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Home / Romance / Divorced by my Billionaire Ex, Now He Wants Me Back! / Kabanata 201 - Kabanata 210

Lahat ng Kabanata ng Divorced by my Billionaire Ex, Now He Wants Me Back! : Kabanata 201 - Kabanata 210

257 Kabanata

200

200Stella.The paper crane sat on the kitchen counter, its folds precise, almost delicate, but to me, it radiated a quiet menace. I picked it up again, turning it over in my hands. Something about the way it felt, the faint scent of ink and chemicals clinging to the paper, made my stomach twist. I knew Alex would tell me it was a coincidence, that I was reading too much into it. But I could see it in his eyes—he wasn’t calm. He was rattled, and the mask of control he wore so well couldn’t entirely hide it.I set the crane down again, glancing toward the twins’ room. Eli and Emma were still asleep, their soft breathing a fragile counterpoint to the storm of unease swirling through the house. I lingered there for a moment, tracing the outline of their small, peaceful faces with my eyes. They didn’t know how close danger had come, how narrowly we had escaped, and for a brief second, I allowed myself to hope that maybe, just maybe, things were finally quieting down.The next morning, I m

201

201Dane.The restaurant smelled of old leather and cigarette smoke, the dim lighting casting long shadows across the table. Sophie was already there, her posture effortless, leaning back in the seat as if she owned the place. I didn’t comment; I had no illusions about her confidence. She thrived on it. She thrived on manipulation. I sat down across from her, keeping my hands on the table, fingers tapping lightly against the wood.“You got my text?” she asked, voice smooth, almost teasing.“I did,” I replied, keeping my tone neutral. “You said it was important.”She smirked and slid a thin black folder across the table. The sound of it hitting the wood was louder than expected in the near-silence. I opened it. Inside were spreadsheets, photographs, summaries of contracts, corporate movements, and notes she had clearly pieced together over weeks. My eyes scanned quickly. She had been thorough.“You’ve been busy,” I said, raising an eyebrow.“Busy enough to know exactly where Alex is vu

202

202Alex.The boardroom felt suffocating, the air heavy with the quiet hum of air conditioning and the faint scent of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. I ran my hand along the edge of the polished table, glancing at the projections on the screen and the board members seated around it. I’d called the meeting to address the leaks in the company, to trace the source of the unauthorized disclosures that had been undermining contracts and rattling investors. Every spreadsheet, every email chain, every financial anomaly we’d tracked was laid out before me, but as I spoke, my mind wasn’t fully on the presentation.Marcus had been unusually quiet today, his eyes flicking toward me at intervals that set my nerves on edge. And then, like a dagger sliding across polished marble, he slid a small note across the table under my forearm. I felt it before I even read it, the paper crisp and deliberate. “Dane is pulling strings, check offshore accounts.”I kept my expression neutral, exhaling slowl

203

203Stella.I couldn’t shake the image of the words sprayed across our front gate, jagged and black against the metal: “YOU CAN’T PROTECT THEM FOREVER.” Even now, hours after seeing it, my hands still trembled slightly whenever I thought of it. I had tried, futilely, to brush it off as someone’s twisted sense of humor or a petty message meant to scare us. But the twins had no idea what danger lurked outside our walls, and I refused to let them feel my fear. So I plastered on the smiles, waved them off as I ushered them to breakfast, and pretended that the world outside our home hadn’t suddenly become an arena of threats and shadowy figures.Every movement I made was calculated to make them feel safe. I sat with them at the table, pouring cereal into their bowls, helping them butter toast, listening to their chatter about school and friends. But my eyes were always flicking to the window, scanning for anything unusual—a car idling too long across the street, a figure lingering at the e

204

204I never expected betrayal to feel like a physical weight. The moment I stared down at the man who had been watching the twins in their sleep, I felt it press into my chest, cold and unrelenting. He had the nerve to raise his hands defensively when I confronted him. “I… I was just checking the windows,” he stammered, eyes darting everywhere except mine. “I heard a noise outside and… and I thought—”I cut him off, my voice icy, controlled, yet trembling with the edge of anger I couldn’t fully mask. “You thought you’d sneak into the children’s room in the middle of the night and pretend it was a ‘check’? Do you take me for a fool?”He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing made sense. His uniform was proper, his demeanor professional—or at least, it had been meant to appear that way—but I could see through the charade. Something in the way his eyes flitted, too quick, too careful, betrayed him. He wasn’t loyal. He was a plant. And I couldn’t allow him to remain an inch from my fami

