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CHAPTER 12
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2025-02-18 23:38:32
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My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 13
Michael's POV The morning headlines felt like a physical blow, each word a reminder of another failed marriage. Michael Coleman Divorces Maria – A Short-Lived Love Story? splashed across my tablet screen, the third such headline I'd seen today. I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as I sat in the back of my Mercedes, the leather seat no longer providing the comfort it once did. The familiar scent of success – leather, cologne, and power – now carried an undercurrent of desperation I couldn't quite shake. The ink had barely dried on the divorce papers, my signature still fresh and decisive. Maria had cried when I told her it was over, but her tears hadn't moved me. They weren't the right tears. They weren't her tears. Maria was never meant to last – I had known it with crushing certainty the moment I slipped that overpriced ring onto her finger. The diamond had been bigger than Alexandra's, a detail that had seemed important at the time. Now it just felt pathetic. Maria
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-18My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 14
Alex POVThe Shanghai gala sparkled with the same artificial brilliance as every other high-profile event I'd attended over the years. Crystal chandeliers catching on diamond necklaces and gold cufflinks. The ballroom was filled with elites as they chit chatted about their latest accomplishments. Maybe a yacht or a historian building. But I was already internally groaning from the way my feet was starting to kill me – I'd broken my own rule about wearing stilettos to these gatherings, and now I was paying for it with every step. The constant smile was giving me a headache.A waiter passed by with fresh champagne, and I grabbed a glass more quickly than was strictly elegant. The alcohol wasn't helping my headache, but it was making the endless small talk more bearable. I'd already forgotten half the names of the people I'd met tonight, something that would horrify my PR team. Sally was so much better at this part – she actually enjoyed these events, remembered everyone's spouse's name
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-18My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 15
Alex POVI arched a brow, trying to ignore the way my heart was racing. Years of subtle therapy after Michael, and apparently all it took was one dangerous man in a well-cut suit to send my pulse skittering like a teenager's. Dr. Chen would have a field day with this. "And why is that?"He took a step closer, the space between us shrinking just enough to feel deliberate. His cologne – something expensive and subtle – teased my senses, but underneath it I caught the faint smell of cigarette smoke. A secret vice, perhaps? His perfectly manicured image cracked just slightly."Because power attracts power, Miss Lane."The way he said my name – smooth, deliberate, almost like a caress – felt like a test. A challenge. I fought the urge to smooth my hair or check my lipstick again.I didn't flinch, though I wanted to. "That sounds dangerously close to flattery, Mr. Vale."He chuckled, a low sound that held genuine amusement rather than the practiced mirth I'd heard all evening. His laugh lin
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-18My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 16
Michael POVAlexandra was testing me.I could see it in the way she carried herself—head high, eyes cold, every word clipped with precision. She wanted to make me work for it, to make me suffer for the past.And that was fine. It was even cute watching the little girl of those years acting all and high mighty.But she didn’t even understand that I can endure anything if it meant getting her back.She wasn’t just an old regret. She was the regret. If I saw the future, I would have never let her go. I would still be with whoever I wanted to be with while making sure I kept her wings clipped and under my control.Letting her go was that one decision that had unraveled everything else. Maria had been a mistake. Or not. Perhaps a distraction. I did like her, she was sexier and more lively than Alex. But she is currently a mistake , that’s the only thing I can claim her to be for Alex to see me again.And now that I had corrected that mistake, I wasn’t going to let pride or time keep me fr
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-20My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 17
Michael's POVI first heard James Vale's name in passing—just a whisper among the elite. A harmless murmur that might have meant nothing on its own.But when that whisper included Alexandra's name in the same breath, it made my blood run cold.A week ago, at the Crown Summit Business Conference, I had watched her walk away from me with more venom than I'd ever seen from her before. I'd convinced myself she was still playing hard to get, still punishing me for the past. That we were just doing our familiar dance.Now, I realized she wasn't just rejecting me—she was moving on.And I wasn't about to let that happen.It didn't take long to get information on James Vale. Men like him left trails, no matter how much money they threw at erasing them. Money talks, but secrets whisper louder if you know who to pay.I sat in my office on a Tuesday afternoon, blinds half-drawn, bourbon untouched, scrolling through the reports my private investigator had compiled. Each swipe of my finger revealed
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-24My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 18
