All Chapters of After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Maxwell’s POVSaturday morning arrived with Ivan bouncing on his bed at six thirty, fully dressed in his favorite shirt—a bright blue cotton tee with a cartoon dragon breathing rainbow fire across the front.“Daddy, wake up! Today’s the day I see Mia!” Ivan announced, jumping up and down on the mattress. “I wore my dragon shirt because she loves dragons!”I rolled over, squinting at the clock. “Buddy, the playdate isn’t until ten. We have three hours.”“But I need to get ready! I have to show her my new drawings and tell her about school and—” Ivan paused, his face suddenly serious. “Do you think she still remembers me?”The vulnerability in his voice made my chest tight. Ivan had been preparing for this reunion like other children prepared for Christmas. He’d organized a small backpack with his favorite books to share, practiced stories he wanted to tell Mia, and even drawn her several new pictures featuring their stick-figure selves holding hands under crayon suns.“Of course she re

Regina’s POVI couldn’t sit still. The adrenaline from this afternoon’s successful deception had me moving around my study, replaying every moment of Ivan and Mia’s reunion through the updates and photos Frederick had sent.My children had gotten to be together again. For two precious hours, Ivan and Mia had played and laughed and shared crayons, healing the wounds that my necessary deceptions had inflicted on their young hearts.Frederick and Lindsay sat slumped in the leather chairs across from my desk, both looking like actors who’d just finished a particularly draining performance.“It worked,” I said, unable to suppress the triumph in my voice. “Maxwell bought everything completely. The children were so happy together.”“Thank God,” Lindsay breathed, sagging deeper into her chair. “I was terrified he’d see through us.”“But he bought it completely,” I said for the third time, unable to keep the relief from my voice. “Mia was giggling. They got to be together again.”Frederick sai

Maxwell’s POVI’d been avoiding Morgana for three weeks.I ate breakfast before she came downstairs, worked late to miss dinner, and spent most evenings in my study or helping Ivan with homework.The guilt from our night together clung to me, impossible to wash away no matter how much distance I put between us.This morning, however, Ivan had woken up early and insisted I join him and Morgana for breakfast to discuss his school project. My son’s enthusiasm made it impossible to refuse without seeming cruel.“And then we have to present our family tree to the whole class!” Ivan announced, gesticulating wildly with his fork while syrup dripped onto his plate. “Mrs. Lawless says we can include anyone who’s important to us, not just blood relatives.”“That sounds wonderful, buddy,” I replied, forcing myself to focus on Ivan instead of the woman sitting across from me.Morgana wore a simple cream sweater, her dark hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. She looked tired, I noticed—pale around

Maxwell’s POVThat evening, I sat alone in my study, but concentration eluded me completely. Maude’s confession kept replaying in my head—fifteen years in prison, the tremor in her voice when she’d told me, the obvious shame that had made her hands shake.What crime earned fifteen years? The question nagged at me despite my earlier resolve not to pry. Drug dealing, maybe. Embezzlement. Something white-collar that had gone very wrong.My laptop sat open on the desk, quarterly reports spread across the screen, but the numbers blurred together as my mind wandered. Just a quick search, I told myself. Nothing invasive, just public records to satisfy my curiosity.I typed “Maude Faye” into the search engine, then hesitated. This felt wrong, like violating the trust she’d shown by being honest with me.But Ivan’s safety was my responsibility. I needed to know who was living in my house, sleeping down the hall from my son.I hit enter.The results made my stomach drop.Headlines filled my scr

Maxwell’s POVI pulled Morgana closer as she fell apart completely in my arms, her body shaking with fifteen years of suppressed trauma and misplaced guilt.Everything about her behavior suddenly made horrible sense—her desperate need for control, her willingness to manipulate situations to get what she wanted, her complicated relationship with the mother who’d sacrificed everything to protect her.“She saved you,” I said firmly, my voice rough with emotion. “Maude saved you from a predator, and she paid the ultimate price for it.”“But I let her go to prison,” Morgana sobbed against my chest, her tears soaking through my shirt. “I could have testified, could have told them what he was doing to me, but I was too scared and ashamed. She went to prison because I was a coward.”“You were a child,” I said, my anger making my voice sharper than I intended. “A traumatized ten-year-old child who’d been abused by someone who was supposed to protect you. None of this was your fault.”“I’ve bee