All Chapters of Tangled Desires: Ex Husband Wants Me Back : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

AVA MAXWELL’S POVThe guest room was dark, save for the sliver of moonlight cutting through the curtains I had drawn hours ago. The air was stale, heavy with the scent of my own misery—salt tears, untouched food, and the suffocating weight of silence.I lay curled on the unfamiliar mattress, my knees pulled to my chest, my hand resting protectively over my stomach.A brother.The thought looped in my mind like a sick, twisted mantra. My baby—this tiny, fragile miracle I had only just begun to celebrate had a brother. A three-year-old brother with Jerome’s eyes, Jerome’s jawline, and Jerome’s DNA flowing through his veins.The paper Adrian had delivered lay on the floor where I had dropped it hours ago. I didn’t need to look at it again. The numbers were burned into my retinas.99.9998%.There was no margin for error. No room for doubt. Science didn’t lie. Men did.Jerome had lied.He had looked me in the eye, sworn on our unborn child’s life, and lied.A fresh wave of nausea rolled th

Jerome's POVI signaled Dr. Marcus.He stepped forward with the swabs and the needles."I want blood," I said. "Saliva is too easy to fake. Blood."Elena gasped. "He's just a baby! You can't stick him with a needle!""It's a prick," I said coldly. "He'll survive."I watched like a hawk. I watched Marcus clean the boy's arm. I watched the needle go in. I watched the boy cry—a sharp, high-pitched wail that twisted something uncomfortable in my gut. I hated hearing it. It triggered an instinct I didn't want to have.Stop it, I told myself. He's a plant. He's a prop.But he looked so much like me.Marcus drew two vials. He labeled them in front of me. He handed one to me."I'm taking this to the lab myself," I announced."Standard procedure requires—" Blackwood started."I am the procedure," I cut him off.I turned to Elena. She was comforting the boy, whispering in his ear. She looked up at me, and for a second, the mask slipped.There was no love in her eyes. No hurt. There was only gre

JEROME’S POVThe silence in the east wing was heavy, a physical weight that pressed against my chest and made every breath a conscious effort. Outside the uncurtained windows, the sky had shifted from the harsh brightness of the afternoon to the bruised purples and greys of twilight, marking the passage of time in a slow, agonizing crawl.I hadn’t moved from my spot on the floor. My back was pressed against the drywall, my legs extended in front of me, numb from the hard surface. But I couldn’t bring myself to shift, to seek comfort. Comfort felt like a luxury I didn’t deserve, not while my entire world hung in the balance.Across from me, Ava was sleeping.She had collapsed against the opposite wall hours ago, her body finally giving in to the exhaustion of grief. She was curled into a tight ball, her knees pulled to her chest, her cheek resting on her arm. Even in sleep, her face was etched with pain, her brow furrowed, her lips parted slightly as she took shallow, uneven breaths.

AVA MAXWELL’S POVThe first thing I registered was the weight.It was a heavy, comforting pressure draped over my waist; a thick, muscular arm that anchored me to the mattress. Then came the heat, radiating from the solid wall of chest pressed against my back. And finally, the scent sandalwood, musk, and the faint, lingering metallic tang of the cool night air clinging to his skin.Jerome was back.I didn’t open my eyes immediately. I lay there in the quiet of the morning, letting the reality of his presence wash over me. For the last twenty-four hours, waking up had felt like a punishment, a return to a world where my marriage was crumbling and my husband was a stranger. But today… today the air felt different. The crushing heaviness of betrayal was gone, replaced by a tentative, fragile peace.He hadn’t cheated. The boy wasn’t his.I shifted slightly, and Jerome’s arm tightened instantly, a reflex even in his sleep. He pulled me closer, burying his face in the crook of my neck, his

Jerome's POV​“What is this?” I asked.​“A lifeline,” Vane said smoothly. “I’m offering to buy a controlling interest in Parker Enterprises. Fifty-one percent. I’ll take the company private for a year, stabilize the stock, handle the PR nightmare. You stay on as CEO—in name, at least. Ava keeps her seat on the board. You get a massive infusion of cash to settle with this Elena woman and make her go away.”​“You want to buy my company,” I said flatly. “For pennies on the dollar.”​“I want to save it,” Vane corrected. He walked over to the fireplace, admiring the painting hanging above it. “Your father was stubborn too, you know. Back in the day. He refused to see when the tide was turning. He held on too tight.”​He turned back to look at me, a strange glint in his eye.​“He paid the price for that stubbornness.”​The air in the room shifted. It grew colder, sharper.​Ava stepped forward. “What does that mean?”​Vane smiled at her. It wasn’t a nice smile anymore. “It means, my dear, th