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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dernière mise à jour:
2025-03-06 23:28:05
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TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX
146JOANA'S POVIt was two days later when I got a message from Clinton.“I hope you’re doing okay. What I mentioned in the elevator, I meant each and every word.I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.Still, I looked at the message several times.---I was at the children’s school for a meeting between parents and teachers. Clinton showed up, too. We were next to one another, keeping silent and acting properly.Yet, sometimes, his hand would accidentally touch mine. Every time he came up, my heart missed a beat that I pretended not to notice.After the meeting, we went out to the parking lot. The evening had freshened the air and given it a crisp feeling.“Jo,” he said.I looked away and put my hands into my coat pockets.“I promise not to make things more difficult for you. Given the chance, I would like you to know how I feel about you. I’d fight for us.”I shook my head. “Things aren’t different. And you walked away once. I can’t easily shut out those feelings.”“Even so, do you ever feel so
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE
145JOANA'S POVThe following day, Clinton met me at the city’s financial district. The sky was mirrored by the glass, giving it a beauty that seemed cold. An eagerness radiated from the crowd as they waited inside. We went over the numbers, talked about forecasts, and readied ourselves for the presentation that could decide our future.Despite his charm, Clinton came across as calm and too professional. He had a way of being professional, as he liked to say, whenever it was needed for business. His voice was clear, and his words were lacking any resentment.He spoke to me as a fellow professional, valuing and believing in me. There was a part of me that hated how quickly we slipped back into our usual ways together. Even so, another, less noticeable side of me quietly endured an aching sense of mystery.The last meeting was decided to be held at a prestigious hotel in the city centre. Fancy walls covered in mirrors, velvet drapes, and a silence that not everyone can afford. We were e
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR
144 JOANA'S POV We hugged briefly. It was good to refer her to her dream somewhere else. After all the damage that I caused in my own life, it felt like a step towards healing. As she stood up to leave, the office door creaked open again. It was Caleb. In a navy blue shirt, which helped to make his shoulders wider than normal, he walked in with his usual confidence. His eyes swept over the room, stopping at Ciara. “Am I interrupting something?” She smiled and said her goodbyes politely. “Not at all, sir. I was just leaving.” As the door clicked, Caleb came up to my desk. I stood while trying to see the look on his face, between nervous and determined. There was no response at the beginning. Instead, he put my hand in his warm and firm hand. I had a stuttering heartbeat as I saw what he was holding. A ring. Not too laid back, not a cliché diamond. It was a rose-gold band bordered by an aquamarine stone in the centre. Unique. Soft. As it was not picked with a sho
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE
143JOANA'S POVWhen he finally turned and looked back at me, there was something I did not expect to see on his face – not anger, not bitterness. Sadness, yes. But beneath it, acceptance. And something even stranger.A smile.If that is the best thing for you, Jo, he said in a hoarse voice, “you should then go for it”.My heart twisted. “Clinton…”“I’m not kidding,” he said and stretched back. “You’ve always deserved to choose. Not out of guilt. Not out of obligation. But out of your own heart.His words floated like a lullaby that I never knew I needed.“You’re not mad?” I asked quietly.He laughed softly. “Of course I’m mad. I’m fuming…but not at you. I’m mad at times. Under circumstances. In the thousand things that went wrong before we ever had a chance to make it right”.His voice got somewhat choked at the end, and he cleared his throat and stood up straight.“I had my shot, Joana. And I blew it. I left you with the burden. I dissolved when I should have remained. I let my fami
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO
