Lahat ng Kabanata ng Divorced by my Billionaire Ex, Now He Wants Me Back! : Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

160Alex.The house was quieter than usual that evening, but quiet in a way that didn’t comfort me. I moved through the rooms, checking cameras, adjusting sensors, glancing out windows. Every shadow felt like it had weight; every distant noise felt amplified. Yet, even with all the tension in the air, my attention kept wandering to Stella. She had a way of moving through the space that made it impossible not to notice, impossible not to soften, even when I had every reason not to.She hummed softly as she prepared dinner, the sound faint but steady, threading itself into the background of my anxiety. I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, trying not to stare too obviously, but the way her hair fell across her face, the casual way she swayed slightly as she stirred a pot, the tenderness with which she brushed a stray hair from Eli’s forehead—all of it dug under my skin. I hated that it distracted me, that it softened me in ways I couldn’t control. And yet I couldn’t look away. My

162Dane.I sat in the dark of my study, the faint hum of the city outside the tall glass windows doing nothing to soothe the storm brewing in my chest. The message had come through early that morning, a casual, almost innocent note from one of my sources: Alex and Stella were close again. I knew exactly what that meant without having to see it myself. The two of them, wrapped in the fragile illusion of safety, feeding off the familiar, the unspoken, the unbroken bond they had shared for so many years. And there it was, the problem glaring at me like a neon warning sign in the middle of a foggy night.I clenched my fist, letting it rest on the mahogany desk, the dark wood creaking faintly under the pressure. This was more than I could afford. Their closeness wasn’t just a problem; it was a threat to everything we had been building, everything I had been orchestrating with careful precision. Sophie, who had been hovering somewhere on the edge of my plan like a predator circling her pre

164Stella.I had almost convinced myself that the day had passed without incident. Almost. The twins were asleep, their breathing steady and rhythmic, tucked in under the blankets I had pulled up to their chins. I lingered by their bedroom door for a moment, watching them, trying to anchor myself in the ordinary, in the familiarity of their little breaths and soft murmurs. They seemed so peaceful, so untouchable when they were asleep, and yet, I knew it was all a fragile illusion. Every day, every hour, the world outside our walls was a threat waiting to strike, and we were trapped in its orbit.Alex returned home later than usual that evening. The house was quiet when he stepped in, the only sound the soft click of the front door shutting behind him. I heard him first before I saw him, the way his footsteps pressed against the wooden floor, deliberate and heavy, as if the tension he carried had weight in its own right. My stomach twisted, a low, anxious knot forming.I stepped into

166Stella.The shadow had vanished before I even realized security had seen it. They came running through the living room, radios crackling, eyes wide with urgency. I was still in the kitchen, coffee untouched in my hand, staring at the window where I’d first caught movement.“They were right there,” I said, voice tight, and Marcus, our lead guard, gave me a curt nod. “We saw him, ma’am. But… he disappeared. Ground searched. Cameras—he’s gone.”My stomach twisted. How close had he been? Had he even gotten near the twins’ room? My hand trembled slightly, but I forced myself to take a deep breath. Alex didn’t flinch, though his jaw was tight, eyes scanning the cameras like he could will the intruder back into view. I wanted to tell him it was fine, that he was overreacting—but even as the thought formed, I knew I’d be lying. The house felt smaller somehow, claustrophobic, every shadow in the hall now a potential threat.Emma and Eli were already restless. Even with all the tutoring, al

168Stella.The night had been endless. I hadn’t slept, though I had tried, tucking the twins close to me in our room, making sure the door was barricaded with whatever I could shove against it. Chairs, a small table, even the dresser pulled halfway across the doorway—I was desperate to feel even the smallest sense of control over the chaos surrounding us. I counted every creak in the house, every shadow that passed the window, every sound outside. My own breathing sounded like an alarm in the quiet. Emma and Eli mumbled in their sleep, their soft, innocent snores the only reprieve from the pounding of my own heart.Morning came slowly, reluctantly, with the pale light of dawn creeping through the curtains. I didn’t dare move immediately. I stayed frozen for what felt like hours, listening for the soft stirrings of the twins, waiting for them to ask for breakfast, for their giggles to fill the room, for the normalcy that had been stolen from us time and again.Then I noticed something