บททั้งหมดของ After I Died, He Truly Panicked: บทที่ 111 - บทที่ 120

Maxwell’s POVIvan giggled while he ate his cereal. Actually giggled. Something he hadn’t done in months, not since the court-mandated visit to Regina.I watched him from across the kitchen table, noting how his shoulders had lost that tense set they’d carried. His sleep had improved too. No more nightmares about the “sad lady” who made him cry.“Daddy, can Aunt Maude come to the park with us today?” Ivan asked, spooning cheerios into his mouth.Aunt Maude. The title had emerged naturally over the past few weeks, and Maude had accepted it with tears in her eyes. She’d become the mother figure Ivan had never really had, patient and loving in ways that made my chest ache.“Of course she can come. But first, finish your breakfast.”“I am finishing. See?” Ivan tilted his bowl to show me the milk at the bottom. “All gone.”“Very impressive.”Maude appeared in the kitchen doorway, already dressed in her simple cardigan and comfortable shoes. Her gray hair was pulled back neatly, and she car

Regina’s POVMia hadn’t spoken to me since yesterday’s conversation about keeping Ivan secret. She sat at her breakfast table, pushing cereal around her bowl without eating, her small shoulders hunched forward like she was trying to disappear.“Sunshine, you need to eat something,” I said, settling into the chair beside her.“I’m not hungry.”“You love strawberry cereal.”“I don’t love anything anymore.” Mia set down her spoon and looked at me with gray eyes that seemed far too old for her five-year-old face. “Mommy, why can’t I tell people about Ivan? Other people tell the truth about their families.”My chest tightened. “Mia—”“No!” Mia’s voice cracked as tears started flowing. “I can’t talk about my brother at school. I can’t tell him he’s my brother when we play. I can’t tell anybody the truth about anything!”She slid off her chair and ran toward the stairs, her small feet pounding against the hardwood. Her bedroom door slammed shut, leaving me alone with her untouched breakfast

Regina’s POVI followed Lindsay’s car through downtown traffic, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles ached. Three cars back, far enough that Maxwell wouldn’t spot me if he happened to look in his rearview mirror, close enough to see Ivan’s small form in the backseat.My phone kept ringing. Lindsay, probably wondering where I’d disappeared to after the ice cream shop disaster. I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t face the conversation about what had just happened between my children.Mia had told Ivan they were twins. Despite every warning, every careful explanation about keeping secrets, my desperate five-year-old daughter had blurted out the truth to a brother who didn’t want to hear it.The look on Ivan’s face when he’d rejected her—pure confusion mixed with fear—kept replaying in my mind. He’d backed away from Mia like she was something dangerous, something that threatened his safe understanding of the world.I’d done this. I’d approved the playdate knowing Mia was reac

Regina’s POV“You need to get out of this house,” Mother declared, standing in my study doorway with her arms crossed. “You’ve been locked away for a week. It’s not healthy.”“I have work to finish—”“The work will wait. Frederick called this morning. He’s taking you to dinner tonight, and I told him yes.”“Mother, you can’t make social plans for me without asking.”“I can when you’re drowning in stress and refusing to take care of yourself.” Mother moved into the room, her voice softening. “Regina, sweetheart, you need one evening of normalcy. A few hours where you’re not thinking about custody battles or legal strategies.”The truth was, I felt guilty about accepting Frederick’s invitation while Lindsay looked so dejected. She’d been professional about Frederick’s thoughtless comments, but I could see the hurt in her eyes whenever they had to pretend affection.“What if I make it a group dinner? Include Lindsay?”“I already asked her. She said she has plans with another friend.”Lin

Maxwell’s POVI pulled into the driveway expecting Ivan to greet me at the door like always, backpack thrown carelessly on the floor while he chattered about his day. Instead, I found him sitting on the front steps with Maude, his small body hunched forward, school bag clutched against his chest.Tear tracks stained his flushed cheeks.“Daddy!” Ivan launched himself at me before I’d even closed the car door, wrapping his arms around my waist so tightly I could barely breathe. His whole body shook against mine.“Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?” I knelt down to his level, smoothing his disheveled hair. “Bad day at school?”“The worst day ever,” Ivan sobbed into my shoulder.Maude approached us, her face creased with worry. “Maxwell, we need to talk. Inside.”I carried Ivan into the house, settling him on the living room couch while Maude closed the front door behind us. Through the window, I could see a white van parked across the street that hadn’t been there this morning.“What happened?” I