Lahat ng Kabanata ng No Longer Yours, Ex Husband: Kabanata 341 - Kabanata 350

After the grand revelation of Ben’s birth story, I pretty much zone Caden out.Anything he says goes right over my head—not because I don’t understand him, but because I’m simply not interested anymore.By the time we make it to my mansion, Caden pulls up the car and turns to me, waiting for me to say something.I don’t.I don’t wait. I don’t say goodbye, or good night, or anything to start any kind of conversation. I simply push open the door, hug Axel to my chest, and step out.“Vivienne!” he calls out to me, probably for the millionth time. “What happened, dammit?”I so want to tell him what went wrong. I want to tell him exactly what went wrong. But then I think again and wonder—what’s even the use of it? He’s never going to change. He’ll always have this bad habit of keeping things to himself, of having secrets, and I’ll never be able to do anything about it.Other than curse my fate, like I have so many times in the past.What if this is some kind of cosmic warning? What if this

[Caden]Just like I feared, the moment mom and dad walk into Samuel’s recovery room, he cries out everything.Standing outside his slightly opened door, I hear everything he’s trying to scream and yell. Although he gladly leaves the part where he abducted Vivienne and Axel, and almost killed the latter. Perhaps he doesn’t know I’m here.That fact alone makes me want to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze as hard as I can. Not because I hate his guts for lying through his teeth, but because, for the first time in my life, I do want someone dead.“Are you done spewing nonsense?” I say as I open the door ajar and walk inside. “Or should I give you a few more minutes to come up with something even dumber?”The moment his gaze lands on me, he stiffens. His whole face pales, and his jaw literally drops.“You…” he gasps, eyes wide with panic. “You shouldn’t be here.” He scrambles pointlessly against the bed, already lying down like a fool. “Mom? Dad? Why the hell is he in here? Didn’

His words shouldn’t sting this much—but they do.Each sentence lands like a blow, not out of malice, but out of truth. Hard, unrelenting truth I’ve spent years pretending didn’t exist. And now, sitting here beside the man who’s supposed to know me best, I realize how much I’ve kept from him. How much I’ve kept from everyone.“I didn’t mean to shut you out,” I murmur, my voice rough. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it most of the time. It’s just… it became second nature. If I didn’t talk about it, it wouldn’t be real. Or at least, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”I hear him sigh.“Pretending was easier. Safer. I thought if I kept the pain buried deep enough, it wouldn’t follow me here. But I was wrong. It followed me into my marriage. Into fatherhood. Into this house.”He doesn’t say a word. Just watches me.“I didn’t tell you about my son because…” I pause, the shame crawling up my spine like fire. “Because I didn’t want to mess it up before I even had a chance. I didn’t want to watch yo

I push against his chest, hard, but he doesn’t budge. Doesn’t even flinch. His grip tightens, and his eyes blaze down at me like he’s barely holding it together. Like he’s one second away from losing control.“You think I wanted this?” he growls, voice low and dangerous. “You think I woke up hoping to screw it all up again?”“Let me go,” I hiss, trying to jerk my arm free. “I don’t want to hear any of your pathetic excuses—”But I don’t get to finish.Because the next second, his mouth crashes down on mine.Hard. Unapologetic. Ruthless.It’s not tender, or sweet, or even remotely careful.It’s desperate. Possessive. Like he’s trying to prove something—with his lips, with the way he crushes me against him like he’ll die if he lets go.And for a stupid, stupid second… I let him.I freeze, breath caught in my throat, heart hammering like a war drum. My fists clench against his chest, but I don’t shove him away. Not immediately. Not when his kiss tastes like guilt and need and everything

[Vivienne]“Are you sure you want to leave?” Harvey asks—and Rosita does too, in the way she looks at me, curious and worried.I take a deep breath. “I am.”“But why?” Rosita finally asks, scooting closer on the couch and hugging my side. “It hasn’t even been that long since you returned from Europe, and now you want to go back? Not fair.”I hug her back. “I know. But I need to do this. So much has happened in the past few days… It’s time Axel and I started over, and that would be impossible to do here.”“Because of Caden?” my brother asks. And I wonder if he’s the only reason.He’s not.“Axel hasn’t been the same since that night. He’s scared, and I can’t bear to see him like that. What he needs is to forget about the past and move forward. But that can’t happen if he stays here.”“I understand,” Rosita mumbles. “But isn’t there another way? Why don’t you move in with us? I’m sure Axel would appreciate staying with his uncle and aunt. We could all help him forget.”“It’s not the same