Lahat ng Kabanata ng Ex-Wife Returns With Secret Baby : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

Liam didn’t sleep that night.He lay on the edge of the bed, staring at the ceiling as if answers might be written there. Elara’s words replayed in his mind—I met Adrian today. The calm way she’d said it, the honesty, the restraint. It should have eased him.Instead, it lit a fire he couldn’t put out.He told himself he wasn’t angry at Elara. He told himself this was about fear, about the past, about everything they’d lost and were still trying to rebuild. But jealousy has a way of disguising itself as righteousness, and by morning, the knot in his chest had hardened into rage.He rose early, showered in silence, dressed with sharp movements. When he entered the kitchen, Elara was already there, packing lunches for the children. The domestic normalcy only made his thoughts louder.“Morning,” she said quietly, without looking up.“Morning,” he replied, too quickly.The word hung between them like a lie.Devano shuffled in, rubbing his eyes, followed by Dirga. Leviana trailed behind, cl

“Dad…?”The small voice came from behind him, barely louder than a whisper.Liam froze.He had been sitting on the edge of the couch since dawn, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles had turned white. He hadn’t slept. The night had stretched endlessly, filled with the echo of Elara’s words and the empty space beside him that felt far louder than any argument.He turned slowly.Devano stood in the hallway, clutching his stuffed dinosaur to his chest. His hair was messy from sleep, eyes rimmed with red, as if he’d been crying quietly on his own.Liam’s chest constricted.“Hey, buddy,” Liam said softly, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Why are you up so early?”Devano didn’t answer right away. He padded across the room, bare feet silent on the floor, and stopped right in front of Liam.Then, without warning, he stepped forward and wrapped his small arms around Liam’s waist.The contact hit Liam harder than any accusation ever could.Liam sucked in

“I never planned to say this.”Adrian’s voice was calm, almost too calm, as if he had rehearsed the sentence a thousand times and still wasn’t ready. They were sitting in the small park not far from Elara’s house—the same one where children laughed during the day, now quiet under the late afternoon sky. The air smelled faintly of damp grass and fallen leaves.Elara looked up from the paper cup of tea warming her hands. “Then… don’t,” she said softly.Adrian gave a small, sad smile. “If I don’t say it now, I never will.”She felt something tighten in her chest.They sat on opposite ends of the bench, close enough to feel each other’s presence, far enough to respect an invisible line neither had crossed. Adrian had offered this meeting gently—just to talk, he had said. No pressure. No expectations.And yet, her heart had been restless the moment she agreed.“Elara,” Adrian began, turning fully toward her. His eyes were steady, sincere in a way that made her uncomfortable—not because she

The night Liam left, he didn’t slam the door.That was what frightened Elara the most.There was no argument, no sharp words cutting through the air, no footsteps pacing the hallway in frustration. Just silence—thick, unnatural silence—followed by the soft click of the front door closing somewhere in the distance.Elara noticed it too late.She was sitting on the edge of the bed, Devano already asleep beside his sister, their small breaths steady and unaware of the fracture spreading through the house. Elara stared at the wall, replaying Adrian’s confession again and again in her mind—not because she wanted to, but because her heart refused to calm down.She hadn’t even seen Liam that evening.And suddenly, the house felt… different.Too empty.“Elara?” she whispered to herself, as if saying her own name might ground her.She stood up and walked into the hallway.“Liam?” she called softly.No answer.Her chest tightened.She moved faster now, checking the living room. The kitchen. The

Elara sat on the edge of the couch, her phone resting in her palm like something fragile that might shatter if she squeezed it too hard. The screen glowed dimly in the dark living room, the clock in the corner ticking past midnight with a cruel steadiness. Every sound in the house felt louder at night—the hum of the refrigerator, the faint creak of wood as the wind brushed against the walls, the soft breathing of her children asleep down the hall.Liam still hadn’t come home.She told herself not to panic. He had left before—gone for hours to clear his head, to escape the weight of arguments that never seemed to resolve. But this felt different. There had been no slammed door, no sharp words exchanged before he disappeared. Just silence. The kind that lingered too long and left behind a hollow ache.Elara checked her phone again. No missed calls. No messages. Not even a short, careless text saying I’m fine.Her thumb hovered over his name. She wanted to call him. She wanted to hear hi