Lahat ng Kabanata ng After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Kabanata 231 - Kabanata 240

Maxwell’s POVBreakfast at the Veyron house was a quiet affair for me. Too quiet.For Ivan, though, it was anything but.He sat across from me, next to Mia, talking to her about everything under the sun. Dragons, space, the story I told them last night.He even tried to mimic the dragon voice I’d used, puffing his cheeks out and growling until Mia dissolved into giggles. His laughter was bright, unbothered, filling the room like sunlight breaking through gray clouds.I envied that.Because while the fire from last night, the way Regina trembled when I kissed her wrist, the way her lips parted like she was seconds away from letting me back in, had still burned beneath my skin when I woke up, her words this morning had doused icy water over me.“I’m going to tell Maxwell I want a divorce.”I’d heard her. Clear as day. Standing on that balcony, every word sliced clean into me.And yet when she looked up, when her eyes met mine, they screamed something entirely different. That she didn’t

Regina’s POVI stirred my soup, watching the steam curl upwards as if it might carry all my secrets away with it.The little Chinese restaurant buzzed faintly in the background, chatter from the table behind us, the clatter of plates, but none of it could drown out the weight of Lindsay’s stare.“Alright,” she said at last, leaning forward, her arms folded on the table. “You better start now Regina or else you’ll never get to it. I know whatever it is has been weighing you down, so spit it out. Whatever it is, I’ll take it in stride.”My chest tightened. I had promised myself I wouldn’t drag her deeper into this, but she’d already been dragged. Maybe honesty was all that was left.I took a deep breath. “It started when I noticed Frederick was… off. He’d been on his phone one night during dinner, deleting messages. His face would go hard whenever a certain notification came in. At first, I told myself it was stress from work. But then…” I swallowed, the memory still bitter. “I saw him

Regina’s POVI was tired of playing games.Everywhere I turned, it seemed someone had a hidden hand, pulling strings behind my back.Now, even my father, my father, was supposedly hiding something. And Sandra Chamberlain, of all people, knew about it. She was using it like a weapon, brandishing it as leverage to get Ivan.If my father was involved, then I couldn’t take this to Maxwell. I knew him too well. Maxwell would never understand anyone’s side but his own, never pause to see where I was coming from.He would snap, react, burn bridges in an instant. And this was too dangerous for that.So I was stuck.And without Frederick, I had no one I could trust to untangle this with me. That thought cut deeper than I cared to admit.My conversation with Lindsay still echoed in my head. I had told her nearly everything… nearly.I couldn’t bring myself to say that Serenity Wellness Center was tied to Thomas Klein, my adoptive father. The same man who had chipped away at my mind until I barel

Regina’s POVThe open-air restaurant was buzzing with soft music and laughter, fairy lights strung across wooden beams overhead, casting everything in a warm glow. It should have been a beautiful evening. But my mind wasn’t here.It was still back at the estate. With Maxwell.I hadn’t known he was coming. If I had, I would have canceled with Joshua without hesitation. I could still feel the weight of Maxwell’s stare as I got into my car, his silence louder than any accusation.Now, walking toward Joshua’s table, I forced a smile onto my face. He rose when he saw me, charming as ever, his dark suit tailored perfectly, his smile dazzling in the golden light.“Regina,” he said warmly, extending his hand as though we were in some old-fashioned movie. When I took it, he leaned forward, his other hand brushing lightly against the small of my back, guiding me toward the seat. The touch lingered just a moment too long.I stiffened but kept my composure, slipping into the chair gracefully.“Yo

Maxwell’s POVI heard it. Clear as day.The faint creak of a door opening somewhere in the house.No one was supposed to be here.My whole body went rigid. Regina, still in my lap, grinding lazily against me in her drugged haze, noticed the shift in my face. She giggled, breathless, whispering, “What’s going on, Maxwell?”I turned to her sharply, bringing my index finger to her lips. “Shh.”Instead of understanding, she parted her mouth and sucked my finger in.“Christ,” I muttered under my breath, jerking my hand back. Wrong time. Very wrong time. My heart was pounding in my throat, but not from her, no, from the danger lurking just beyond that sound.I forced myself to stay calm, to think. I knew Regina wasn’t in her senses, that none of this was her fault. Anger wasn’t the answer, fear was. And fear was telling me we weren’t alone.Slipping my phone from my pocket, I started typing out a message with one hand. Main house. Now. Urgent. I sent it to my head of security, then another