205

205Josh.The first thing I noticed that morning was the weight pressing down on my chest. Not the usual routine stress, not the minor irritations that came with the twins’ schooling or Stella’s cautious fretting. No. This was different. Sharp. Like a blade running along the edge of my spine.I had seen the photos Alex had received. My mother—my mom, Mrs. Marwood—was now a potential target. And though my anger flared for all the right reasons—protection, blood, family—it wasn’t for her sake. Not really. The stakes were deeper, and the danger loomed around the twins. Any attempt on her life, any distraction, any staged chaos—it was a trap, a way to pull someone’s attention and strike where it mattered most: Emma and Eli.I parked a block away from the twins’ school, keeping my truck angled in such a way that I could see the entrance without being noticed. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I ignored it; right now, every sense had to be tuned to the streets, the crowds, the random flurry

206

206Stella.The first thing I noticed that morning was the weight in my chest, heavy and unrelenting, like a storm cloud refusing to move. I had slept little, my eyes flicking open every time I heard the faintest creak or rustle from the twins’ rooms. Emma and Eli, sweet, oblivious, laughing in their sleep—it was a gift, but it only made the tension tighter. The world outside wasn’t safe, and every time I thought about the video Josh had received, I felt a stab of icy fear in my stomach.Pulling the twins from school altogether crossed my mind more than once. It would be easy, simple even, to retreat into the safety of our home or Josh’s apartment. But Alex, in his typical controlled, insistent way, refused. He said disrupting their lives now, removing them from routines, making them feel caged—it would only make them more anxious, more aware of the dangers. I knew he was right, even as my instincts screamed that the danger outside those walls was far too real.So we compromised. I wo

207

207Stella.The morning sunlight filtered weakly through the blinds, but I barely noticed. My focus was elsewhere, sharpened by the weight of unease that had settled over our home like a persistent fog. The twins ran circles around the living room, their small feet pounding against the floor, voices laughing and squealing in delight. Yet beneath the surface, they were like delicate barometers of tension; every crease in my brow, every clipped word I exchanged with Alex, registered with them.“Mommy, are we going to the fair today?” Emma’s wide eyes fixed on me, and I forced a smile, though it felt heavy, strained.“Yes, sweetie. We’re going to have fun,” I said, keeping my voice light, even playful. I didn’t tell them that my mind was replaying the rental car from yesterday, that the same vehicle might still be lurking somewhere near our lives, a silent shadow waiting for a mistake.I packed the twins into the car, with Josh riding in the front and two of our most trusted guards in th

209

209Alex.The house was quieter than usual that evening, but the quiet carried no comfort. Every creak of the floorboards, every distant hum of the city outside, felt amplified, like a warning. I sat at the large oak desk in my study, surrounded by monitors and laptops displaying live security feeds, GPS readings, and past footage. My hands hovered over the keyboard, almost involuntarily, a low hum of tension threading through my veins.I had doubled down on security after the last incident. Four guards now rotated around the twins at all times, their schedules staggered to avoid any predictable patterns. Each guard was vetted, trained, and aware of the stakes, but even with all that preparation, a gnawing unease remained lodged deep in my chest. It wasn’t just professional concern anymore; it was personal. The twins weren’t just numbers or liabilities. They were everything.Stella had argued, as she always did, that it was too much—that I was turning our home into a fortress, our liv

210

210Stella.The house felt impossibly still, almost holding its breath. I had woken to the faintest sound of the night still clinging to the corners—the hum of the city outside, the soft ticking of the hallway clock—but nothing could have prepared me for the scene that awaited me.I bolted upright in bed, heart hammering, because instinctively I knew. The backpack wasn’t there. Eli’s backpack. And then, in a surge of cold panic, I realized: the twins’ backpacks were not just missing—they had been taken.I didn’t pause to think. I was out of the room in a heartbeat, flinging open doors and scanning every inch of their room. The twins stirred, murmuring, sleepy and confused. Their small faces were the picture of innocence and fear, and it shattered me. I dropped to my knees, pressing myself against them, clinging. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Mommy’s here,” I whispered, trying to make my voice sound steady, comforting, while every part of me was screaming otherwise.Alex’s voice came through

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