Semua Bab I DIVORCED HIM! NOW, HE REGRETS: Bab 161 - Bab 170

CHAPTER 162 – THE AFTERGLOW OF LIESMAYA POVAfter the auction, the tension in the room didn’t fade — it followed us like perfume.Everyone pretended nothing happened, but the whispers trailed behind me like ghosts. Heads turned when I passed; eyes flicked from my dress to my face, then quickly away, pretending they weren’t looking.They were.Of course, they were.By the time the velvet doors opened and we were ushered into the adjoining ballroom, the energy had shifted again — like someone had turned the scandal into spectacle. Soft violins floated through the air, delicate and deceitful, as though nothing embarrassing had just taken place in the auction hall.Crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, bathing everything in that same golden light that made lies look expensive. The crowd was already loosening up, champagne flutes clinking, laughter spilling in lazy waves. Couples drifted toward the dance floor, and soon, the first notes of a waltz began to bloom through the air.I

CHAPTER 164 – THE DANCE AND THE GHOSTMAYA POVHis hand was still waiting — open, patient, daring me.I could’ve said no. I should’ve said no. But there was something about the way Aleksander looked at me — like the world could end and he’d still be standing there with that teasing half-smile — that made refusal sound ridiculous.So I took it.His palm was warm, steady. The music swelled around us, violins melting into a slow waltz, and before I could breathe, he’d pulled me closer.It wasn’t a clumsy pull. It was deliberate — confident, the kind that said I know what I’m doing and you’re safe here. His hand found my waist; mine landed against the solid heat of his chest. The scent of him — cedar and danger and something faintly metallic, like power — hit me so hard I nearly forgot how to move.“Careful,” I said, tilting my chin up. “I don’t usually dance with trouble.”He grinned, eyes glinting. “Then you’ve been doing it wrong.”My breath caught, but I smiled anyway. “You talk a lot

CHAPTER 166 – THE DANCE I SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKENLARRY POVI should’ve left.Every instinct told me to. The deal was done, the champagne flat, the whispers dying down. Vivienne had already moved on to schmoozing some senator, Brandy was pretending not to be bored out of her mind, and I had every excuse to walk out the door.But I didn’t.Because she was still here.Maya Perkins — the ghost of every decision I’d ever gotten wrong — standing near the edge of the ballroom like she belonged to it and didn’t at the same time.The lights dimmed again, just enough to blur the edges of faces. The orchestra shifted from polite background music to something richer — strings swelling, a melody that wrapped around the room like silk.And then, people began to dance.I stood there, hands in my pockets, pretending I wasn’t watching her. Pretending my heart didn’t kick every time she turned.Someone asked her to dance — Aleksander, the arrogant one with the lazy confidence of a man who’d never been to

CHAPTER 168 – THE SPILLBRANDY POVThe music faded into something slower, softer — violins melting like sugar in champagne. The lights dimmed a little more, enough for shadows to dance on polished marble and secrets to look prettier than they were. Larry was still holding me, but his mind wasn’t in his hands.It was across the room.On her.Maya Perkins.The girl who could ruin a night just by breathing too confidently.I smiled up at him, pretending not to notice the way his eyes kept drifting. “You’re staring again,” I murmured, keeping my voice light, teasing.He chuckled, distracted. “You’re imagining things.”No, I wasn’t. And I was tired of imagining.I leaned closer, lips brushing his ear. “You really want to test me, baby?”He blinked, forced another smile, and spun me out with a little too much enthusiasm — like he was trying to shake off guilt. It didn’t work. I caught the flicker in his eyes when he saw her again, standing near the champagne table, pretending she didn’t kno

CHAPTER 170 – THE HANDSMAYA POVThe world didn’t end with a crash.Not yet. It ended in silence — that single, breathless pause before the chandelier actually fell.I didn’t hear my own scream. I just felt it — raw and clawing its way out of my chest. One second I was staring up at the ceiling, the next, I was on the floor. Cold marble against my skin. My knees hit first, then my palms. Something sharp nicked my wrist — a shard of glass, maybe — but I didn’t feel the pain. All I could hear was the roaring in my ears, like thunder trapped inside my skull.The chandelier had missed me by inches. Inches.A storm of glittering shards rained down, scattering across the marble in a thousand directions. The crystals caught the light like falling stars, but there was nothing pretty about it — not when I realized one more step, one more breath in the wrong direction, and it would’ve crushed me completely.I stayed down. My body refused to move. Every muscle trembled like it belonged to someon