All Chapters of The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back): Chapter 331 - Chapter 340

MARY'S POV:I tried again but nothing. Again and once again, nothing.His phone was unreachable, or he was ignoring me, or he had turned it off entirely. I didn't know which was worse.I stared at my phone, my thumb hovering over his name, and I felt something cold settle into my stomach. He wasn't coming. He wasn't answering. He was out there somewhere, maybe with her, while I was here trying to protect our daughter from the consequences of his choices.I put the phone down and walked back to the living room.Elowen was still on the couch, still wrapped in the blanket, still staring at the television. But her eyes were glassy, unfocused, and I knew she wasn't really watching."Mommy," she said, her voice small. "Who were those people?""Nobody, baby. Just some people who made a mistake.""Why did they shout at you?"I knelt down in front of her and took her hands. They were cold, even in mine."Because sometimes people believe things that aren't true," I said. "And sometimes they get

MARY'S POV:The door slammed shut behind me, and the sound echoed off the concrete walls like a gunshot.I stood in the middle of the cell, my arms wrapped around myself, my eyes adjusting to the dim fluorescent light that flickered overhead. The floor was gray concrete, stained in places I didn't want to look at too closely. The walls were the same, gray, cold, covered in scratches and markings left by people who had been here before me. A metal bench bolted to the wall. A toilet without a seat with a sink that dripped.And the others.There were four of them. Women, but not like any women I had ever been in a room with. They wore matching orange jumpsuits, the jumpsuits they gave to people who had been convicted and not just detained. Their hair was matted, their eyes hard, their bodies covered in tattoos that snaked up their arms and necks like vines.Gang members. I had seen enough news reports to recognize the symbols, the postures, the way they looked at me like I was prey.This

MARY'S POV:"That's him, isn't it?" The woman with braids leaned closer, her breath warm against my ear. "That's who paid for this little vacation. Your own husband. What did you do to make him so mad, sweetheart?""Nothing," I said. "I didn't do anything.""Everyone does something.""He's the one—" I stopped myself. I wasn't going to tell them about Vesper. I wasn't going to tell them about the party, about the photos, about the way my husband had looked at another woman like she was the sun. That was mine. That pain was mine, and I wasn't going to share it with strangers who would only use it against me."He's the one what?" the tall one prompted."Nothing.""Doesn't sound like nothing."I pressed my back against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm done talking."They didn't like that.The circling stopped. The tall one stepped closer, close enough that I could see the individual hairs in her eyebrows, the small scar above her lip, the yellowing of her teeth when she sm

MARY'S POV:"Stop!"The voice was sharp and commanding and cutting through the cell like a blade.The tall one froze. Her fist hung in the air, inches from my face.Everyone turned toward the door.I lay on the cold concrete, my back screaming, my torn blouse hanging loose, my breath caught somewhere between my throat and my chest. I couldn't see who had spoken. The flickering fluorescent light cast strange shadows, and my eyes were still blurred from the tears I had been holding back.But I heard footsteps, heavy.The police officer who had been watching through the window—the one who had looked away when I needed him—suddenly straightened up. His hand went to his belt, then fell away. His mouth opened, then closed."Sir, you can't be in here—""Open the door."The voice was familiar.I knew it from somewhere but it was not from years ago or was it from a memory wrapped in nostalgia but from recently. From a morning that felt like a lifetime ago, when a man in a leather jacket had wa

ALISTAIR'S POV:The afternoon light slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, casting long shadows across the polished marble floor. I stood with my back to the room, my phone pressed against my ear, staring out at the city skyline.Vesper's voice came through the speaker, soft and worried, the way she always sounded when she was talking about something that troubled her. She had come to my office an hour ago, upset about something she had seen online, posts from her fans, messages they had received, comments that had turned ugly."Some of them are really scared, Alistair," she was saying. "They reached out to me because they didn't know what to do. They said your wife has been leaving hostile comments on their pages. Accusing them and threatening them."I frowned, my reflection in the glass frowning back at me. "Mary?""I know it's hard to believe. I didn't want to believe it either. But they sent me screenshots." Her voice caught slightly, the way it always did when