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CHAPTER 46

Author: Samuel Chikwado
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-10 23:40:44

Dominic's Pov

The door slammed behind me with a hollow thud that echoed too loud in the quiet of my apartment.

I didn’t bother with the lights.

My jacket hit the floor somewhere near the couch. My keys clattered against the kitchen counter, a metallic sting that stabbed through the stillness. I stood there in the darkness, the only sound my uneven breathing. My skin still burned from the venom in Liana’s voice, the look in her eyes when she told me I had no right.

She was right.

I paced the floor, back and forth, a silent war playing out beneath my skin. My heart had been on a battlefield all morning, and now I felt like I was walking through the wreckage—every memory, every word, every mistake a shattered piece beneath my feet.

My daughter.

Oh, the word felt foreign in my mouth. Heavy. Fragile. Sacred.

I sank into the couch and leaned forward, elbows on my knees, head in my hands. I wasn’t crying. I didn’t even have tears left. Just this ache in my chest like something had broken ope
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  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 52

    Liana's POV"Mum," I said, the second Cam had taken off again in the direction of her chair across the counter, leaving behind a path of sticky fingerprints and innocence in her wake, I was actually surprised she didn't say anything. My voice was strained, too sharp around the edges, and I didn't like how defensive I already was. "About this morning…”She didn't bat an eye. She flipped the last pancake onto a plate like a woman who'd spent her life flipping more than breakfast… dialogues, expectations, situations. "Yes?" she said offhandedly, but the glint in her eye told me that she knew exactly what I was going to say."It wasn't what it looked like," I rushed to explain. "Dominic only spent the night because I… I wasn't in a good place last night. And I didn't want to be alone. It wasn't serious. I promise."She finally turned to face me, wiping her hands on the apron she somehow had on in spite of being in recovery. Her eyes, calm and clear, searched mine. “Liana,” she said simply

  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 51

    Dominic's PovWarmth. That was the first thing I felt when I opened my eyes to the soft gray light filtering through window blinds.Someone was holding me. Arms that were not mine wrapped around my waist. A heavy pressure pressed down on me, unyielding but not binding. And the scent, lavender and rose wrapped up in something warm and human was somehow comforting. It lingered on the cotton of the shirt and became part of the air as if it belonged there.This was far from the woody scent of my usual mornings, with their clean sheets and intentional loneliness, this… this was different.I blinked away the haze of sleep, my body trailing my mind. The bed was softer here, occupied, with the sort of soft dip that told me of late-night reading, midnight snacks, and a thousand other little indulgences. None of them, however, were mine.Why was the bed so this? Why was I in this bed? How am I not alone? Suddenly, the memory came rushing in.Last night, Liana? She had asked me to stay back.He

  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 50

    Liana's POVThe words still hung between us.> "You should stay the night."I didn't know who was more shocked between the two of us—him or me. The moment they escaped my lips, a flush crawled up my neck. The air in the car became thick, like clouds gathering before a rainstorm.Stanley didn't flinch for a beat.His expression was unreadable. Not smug. Not surprised. Just. searching."Liana," he replied finally, his voice low, gentle. "I don't want you to ask me that because you're afraid or stuck.""I wasn't."My voice trembled with truth. "I'm not asking because I need to be rescued."I looked at him, actually looked at him—the man who'd picked me up off the pavement of a breakdown and held me as if I were something special. The man who made fries and a milkshake sound like salvation."I just… " I spoke softly, "don't want to be alone tonight."A pause. Then another.Stanley dipped up and brushed my hair behind my ear once more, his fingers sliding against my jaw."Okay," he whisper

  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 49

    Liana's POVI hadn't even noticed I'd turned the car on.I was staring at Rainer's words still, my body language shaking—Dominic unleashing all his power as a whirlwind storm that claims legal custody—when I was gripping the steering wheel with everything I had in a deserted restaurant parking lot, tensed to the extreme. My mind was racing in my ears, muffling the world out.I gazed down at my fists on the steering wheel—white knuckles, shaking fingers. I breathed deep and concealed my face in my hands.> Dominic wants to settle. No court filing. A meeting tomorrow morning. Neutral ground.My heart squeezed like a vice. The whole sound of the word—settle—was an offer concealed as a threat.The engine growled as I backed out of the parking space, streetlights and signs whizzing by behind my steamed windshield. Panic and terror crashed through me like waves in a tempest.My phone buzzed on the seat beside me, jerking me into a sitting position. I stared at it before it slipped somewhere

  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 48

    Liana's POVEverything vanished. My mother's soft breathing. Cam's tiny sighs. Even the continuous beep of the heart monitor faded into the background noise of the ringing in my ears. I stared at the screen as if it would shift into something else- something safer, something less explosive but it didn't. The words had the weight of an impending storm cloud ready to break open. My fingers closed around the phone as if holding on tighter could stop whatever was incoming.Mom sat up now, the pale face alert even though fatigue etched it. "What has happened?" she asked in a soft voice, one that was smeared with concern.I didn't answer right away. The terror crawled up my throat, thick and metallic. "It's my lawyer," I finally told her, my voice flat, almost mechanical. "Something with Dominic."The name seemed strange again, too heavy for so short a syllable. Even today, even all these years later, after all the destruction and loss, just hearing it, made something unravel inside my che

  • STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA   CHAPTER 47

    Liana's POVThe door slammed shut with a loud crack, yet it echoed like thunder within my very bones. I stood there, frozen,my chest panting and air slicing through my lungs like splinters of glass.He was gone but the moment still hung on me like smoke. Heavy and choking. I leaned against the door and slid down, the weight of it all crashing down on top of me. My back struck wood, my knees drew up into my chest, and the tears came before I could stop them.Large, hot, angry sobs. I didn't cry because he'd yelled or sworn or blamed me.I cried because my daughter was finally in the open and at risk. He'd looked at me as if I'd cut something vital out of him. Well… maybe I had but I didn't care. How did we end up here? I buried my face in my hands, trying to push it all back. But the silence in the apartment was too overwhelming now. Every breath was a reminder of what I'd just shattered."Mommy?" The little voice pierced the fog.I raised my head. Now, Cam stood in the hallway, rubb

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