142 JOANA'S POV Minutes later, we all watched the screen in silence. In the footage, Daniel cornered Jake near the lockers. The words weren’t clear, but the aggression was. Shoving, mocking, laughing. Calling over his friends. It played like a loop. Day after day. Then, finally! –We saw Japheth arrive, and he came out in front of Jake, fists clenched. He told the boy off, and when Daniel pushed Jake again… Japheth lost it. The mouth of Mrs. Holden opened, and then it was closed. She didn’t speak. The principal paused the video. “In doing so, I feel that this was a reaction to bullying that was being experienced”. “I… I didn’t know,” Mrs. Holden murmured. “No, you didn’t,” I told coldly as I got up. And although I do not approve of Japheth’s response, I can see why he did it. My boys take care of each other. She turned to look at me, actually looked at me, and I saw her face colour red, not from anger this time, but shame! “I’ll have a word with Daniel”, she mumbled a
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE
141JOANA'S POVMy heart skipped, then stuttered.It was not a question of having the wrong choice in Clinton. It was about Caleb presenting me with what it feels like to be loved without the burden of the past.I looked up into his eyes, and in them, I saw something that terrified me because it felt real.Felt like home.He got up, walked around the table, and leaned next to me. Gently, carefully, he leaned down.My breath was caught in my throat as his face approached me.I could stop this.I could retreat, turn my back, and be within the comfort of the undetermined.But I didn’t.Not this time.As his lips came close to mine, a thought rolled at the back of my mind like a distant thunder;I’ve made my choice.I withdrew myself from the kiss, and my cheeks were burning with a heat that I hadn’t felt in years. Not like this. Not this kind of warmth.It wasn’t the type of flushed warmth I was used to from being caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to be in the act of doing– it was
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY
140 JOANA'S POV As soon as Ciara was gone, the room filled with an unsettling quiet I couldn’t seem to get rid of. Sitting still on the edge of my bed, my legs crossed under me, I watched the glass of wine getting closer to being drained on my nightstand. Her words kept coming back to me, over and over again. You’re going to have to pick soon, Joana. In the end, one of them won't be able to stay. I wish she weren't so right about it. Caleb and Clinton. Two names. Two men. There was a constant fight in my heart between them. One brought me peace. He brought up all the pain I thought I’d healed over. Still, he was always the one who rushed to me when I was at my lowest. A chime broke the silence. My phone screen lit up. “Are you free tomorrow? There’s a project thing I need your help with. I looked down at the screen and tried to keep from smiling. Being plain and trying to bring work and relationships closer together is so much like him. I gave a small laugh and
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE
139 JOANA'S POV I took a few steps back from them. “I’ll call a cab.” Clinton’s brows furrowed immediately. “No. I’ll take you home.” Caleb said, “You don’t have to walk out like this.” But I shook my head. “I do. If I stay with either of you, things will get even more complicated. I’d just like to figure this out by myself for now.” Although they weren’t happy with it, they eventually nodded after a long and tense silence. While dialling for a cab, I realised they were still watching me. Their silent hopes. Their unspoken fears. I didn’t look back. --- On the way home, there wasn’t much conversation, and the driver said a few things I didn’t even really notice. I watched the streets go by outside the window, as though I were only just halfway out of a dream. All my emotions were mixed together with every memory and moment I had spent with both brothers. I had loved Clinton with a passion that hurt. The father of my children. He always jumped in to help me when
TAKE ME BACK EX WIFE CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT
138 JOANA'S POV Mr Gates looked at me briefly, “I convinced myself I was supporting the family. I considered you a danger to what I wanted to uphold. All I accomplished was to undermine what I said I wanted to defend.” A bitter chuckle escaped me. “You almost succeeded in separating me from my children.” His eyes welled up. “I know, and there is no way for me to take that back. But I want you to realise that I finally see it now. The pain I caused. Not just towards you, but toward Clinton.” With a hard swallow, he repeated, “I was wrong. My feelings about Clinton influenced the way I interacted with you. I didn’t like that you didn’t give in. Because you wouldn't yield like the rest of them did.” “For that reason, I won’t do what others want me to,” I said calmly. He nodded. “That is the reason I now have the greatest respect for you. Almost dying made me realise it—but I finally see you clearly, Joana. You are not the person I accused you of being. You’re strong. Brav
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