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CHAPTER ONE
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2026-07-28 22:18:38Jolene's POV
“You don't have to keep pretending we're in love,” Brian murmured, his smile never slipping as the camera flashes continued coming from every corner of the room.
“I'm only doing my job as your wife,” I replied just as softly, smoothing the front of his tie while forcing a smile for the paparazzi.
“Just stop it, please,” he said, his lips curving wider for the photographers.
“Okay.”
I mouthed the word, barely letting my lips move.
“Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore! Over here!”
“One more picture!”
“Aww… They look so in love.”
I almost laughed.
If only they knew.
The man standing beside me hadn't shared a room with me in three years. The only time he ever touched me was when there was an audience watching.
And tonight was no different.
This was the Whitmore Group anniversary charity gala, one of those perfect occasions where we had to put on our little show for the world.
To everyone watching, Brian and I were the perfect couple.
But I knew better.
I could still feel the tension in his body whenever my hands touched him. Then I noticed the reason for his distant behaviour.
A familiar face in a red dress waved at us from across the room.
Of course she came.
Sophia Bennett.
“Mr. Whitmore,” a reporter suddenly called.
Brian turned towards them.
The smile on his face almost made me question whether this was the same man I had been living with all these years.
“You've been married for three years now. Should we expect a little heir anytime soon?”
His smile didn't waver. “My wife and I haven't made that decision yet.”
The answer came too quickly. Like he had already prepared it. For one second, I almost believed that we had actually discussed it.
But we hadn't.
There had never been a decision to make. Every time I had gathered the courage to take a step towards him, I had been pushed away.
Sometimes he buried himself in work. Other times he claimed he was tired.
Sometimes he simply looked at me with disgust in his eyes, as though he was still trying to understand how we had ended up married in the first place.
Three years.
Not once had he reached for me like a husband should.
The most painful part was that the only night he ever touched me like he actually wanted me was because he had been drunk.
The next morning, he made his feelings clear. “Last night was nothing but a mistake.”
Those words had remained with me ever since.
And then there was Margaret.
His mother never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was nothing more than a stand-in for Sophia.
“Mrs. Whitmore, is that true?” the reporter asked. “Are you two waiting for the right time?”
I looked at the eager faces surrounding us.
The cameras.
The smiles.
The people waiting for me to confirm the perfect marriage they believed we had. I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes.
But I smiled wider.
“We'll share the good news when we're ready.”
The cameras flashed again.
Everyone seemed pleased with the answer. No one noticed that my smile was being held together by years of disappointment.
I left the hall before the event was over.
The moment I stepped outside, the cool night air hit my face.
I took a deep breath.
I wasn't going to cry. Not because of him. Not tonight.
The doors opened behind me.
I turned around.
Brian walked out. But he wasn't alone. Sophia's hand was wrapped around his. A proud smile rested on her face as they walked towards the car.
To the public, they were childhood best friends.
But I knew better.
I looked away and walked towards the red sports car parked in front of us.
Brian's Ferrari Purosangue.
His baby.
He never let anyone drive it. Not even his drivers.
I reached for the front door, but before I could open it, Sophia caught my hand. My eyes moved to her fingers around mine.
Then to her.
Then finally to Brian.
“There's nothing wrong with the backseat, Jolene,” she said. “Don't create a scene here, please.”
Brian didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Because I already knew what he wanted.
I simply nodded.
“Fine.”
I opened the back door and climbed inside. I was tired of arguing over things like this. After all, my silence and my complaints always ended the same way. With me being ignored.
The journey home began.
I rested my head against the window, watching the city lights disappear behind us. For a few minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Sophia leaned closer to Brian.
“Baby?”
He turned slightly.
“I was worried about what you said earlier at the party.”
“I said a lot of things.”
“The one about children.”
Her voice suddenly became softer. “You said you don't want to have any children yet.”
Brian's hands tightened around the steering wheel. Then Sophia's hand slowly moved towards her stomach.
“Does that mean you won't take responsibility for our child?”
My head snapped up.
Brian turned towards her.
“What do you mean, Sophy?”
There was something different in his voice. Concern. I stared at him through the rearview mirror. That expression, I had seen it before. Or maybe I had only imagined seeing it.
“Are you pregnant?” Brian asked.
Sophia lowered her eyes. For a few seconds, she said nothing.
Then she smiled. “Yes, Baby.”
My fingers tightened around the seat.
“I'm carrying your child.”
For a moment, There was silence.
Brian's eyes widened.
“Really?”
She nodded.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God…”
A smile slowly spread across his face. A genuine smile. One I hadn't seen directed at me in years.
Brian reached for her and pulled her into his arms.
I sat frozen in the backseat.
Watching them.
Watching my husband celebrate another woman's pregnancy.
My throat tightened.
I looked away before either of them could see the tears gathering in my eyes.
“I was worried you wouldn't accept the baby,” Sophia whispered.
“Why wouldn't I?”
His answer came immediately.
“I only said what I said back there because I don't want the public expecting a child from me and Jolene yet.”
My heart sank.
So that was the reason.
He didn't want the world expecting a child from him and me. But he was perfectly happy to have one with her.
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Then why are you still even married to her?”
Brian's eyes met mine through the rearview mirror. For a brief second, neither of us looked away. I wondered if he could see the hurt in my eyes.
His expression shifted. Just slightly.
“I already told you not to bring that up again,” he said.
I lowered my gaze. My hand moved unconsciously to my stomach. And for the first time that night, I realized something.
