All Chapters of TRAPPED AS THE CEO'S ex-wife : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Lena's POV The next day, I was excited to go to work.I did not even know why. That was the funny part. It made no sense. Work had never excited me before, not even on my first day. But that morning, as I stood in front of the mirror fixing my hair and smoothing my blouse, there was a lightness in my chest that felt unfamiliar.Maybe it was because I would see Lucian.Maybe it was because for the first time in a long while, I felt like my life was moving forward instead of circling around old pain.When I got to the office, Lucian was not around. His chair was empty, his jacket missing from the backrest. I tried not to feel disappointed. I reminded myself that he was busy, that he was the CEO, that my world could not revolve around his presence.So I focused on work.I arranged files, sorted documents, aligned folders until everything was neat and perfect. Eventually, I walked over to his desk to organize the stack of papers there. That was when I noticed something that made my steps

Lena’s POVMonday came faster than I expected.I woke up with that strange feeling of calm sitting heavy in my chest. Not happiness exactly. Not peace either. Just acceptance. Lucian had already told me he would not be around much today. He mentioned taking Tara somewhere important, and I did not ask questions. I surprised myself by not wanting to. For once, my life felt like it was moving forward instead of circling the same pain.I dressed neatly, tied my hair back, and looked at myself in the mirror longer than usual.You are fine, Lena. You are okay.And I meant it.By the time I arrived at the company, the building already buzzed with noise. Too much noise for a Monday morning. People were clustered in small groups, whispering, laughing nervously, straightening clothes and fixing hair like a celebrity had just walked in.I was heading toward my desk when someone slammed into my shoulder.“Ouch.”The girl barely stopped before spinning around. Laney.“What is your problem?” I snapp

Lena’s POVXander refused to leave my head.No matter how hard I tried to shake him off, he stayed there, planted like a stubborn stain I could not scrub away. I replayed his voice, his eyes, the way he stood too close like he still had some claim over me. It annoyed me. It hurt me. It exhausted me.By the time I got off work, my mind felt heavy, like I had spent the entire day carrying a weight that was not even mine anymore.I drove toward my apartment, fingers gripping the steering wheel a little tighter than usual. Halfway there, I remembered I was out of a few things. Bread. Tea. Milk. Some fruits. Things I would probably not touch tonight but needed to buy anyway just to feel normal.I pulled into the grocery store parking lot and stepped out of the car, forcing myself to breathe slowly. In and out. I refused to let him ruin my evening too.Inside the store, the air was cool and smelled faintly of cleaning supplies and ripe fruits. I grabbed a basket and moved through the aisles,

Xander’s POVI knew it.From the moment I walked back into that conference room and saw the way Lucian’s hand hovered too close to Lena’s waist, the way they froze like guilty children caught doing something forbidden, I knew something was going on between them.And it pissed me off more than I was willing to admit.How many weeks had it been since our marriage ended? Not even enough time for the dust to settle, not enough time for the ache in my chest to fade. And yet there she was, letting another man touch her, smile at her like he had earned that right.The thought made my blood boil.I had noticed it before. The way she looked at Lucian when she thought no one was watching. The subtle tension between them. The stolen glances. The way she stiffened whenever I was around him.I had caught them in moments that were too close to be innocent.Something was definitely happening.And I was going to confirm it.Because if I found out that Lucian Valentino was truly involved with my wife,

Lena's POV The next day, my thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone.No matter how much I tried to focus on work, on emails, on schedules, on files neatly stacked on Lucian’s desk, Tara’s voice kept replaying in my head. Be one thing, not both. Dirty. Messy. Her words had sunk deeper than I wanted to admit.Maybe she was right.Maybe dating my boss while also being his personal assistant was crossing a line I pretended not to see. Maybe it made me look weak. Or dependent. Or worse, like I was riding on Lucian’s power instead of standing on my own feet.But then another thought pushed back just as hard.I wanted to be independent.I needed to be independent.I had already lost myself once in a marriage where I shrank to fit into someone else’s priorities. I refused to do that again. This job mattered to me. I earned it. I worked for it. Lucian didn’t hand it to me out of pity or attraction. And my feelings for him… those were mine too.What business was it of Tara Valentino anyway?Lucian was