Alexandra's POVMy phone buzzed against my desk, interrupting the steady rhythm of keyboard clicks that had filled my office for the past three hours. I almost ignored it—another email, another crisis, another demand for my time. But something made me look.James's message glowed on the screen, deceptively simple:"Dinner. Just us. No distractions."My finger hovered over the screen as my heart did that annoying little skip it had started doing whenever his name appeared. I caught my reflection in the window—cheeks flushed, despite my best efforts to maintain composure. God, I was acting like a teenager.Everything about him screamed danger. Not the reckless, impulsive kind that I'd learned to spot a mile away—but something far more insidious. The kind of danger that wore custom Italian suits and spoke in measured tones. The kind that made you question whether you were walking into something you might never want to walk away from.And yet, I found myself typing "Yes."The restaurant w
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-24My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 19
Michael's POVI watched the morning headlines scroll across my tablet screen, each one more sensational than the last. The coffee in my hand had gone cold, forgotten as I absorbed the media storm I'd carefully orchestrated. James Vale's past splashed across every major outlet, old wounds torn fresh again.But Alexandra wasn't reacting the way I expected.When I'd orchestrated this little media circus about James Vale, I'd been certain she would crack. That those perfectly curated headlines about his wife's death would send her running for safer ground. Alexandra had always been obsessed with her pristine reputation—it was one of the things that had driven us apart in the end.But she didn't run.Instead, she stood by him. Publicly. Defiantly.I caught a glimpse of them in some society photographer's lens—her hand on his arm, chin lifted, eyes challenging anyone to question her choice. The image made something twist in my gut. Jealousy? No. Something darker.That's when it hit me—Alexa
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-24My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 20
Michael’s POVAlex thought she could escape the past. She thought she could run from me. But the past isn’t something you run from. The past is something that clings to you so tightly like a second skin, wraps its fingers around your neck. The past is something that follows you.And Alexandra? She is mine. Always be mine. She belonged to me. She just needed a reminder. She needed things that would keep glaring at her face and displaying the absolute truth to her.And all of that was easy to arrange.I mean I’m not Michael Coleman for nothing. Even if my company was going down by numbers, I still had power. A “chance” encounter at one of her favorite spots was something that came to mind. Since her outburst about the gift I’ve been sending her, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Thinking about the fire in her eyes. This particular place was a quiet, exclusive lounge tucked away inside the Phoenix Hotel. It was somewhere she used to frequent those days, and my source there told me tha
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-25
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My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 61
Manhattan Safehouse – 2:47 AM The window alarm didn't trigger. The motion sensors stayed dark. The silent pressure plates beneath the imported Persian rug registered no intrusion. The thermal cameras mounted discreetly in the crown molding detected no heat signature beyond the expected patterns.But I woke anyway—to the scent of bergamot and betrayal.Michael stood at the foot of my bed, a silhouette against the Manhattan skyline visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse. The city lights behind him created a halo effect that was grimly appropriate—Michael had always cast himself as the avenging angel in his own narrative, the righteous force bringing judgment to those who defied him."You forgot," he whispered, his voice carrying that familiar blend of smug satisfaction and menace that had once made boardrooms fall silent, "I taught you how to disable every security system you own."He had. In the early days of our marriage, when I had still mistaken his controll
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 60
Lane International HQ – 3 Weeks Later The boardroom erupted into startled applause as Griffin's coding demo concluded, the screens around the room displaying the elegant solution he had developed—a cybersecurity algorithm that outmaneuvered every Coleman Corp defense system our team had been able to replicate. The lines of code seemed to dance across the monitor, a digital ballet orchestrated by hands still small enough to struggle with tying shoelaces."He's ten?!" The CTO, Marcus Chen, gaped at Griffin, then at me, as if suspecting some elaborate practical joke. Marcus had joined us six months ago from Google, bringing decades of experience and a healthy skepticism about the hype that often surrounded child prodigies. That skepticism had just evaporated before my eyes as Griffin's program systematically identified and exploited vulnerabilities that Marcus's own team had missed.Griffin adjusted his glasses with his index finger, a perfect mimic of my boardroom stance—the gesture I
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 59
Griffin's Bedroom – 11:08 PM The nightlight cast shadows of rocket ships across the walls as I sat on the edge of Griffin's bed, the starscape projector James had bought him rotating slowly overhead. The room smelled of graphite and apple juice—the telltale scents of my son's peculiar combination of artistic precision and childish appetites. Griffin's small hands clutched the drawing he'd sent Michael, the paper now creased from being folded and unfolded countless times, as if he was trying to reconcile himself with what he had done."Why this one?" I asked softly, careful to keep any judgment from my voice. When Maria had called to tell me Griffin had sent something to Michael's satellite phone—against her explicit instructions—I'd expected to feel anger. Instead, watching my son's solemn face in the dim blue light, I felt only a profound sadness for what he had lost. For what we had all lost.Griffin traced the falling man with his finger, following the pixelated outline with the
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 59
