All Chapters of My CEO Ex-Husband's Regret: Chasing His Dying Wife Back : Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

IVYMaya appeared at my office door at nine AM looking like she'd run all the way from her floor to mine."Ivy. We need to talk. Now."I looked up from the contract I'd been pretending to review, my mind too scattered to actually absorb any of the words. "What's wrong?"She closed the door behind her and crossed to my desk, dropping a thick manila folder in front of me. "Open it."My hands were shaking as I opened the folder. Court records. Financial documents. Page after page of information about Alexander Sterling and his family.Gambling debts. Hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in Atlantic City casinos over the past three years. Offshore accounts that didn't match his reported income. Business dealings that skirted the edges of fraud.And Sophia. Medical records showing a history of severe anxiety and depression that she'd hidden during the custody evaluation. Prescriptions for medications she'd never disclosed. A hospitalization two years ago that had been carefully scrubbed f

IVYI should have slammed the door in his face.Should have told him to leave, that I didn't need his help or his presence or whatever the hell he thought he was offering after disappearing for weeks without a word.But I didn't.Instead, I stepped aside and let him in, watching as he moved through my space like he belonged there. Like he hadn't vanished after saving my life. Like he hadn't left me wondering if I'd imagined the whole thing."Where's your wine?" he asked, already heading toward the kitchen."Cabinet above the fridge."He found a bottle of red, pulled out two glasses, and poured with the easy confidence of someone who'd done this before. In his own penthouse, probably. With other women who were smarter than me."Sit," he said, handing me a glass."This is my apartment. You don't get to give orders—""Ivy. Sit."Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was the weight of everything that had happened today. Maybe I just didn't have the energy to fight him.I sat.He settled onto

IVYTwo weeks with Lucas home felt like both an eternity and no time at all.The first few days had been an adjustment. Lucas would wake up in the middle of the night confused, forgetting where he was, calling out for me in a panic until I rushed to his room to remind him he was safe. That he was home. That I wasn't going anywhere.By the end of the first week, the nightmares had lessened. He'd started to relax, to believe that this wasn't temporary. That Sophia couldn't just appear and take him back.He'd fallen in love with Maya almost immediately. She made him elaborate breakfasts shaped like dinosaurs, let him "help" her with work by drawing on her extra paper, and taught him card games that involved way too much cheating and laughter. He'd started calling her "Aunt Maya" on day three, and the first time he did it, I'd seen tears in her eyes.We'd established a routine. Breakfast together every morning before I went to work. Lucas would go to his new school—closer to my penthouse,

IVYThe courtroom was still murmuring, the damage of Ares's words settling over me like ash. I felt my lawyer's hand on my arm, heard her whispering something about damage control, but I couldn't focus on anything except the hollowness spreading through my chest.He'd destroyed me. In front of everyone. In front of the judge who would decide Lucas's fate.Then Ares spoke again."However—"The word cut through the noise like a blade. The courtroom fell silent."However," Ares continued, his voice stronger now, more deliberate, "that's not because she's unstable. It's because the Blackwood family is actively sabotaging her."What?Alexander's lawyer stood. "Your Honor, the witness has answered the question—""Let him finish," the judge said sharply.Ares leaned forward slightly, his eyes locked on the judge now instead of me. "Ms. Blackwood is struggling because she's being systematically undermined by members of her own family. They've planted employees at Blackwood Industries specific

IVYI should have felt triumphant.Should have felt the rush of victory, the overwhelming relief of knowing Lucas was safe and mine and no one could take him away again.Instead, I felt numb.My lawyer was hugging me, crying happy tears. Maya was squeezing my shoulders and saying something about justice being served. Other people were congratulating me, their faces blurring together.But I couldn't feel any of it. Couldn't connect to the moment that should have been the happiest of my life.Because I kept seeing Ares's face in that hallway. The way he'd looked at me when I'd called him a murderer. The coldness that had settled over his features when I'd walked away."Ivy?" Maya's voice cut through the fog. "Are you okay?""I won." The words felt strange in my mouth. Foreign. "Lucas is coming home permanently.""You did it. You actually did it." She was beaming, radiant with joy on my behalf. "Come on, we need to call Lucas's school and tell them to have him ready for pickup. And then