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Chapter 23
publish date:
2026-04-06 07:57:19
Latest chapter
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 43
Maya’s POVThe estate was a masterpiece of cold stone and warm light, buried so deep into the mountain that the outside world felt like a myth. The only sound was the distant, rhythmic weeping of rain against reinforced glass—soft, relentless, like something grieving.After Léo tucked Chloe into a room that looked like a fortress disguised as a nursery, I drifted through the halls alone. My ivory suit clung to me like a costume from a play that had been cancelled halfway through the first act—beautiful, expensive, and suddenly meaningless.At the end of the north wing, I pushed open a heavy pivot door.It didn’t lead to a terrace.It led to a studio.The room breathed in silence, bathed in a soft, blue wash of moonlight. This wasn’t an architect’s office—there were no CAD stations, no polished models of city skylines waiting for approval. This space was raw. Intimate. Alive.Vellum sheets were pinned to the walls in uneven constellations. The floor was scattered with charcoal stubs, g
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 42
Léo’s POVI watched Maya in the periphery.She was staring out at the dark trees, her hand resting protectively on Chloe’s knee, her fingers curled just slightly—as if even in stillness, she was bracing for impact. The passing headlights carved fleeting shadows across her face, catching the sharp line of her jaw, the quiet tension in her mouth.She looked fragile in the dim light of the dashboard.But I knew better.I had seen her stand in front of a room full of vipers and call out the king without her voice shaking. I had seen her take humiliation, betrayal, and silence—and turn it into something sharp enough to cut glass. Maya didn’t break. She restructured.She was the strongest structure I had ever encountered.And my only job now was to make sure she didn’t collapse under the weight of the Renauds’ retaliation.The road narrowed as we climbed higher into the mountains, the city lights of Verlaine dissolving into nothing behind us. Fog rolled in thick waves across the asphalt, sw
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 41
Maya’s POVThe city of Verlaine blurred into a smear of rain-streaked neon as the armoured SUV lurched away from the boutique. Streetlights stretched into golden fractures across the wet windshield, breaking apart every few seconds as we sped through intersections that no longer felt like roads—just risks.My heart was a frantic bird trapped in my ribs, drumming against the silk of my suit in uneven, panicked bursts. Each movement of the vehicle sent my body slightly off balance, like the world itself had lost its center of gravity.In the backseat, Chloe was strapped into her car seat, clutching a worn plush rabbit. Her eyes were wide, alert in that unsettlingly quiet way children get when they’ve learned not to ask questions. She didn’t cry. She never did during these runs.She just watched.She was used to the “hush-hush” games we played when the cameras got too close—but she wasn’t used to the way Léo was driving.The SUV felt different tonight. Heavier. More urgent. Like even the
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 40
Maya's POVThe Rue de la Paix was a gauntlet of flashing bulbs and high-octane chatter, but as I stood on the threshold of my own boutique, the applause felt like static. My hand was still cold from the weight of the brass key Léo had just tucked into my palm.“Smile, Maya,” Léo murmured, his breath brushing my ear as he stepped up behind me. His suit was a dark, impenetrable charcoal, and his hand on my waist was the only thing keeping me from vibrating out of my skin. “The world is watching. Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing the cracks.”I stepped into the light. I was wearing a suit of my own design, ivory silk with shoulders so sharp they could draw blood. I cut the ribbon, the silk falling away like a shed skin, and the crowd surged forward.But as I moved through the sea of socialites and critics, my eyes kept darting to the back of the room. I wasn’t looking for a buyer. I was looking for a threat.“The Renauds don’t play defence,” Léo said into my headset as he moved
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 39
The morning of the boutique opening carried a tension that hummed beneath the surface of Verlaine like a live wire.Even the air felt stretched—tight, expectant, waiting for something to snap.On Rue de la Paix, the VOSS flagship stood in stark, deliberate defiance of its surroundings. Where the neighboring boutiques leaned into tradition—limestone facades, gold-trimmed windows, quiet old-money elegance—VOSS was obsidian and glass. Sharp lines. Dark reflection. A structure that didn’t ask to belong.It announced itself.Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows, mannequins stood like sentinels draped in the “Surgical White” collection—clean cuts, precise silhouettes, garments that looked less like fashion and more like declarations.And above them, catching the early light like a blade—VOSS.Not hidden.Not borrowed.Owned.I stood at the center of the showroom, the scent of fresh white lilies weaving through the sharper undertone of polished floors and new paint. It filled my lungs, stead
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter 38
The museum site at dawn looked like a cathedral stripped of its soul—skeletonised steel rising into a bruised sky of grey and violet. The wind cut through the unfinished structure in sharp, restless currents, carrying the scent of wet concrete, ozone, and cold dust.Verlaine was still waking below us.And I stood thirty-eight floors above it, watching the city inhale its first breath of light.For three years, this place had been a reminder of everything I had lost.Now, it was the first thing I truly owned.“The foreman is downstairs,” Léo said.His voice cut cleanly through the wind.He was leaning against a structural pillar, hands buried in the pockets of his heavy wool coat, his posture relaxed in a way that only looked casual to people who didn’t know him well.“He’s waiting for sign-off on the cladding,” Léo added. “The Ashford logo’s already in the dumpster behind the site trailer.”That made something in me shift—not satisfaction exactly… but release.I turned toward him.Up
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter Ten
The shipping crates smelled of cedar and salt.I stood on the gravel driveway, watching the courier van disappear down the coastal road. Inside those boxes were five pieces of my soul—wrapped in acid-free paper, labeled VOSS.“There goes the first volley,” Sarah said, balancing Chloe on her hip.Ch
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter Nine
The first time I saw Chloe’s face, I didn’t cry.I was too exhausted for tears—my body raw, shaking. It was 3:14 a.m. in a small hospital ward that smelled of disinfectant and rain. Sarah was asleep next to me, the plastic chair creaking with each shallow breath.The nurse handed me the bundle.Chl
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter Eight
The North didn’t care about my broken heart.Verlaine was a city of whispers and filtered sunlight, but Sarah’s coastal town was all grey stone, biting wind, and the sharp smell of salt and old fish. It was exactly what I needed—a place that didn’t expect me to be pretty.Sarah’s house was a mess.
The Day I Stopped Loving Him Chapter Seven
I didn’t go back to the apartment.Léo drove me. We didn’t talk much. I stared out the window, counting streetlights like it meant something.At the fifth one, my hand moved on its own—reaching for my phone.I stopped halfway.Left it there.I wasn’t going to be that woman again.Léo seemed to unde
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