Lahat ng Kabanata ng Dear Ex, I'm More Than Your Plan B: Kabanata 201 - Kabanata 210

The envelope glowed faintly in the sliver of moonlight slicing through the curtains, as if mocking her restraint.She stared at it for what felt like an hour.She thought of Asher’s words earlier, soft but steady: Maybe it’s exactly what you need to hear. To let go.And she thought of her mother’s last years, the illness Vera only heard about after it was too late, the funeral she didn’t attend because she was too busy surviving a storm that had nearly drowned her.A storm named Asher Donovan.A storm she might never have escaped without the quiet, unwavering strength she’d built alone.Her throat tightened as her gaze sharpened on the letter. What could it hold? A confession? A plea for forgiveness? Or worse, polished excuses dressed in grief? Vera wasn’t sure her heart could survive the latter.She pressed her palms to her face, groaning softly. “God, just… stop thinking.”But she couldn’t.Her fingers twitched with restless energy until the silence in the room grew unbearable. Fina

The night air clung to her skin like dew, cool and sharp, but Vera didn’t flinch. Her eyes were still glassy, lashes damp with grief, but her breathing had begun to settle.Asher hadn’t let go of her hand.He sat beside her in silence, their fingers intertwined on her knee, anchoring her to the moment, to something that wasn’t loss.“I feel like a stranger to my own story,” she whispered, her voice thinned by tears. “Everything I thought I knew… it’s been rewritten. Dorian didn’t help me out of some selfless kindness. He did it because she asked him to.”“And maybe,” Asher said softly, “he kept helping because he wanted to.”She looked at him then, eyes searching. As much as her heart was in pieces, a small part of her latched onto that.Maybe it could be both. Maybe love and duty had coexisted.“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” she admitted, the words falling out in a quiet confession, nearly drowned in the chirping crickets and distant wind. “But I also don’t want to talk anymore.

The cemetery was peaceful.Tall trees swayed gently with the breeze, their leaves whispering like they carried secrets too old for the living.The path was lined with gravel and petals from nearby flowers, crunching softly under their shoes as they walked.Vera held a small bouquet of white lilies, Elena’s favorite. She didn’t say much. Didn’t need to.Her eyes scanned the rows until she stopped.There it was.Elena Sterling.Beloved Daughter. Devoted Mother. A Light That Endured.The headstone was sleek and understated, like the woman herself. Sterling silver lettering etched into black granite.There were fresh flowers already there, someone else must’ve visited recently. Maybe one of her assistants. Or Eliza.Vera stood very still.Asher gently touched her back. “We’ll be nearby. Take your time.”She nodded, unable to find her voice. Eira gave her hand a soft squeeze before letting go, whispering, “Be brave, Mommy,” then walked off with Asher toward a shaded bench across the field.

Dorian stood in the center of his suite, phone still in hand, her final words ringing in his ears.“I just.. need space.”Space.That was always the beginning of the end.The line had gone dead, but Dorian still stared at the screen, as if willing it to change. To call back. To rewind time. To undo the letter that had ruined everything.His jaw clenched, breath hitching once, twice, before his composure broke.CRASH.The glass tumbler on his desk flew across the room and shattered against the wall, bourbon dripping down like tears.His breaths came fast now, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. The perfectly organized space around him, sleek, clean, minimal, suddenly felt suffocating. Everything about it reeked of control. Order. Precision.And now, it all mocked him.Everything he had done, for her.All the sacrifices. All the silence. The nights he stayed up watching Eira breathe in her crib, listening for her cries when Vera was too exhausted to wake. The business d

The office door knocked softly.“Ms. Sterling?” Laurel’s voice came through gently. “There’s a reporter from The Herald waiting downstairs. They’re asking if you’d like to make a comment.”Vera’s fingers tightened around her phone.She couldn't breathe.It had only been one day.One day since she accepted her future.And already, someone was dragging her name through the mud. Using pieces of truth and turning them into poison.She looked at her phone again, chest rising and falling quickly.There was one missed call.From Dorian.And a message: “Vera… please don’t believe everything you see. Call me.”She deleted the message.A soft knock again. “Ms. Sterling? The board is gathering in Conference A. They’re… concerned.”Vera rose slowly, shoulders pulled back, but her heart thundering in a cage of betrayal and confusion.She opened her mouth. Her voice came out like steel dipped in ice.“Tell them I’ll be there in five minutes.”...................The room was pristine. Tense. Execut