All Chapters of TRAPPED AS THE CEO'S ex-wife : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Lena’s POVI woke up slowly, the room still wrapped in that quiet, heavy warmth that comes after a night that lingers on your skin.Lucian was still asleep beside me.For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting the reality sink in. I hadn’t felt like that in years—wanted, touched with intention, not rushed or treated like an afterthought. Xander never had time. There was always a meeting, a call, a deadline. Even when he was physically there, his mind wasn’t.Maybe that was why our marriage had withered the way it did.I swallowed and carefully sat up, my body protesting softly as I stood. I ignored it, padding slowly to the bathroom. The mirror reflected a woman who looked… different. Not younger. Not prettier. Just awake. Alive.I cleaned up quickly, splashed water on my face, and tied my hair back, trying to steady the rush of thoughts in my head.When I stepped back into the room, Lucian was awake, sitting up against the headboard, phone in hand.“Hey,” he said,

Lena's POV I drove back to Harrington’s Company that evening with one purpose in mind. To return the files I had taken home in a hurry that morning. The building was quieter than usual, the kind of silence that settled after a long day of power plays and polished smiles. The lights in the executive wing were still on, though. That alone told me someone important was still around.I stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway toward my office. My footsteps echoed, slow and deliberate. I was already tired, already irritable, and not in the mood for anything unexpected. Lena had been on my mind all day. Her smile in the morning. The way she had looked at me like she was still unsure if she was allowed to want something good. I intended to finish my work and go home. Nothing more.When I pushed the door open, I immediately knew I was not alone.Alexander Knight was standing inside my office, his back to me, facing the wide glass window that overlooked the city. His hands were

Lucian's POV I woke up late that morning, the kind of late that only happens when sleep keeps running away from you all night and finally gives up out of pity. The house was quiet in that hollow way it always was when my thoughts were louder than anything else. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, replaying last night over and over like a punishment I could not escape.Lena’s face.Her tears.That picture.I pushed myself out of bed and moved through the house on autopilot. Today was supposed to be a free day. No meetings. No calls. No pressure. But my chest felt tight, like I was still sitting in that rain-soaked car outside her apartment, gripping the steering wheel and wondering how everything had gone wrong so fast.Tara was already awake. I could hear her downstairs, the clink of a mug against the counter, music playing softly from her phone. She always filled spaces with noise. It was her way of avoiding silence.“You look like hell,” she said when she saw me walk into the k

Lena’s POVI kept replaying the words in my head.I love you.They echoed louder than the chaos around me, louder than the sound of my own heartbeat. I stood there, frozen in Lucian’s office, staring at nothing in particular while everything inside me unraveled.Xander had never said those words to me.Not once.Not when we were married.Not when we were falling apart.Not even when I begged him to fight for us.But Lucian had said it—not dramatically, not loudly—but with that quiet certainty that made it feel terrifyingly real.Lucian noticed the way I drifted, the way my eyes lost focus. He reached for my hand, squeezing it gently. “Hey,” he said softly. “Don’t worry.”I looked up at him, my throat tight. “I’m scared,” I admitted. “Scared that I’ve ruined everything. Scared that you’ll wake up one day and realize I’m… too much.”He studied my face for a moment, then sighed. “Come here.”He pulled me into his arms before I could overthink it. He hugged me tightly, protectively, like h

Xander’s POVIt hurt.Not the sharp kind of pain that hits once and fades. This was the slow, crushing kind—the kind that sat heavy on my chest and made every breath feel deliberate. The kind that followed me even when I closed my eyes.She chose him.The way Lena stood beside Lucian… the way she held his arm like it belonged there. The way she looked at me—not with longing, not with confusion—but with resolve. As if she had already crossed a line I could no longer reach.And when she said it~My happiness doesn’t lie with you anymore~something inside me cracked.I should have been there.That was the cruelest truth of all.I stood behind my desk at my company, staring at documents that blurred together without meaning. Contracts. Numbers. Projections. All things I’d once cared about deeply. All things that had mattered more to me than anything else.Including her.The irony was bitter. I was doing most of my work now not even here—but at Harrington Company. In Lucian Valentino’s terr