All Chapters of Regret After Divorce: Falling In Love All Over Again : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Chapter 41Quietly, she stood and crept out of the room, leaving the door cracked open so she could hear if he called for her in the night.The apartment felt very quiet after the chaos of the evening. Ambelyn made herself a cup of tea and curled up on Wednesday's overstuffed couch, her laptop balanced on her knees.She should review the employee handbook Klaus had mentioned. She should prepare for Monday, should make sure she understood exactly what would be expected of her in this new role. She should be practical and professional and focused on the job.Instead, she found herself pulling up Klaus's company website, clicking through the executive profiles until she found his photo.He looked different from how she remembered—older, obviously, but also harder somehow. More guarded. The easy confidence he'd had in college had been replaced by something colder, more controlled. This was a man who'd built an empire, who'd lost a wife, who'd raised a daughter alone while running a multi-

Chapter 43"But I've never asked you for anything before," Iniko said, and there was a note of desperation in his voice that made my heart clench. "Not for toys or games or anything. This is my first request, Mama. I just—I want a dad. A real one who wants me and likes me and doesn't look at me like I'm broken."I set down my fork, unable to eat past the lump in my throat. "Baby—""I see the other kids at school," Iniko continued, his words tumbling out faster now. "They have dads who pick them up and carry them on their shoulders and come to the class presentations. And I know Thomas was never really my dad, not in any way that mattered. But I thought—maybe there could be someone else. Someone who would want to be my dad. Someone who would take us both to school and hold your hand and make you smile like you used to smile in the old photos Grandma Eleanor showed me."Tears pricked at my eyes. I came around the table and pulled Iniko into my lap, holding him close even though he was g

Chapter 45INIKO"Research paper about cardiac development in utero. I'm trying to understand why some babies are born with heart defects and others aren't." Cassidy glanced at me sideways. "Sarah said you have a heart condition. Is it serious?"Most people tiptoed around my heart condition, treating it like a forbidden topic. It was refreshing—if a little uncomfortable—to have someone just ask directly."Pretty serious," I admitted. "I need a transplant, but there aren't any hearts available right now. So I just take medication and try not to do too much running or climbing or stuff like that.""That must be frustrating," Cassidy said. "Being limited by something you can't control. Not being able to do the things other kids do.""Yeah," I agreed quietly. "It really is."We sat in companionable silence for a moment, both reading our respective materials. It felt nice, sitting with someone who didn't treat me like I was fragile or broken, who just accepted the facts and moved on."Your

Chapter 47AMBERLYN"Thank you," I said, willing my voice to remain steady. "I'll do my best not to disappoint you.""I don't think that's possible," Klaus said, and there was something in his tone—something warm beneath the professional veneer—that made my stomach flutter in a way I absolutely could not afford. "Now go. Coffee first, chaos second. That's the rule."I nodded and escaped his office, grateful for the excuse to put some distance between us. Even just those few minutes alone with him had made my carefully constructed professional walls feel dangerously unstable.The café on the ground floor was already bustling with employees grabbing their morning caffeine fix. I ordered Klaus's black coffee with two sugars and my own vanilla latte with extra cream and sugar, then stood by the pickup counter trying to calm my racing heart.*This is fine*, I told myself. *You can do this. It's just a job. He's just your boss. The fact that he once made you forget your own name against lib

Chapter 49AMBERLYN"A team that's already overwhelmed with their regular responsibilities," another investor interjected. "We've seen the workload assessments, Klaus. Your people are maxed out. This project needs dedicated management."I could see Klaus's jaw tighten with frustration. He hated being challenged, hated having his capabilities questioned. I recognized the expression from college, from all those debates where someone had dared suggest he hadn't thought something through completely."The team is capable—" he tried again."Actually," I heard myself say, and immediately regretted it when everyone turned to look at me, "if I might make a suggestion?"Klaus's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he gestured for me to continue. "Go ahead, Ms. Moreau."I took a breath, hoping I wasn't about to make a catastrophic mistake on my first day. "What if we created a project management office specifically for the AI initiative? A dedicated team—even just two or three people—whose sol