Maybe the problem wasn't that Brian didn't know how to love me. Maybe he simply didn't want to.
I turned towards the window again.
And this time, I stopped trying to convince myself otherwise.
Pinakabagong kabanata
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FIFTY-ONE
Jolene’s POVBrian was already sitting outside the clinic door when Grace carried Jason down the corridor, ten days after he drove away from our gate.He stood up as soon as he saw us. He wore a plain sweater and no tie, and he kept his hands in his pockets as if he had decided they were safer there. His eyes went to Jason, then to me, then to the floor, like a man trying not to be caught staring.“Good morning,” he said.“You’re early.”“I said I would be.” He looked at Jason again, more carefully this time. “How is he?”“Hungry,” Grace said. “He ate two breakfasts and wanted a third.”Brian smiled, and something in his shoulders eased.Dr. Carter came to the door with her tablet and told us that Jason’s count had gone up after the first donation but was now drifting down again, slowly, as she had warned. A second donation today, a small amount like the first, should keep it steady.“Is there anything I should do before I give it?” Brian asked. “Eat something, or stay away from somet
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FIFTY
Margaret’s POVI didn’t go to bed after Brian left. I sat in my chair with the lamp on and went over what I had said, and I did not like it.I had told him about the wine. I said it to hurt him, because he had stood in my room and ordered me around, and nobody had done that in thirty years. Now I had handed my son something he could use against me. I heard the corridor door close behind him, and I didn’t know where he went.For a while, I remained perfectly still, listening to the silence that followed. The house had settled for the night, but my thoughts refused to settle with it. Every now and then, I glanced at the clock, as though the passing minutes might somehow bring me an answer.But the wine was not what kept me awake. It was his face when I mentioned that night.He hadn’t argued. He had gone very quiet, like a man doing sums. The morning after that dinner, he told me over coffee that it was a mistake he would never repeat, and I had been glad. Last night he said the same wor
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FORTY-NINE
Brian’s POVI drove straight home from Jolene’s gate and went to my mother’s wing without taking off my coat.A maid in the corridor started to say something and stopped when she saw my face. Light showed under my mother’s door. She was awake. She was always awake when she knew something was coming.She sat by the lamp with a book open on her knee, and she didn’t look up.“You’re back late,” she said. “I assume the evening was eventful.”“Why did you give Jolene that folder?”Her hand stopped on the page. It was a very small stop.“I don’t know what you mean.”“A lab report from a clinic, and some messages. You brought them to her office and told her to read it. And the last page first before she decided anything about me.” I kept my voice level. “She told me tonight.”“Did she.” My mother closed the book. “How convenient.”“She doesn’t lie. I used to think she did, and I was wrong.” I stayed where I was. “Where did you get it?”“It came in a package. No name.”“When?”“I don’t rememb
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FORTY-EIGHT
Jolene’s POVJason came home four days later, and the house got louder.Grace carried him through the front door with his blanket over her shoulder. Dad walked beside her with one hand near the Jason’s head, as if the doorframe might hurt him. Vincent had hung a banner in the hall that said WELCOME HOME in crooked letters, and Lily had made him take down the glitter. Jason ignored all of it. He looked around with his serious dark eyes, found the stairs, and shouted at them.“He’s completely himself,” Dr. Adam said from the doorway, smiling.I laughed, and it surprised me. It had been so long that I had forgotten how it felt.For one whole afternoon I let myself believe it was over. I sat on the nursery floor while Jason pulled himself up on the edge of the crib, wobbling and furious with his own legs. He ate. He slept. He grabbed my hair and wouldn’t let go.Then evening came, and with it the quiet, and I started to think.Brian had left the hospital the morning after the transfusion.
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FORTY-SEVEN
Brian’s POVI don’t remember much of the next hour. Dr. Carter talked fast, a nurse pushed a clipboard into my hands, and my signature on it looked like someone else’s.They took me into a small room with a chair that tilted back. A nurse tied a band around my arm and drew three tubes of blood.“How long until you know?” I asked.“We’ve put yours first in the lab,” Dr. Carter said. “I have to ask, have you eaten today?”“Not really.”“Then someone will bring you juice. You can’t give blood on an empty stomach.”I almost laughed. A week ago I had sat in a lawyer’s office thinking I was ready for anything, and now a doctor was worried about my breakfast.“Can I see him before the results come?” I said. “Just to look.”She hesitated, then nodded. “Through the glass. Not in the room yet.”Jolene walked me down the hall without a word. Richard Beaumont and Vincent were outside the room, and Grace sat on a bench nearby with her hands in her lap. Vincent stepped aside so I could reach the wi
Obsessing Over My Ex-Wife CHAPTER ONE-FORTY-SIX
Jolene’s POVI sent the message and then sat holding the phone in my lap.Nothing in the room had changed. The monitor kept up its slow beeping, and Jason lay on his back with one small hand open on the sheet, the way he had lain for two days. Dr. Carter had come early that morning and told me the number. It was lower again, below the mark she had drawn on her tablet.“We can keep him stable until tomorrow,” she had said. “After that, I can’t promise anything.”I had nodded and not cried. For five days I had tried every other way, and every one had ended with someone kindly telling me no. Isaac had texted twice to say he had asked every doctor and registry he knew. The nearest match was in another country, and the blood would arrive too late.Dad sat in the corner chair. Vincent stood by the window. Lily had gone to find water.“You sent it,” Vincent said quietly.“How do you know?”“You looked at your phone, then at Jason, and you haven’t looked at the phone since.”I glanced at the
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