cleared and the evening was settled around us. Then she put her phone on the table with the email open and slid it toward me.I read it, put the phone down. Did not sa
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 64| THE STATEMENT WE MAKE
Dante's PovThe public defender's statement had run on three outlets by morning.I read it at six while Valerie was still asleep. Then I read the responses. The financial press was sceptical. One columnist had already noted that the statement came the same night as the arrest and the kidnapping att
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 63| OUTSIDE
Valerie's PovWe stood on the station steps at just past midnight.The air was cold and the street was quiet and neither of us was in a hurry to go anywhere."Say it," Dante said."I do not know where to start," I said."Start anywhere," he said. Same words as before. On the hillside, on the yacht.
Making My Ex-Husband Crawl 62| THE STATION
Dante's PovThe waiting room had four plastic chairs and a vending machine that hummed too loudly.We had been there for thirty minutes. Valerie was beside me with her hands in her lap and her eyes on the middle distance. She was not pacing. She was not checking her phone. She was just sitting with
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