Private Jet En Route to Dubai – 3:22 AM Michael Coleman pressed a bloodied handkerchief to his split lip as the jet climbed through turbulent clouds. The G650 shuddered around him, the luxury cabin's warm lighting contrasting with the darkness that enveloped both the sky outside and his prospects. The handcrafted Italian leather seat that had once felt like a throne now seemed to mock him with its opulence. The metallic taste of failure coated his tongue—worse than the blood.He glanced at his reflection in the darkened window—disheveled hair, the purple bloom of a bruise forming along his jawline, the crisp white collar of his bespoke shirt stained crimson. He barely recognized himself. Just twelve hours ago, he had stood at the podium at Coleman Corp headquarters, assuring shareholders that the SEC investigation was "a minor administrative review." Six hours ago, he had been in his corner office, watching as federal agents seized servers and hard drives. Three hours ago, he had s
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 57
Reykjavik Server Farm – Midnight The Arctic wind howled through the open door like a living thing, carrying stinging particles of ice that bit at exposed skin and infiltrated the seams of even the most technical cold-weather gear. Negative fifteen degrees Celsius according to the readout on my watch, though the windchill made it feel much colder. My breath crystallized instantly, hanging in the air before being whipped away by the relentless gale that swept across the barren Icelandic landscape surrounding the facility.James disabled the last security panel with gloved fingers, the specialized equipment he'd brought bypassing the biometric scanner that would have required Maria's fingerprint or retinal pattern. The facility looked innocuous from the outside—a low-slung concrete structure nestled against the side of a dormant volcano, its exterior designed to weather the brutal conditions of an Icelandic winter. Only the satellite dishes and transmission arrays on the roof hinted at
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 56
Lane International Safe House – 4:47 PM The brownstone in Brooklyn Heights stood unremarkable among its neighbors, its weathered red brick and black shutters offering no hint of the state-of-the-art security system embedded in its walls or the bulletproof glass behind its vintage-looking windows. The deed was held by a shell corporation owned by another shell corporation, traced through seven layers of legal separation before connecting, tenuously, to a holding company that occasionally did business with Lane International.In security parlance, it was a ghost house. In my world, it was the only place I trusted to keep Griffin safe while the storm raged.Maria's knock came in our childhood rhythm—three quick, two slow. The code we'd used at boarding school in Switzerland when one of us needed saving from a cruel headmistress or a midnight interrogation about broken curfews. A pattern I hadn't heard in fifteen years, not since the night she'd shown up at my Manhattan apartment with a
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 55
St. Luke's Hospital – 2:14 AM The heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm as Griffin slept, his small hand bandaged where the IV Michael had tried to force into his vein had torn the skin. The bruising had already begun to bloom in purples and yellows, like a watercolor painting of violence on my son's fragile wrist. His dark curls—so like mine—were matted with sweat against the sterile white pillow, and the overhead fluorescents cast his face in a pallor that made my heart constrict.Outside the room, through the observation window, two NYPD officers in rumpled uniforms took James' statement for what seemed like the hundredth time. Their faces betrayed nothing as they scribbled notes, occasionally glancing at Griffin's sleeping form with the detached sympathy of men who had seen too many children caught in adult crossfire."Third time's the charm," James muttered when he finally joined me, rolling his shoulder where the bullet had grazed him. The bandage was already seeping through wi
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 54
Abandoned Airfield – 6:59 PM Twilight had transformed into full darkness by the time we reached the outskirts of the city, the storm intensifying into sheets of water that reduced visibility to mere yards. The windshield wipers of James' SUV worked frantically, barely keeping pace with the deluge. The headlights caught droplets mid-fall, creating an illusion of moving through a tunnel of liquid silver."The signal's coming from inside that hangar," Sally said from the backseat, her face illuminated by the blue glow of her tablet. "The aircraft filed a flight plan for Toronto twenty minutes ago."In the passenger seat, I gripped the door handle so tightly my fingers ached, eyes straining to penetrate the darkness ahead. "Are we sure Griffin's on board? What if Michael separated him from the watch?"James' jaw tightened, his hands steady on the steering wheel despite the torrential conditions. "The biometric monitor shows elevated heart rate and movement. He's there, and he's consciou
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 53
Lane International – 3:33 PM Rain lashed against the windows of Lane International's headquarters, transforming the Manhattan skyline into a smeared watercolor of grays and silvers. I'd been in back-to-back meetings since leaving the courtroom, fielding calls from investors concerned about the media coverage of this morning's revelation. Despite the personal victory, stock prices had dipped three percent on news that Lane International's CEO had been involved in a melodramatic custody battle with the CEO of Coleman Corp.The markets hated drama. They hated unpredictability even more.I'd changed from my courtroom attire to a crisp white shirt and black slacks, my armor for the trenches of damage control. My phone hadn't stopped buzzing with messages from Elliott—who was handling press inquiries from Hong Kong—and James, who had taken Griffin for ice cream and then to his therapist to process the morning's revelations.Sally walked beside me as we headed toward the emergency board me
