All Chapters of Divorce ME Look Who Wants Me Back Now : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Hailey's POV The week passed in aching silence.Maxwell and I moved through the penthouse like ghosts. He'd take Gio to school while I buried myself in board preparation. I'd handle bedtime while he worked late in his office. We existed in separate orbits, carefully avoiding collision.His ultimatum echoed constantly.I hadn't decided. I couldn't decide. I was too terrified of making the wrong decision.Now I stood outside the boardroom, Christina beside me, watching board members file in with expressions ranging from sympathetic to calculating."Ready?" Christina asked.I wasn't. But I nodded anyway."Stay calm." She said quietly. "Don't let Denis provoke you. Stick to facts.""I know.""Hailey." She touched my arm. "You've earned this. Don't forget that."I walked into the boardroom.Denis sat at the far end like a predator who'd already tasted blood. Tiana sat in the gallery, not a board member, but clearly invited as family representation. Her smile was cold when she saw me.Maxw

Hailey's POV  The headlines hit the next morning. "Power Couple Takes Joint Control: Ramsey-Kingston Alliance Strengthens Company Leadership" "Board Vote Solidifies Married CEOs' Position" Ramsey Industries' New Era: Husband-Wife Leadership Team" I stared at my laptop screen, coffee going cold in my hand. The media had spun Maxwell's vote as strategic partnership. A united front. Power couple goals. If only they knew the truth. We hadn't spoken since the boardroom. Hadn't been in the same room except to coordinate Gio's morning routine in painful, stilted exchanges that felt like negotiations between strangers. "I'll take him to school." "Fine. I'll pick him up." "Strategy meeting at ten." "I'll be there." It was professional, eff

Hailey's POV I woke to the sound of Gio's laughter coming from the kitchen.For one blissful second, I forgot. Forgot the confrontation, forgot Maxwell's hollow voice, forgot that today we were signing papers that would formalize the end of everything.Then reality crashed back, and my chest felt like it was caving in.I forced myself out of bed, pulling on a robe with shaking hands. The clock read 7:15 AM. I'd gotten maybe two hours of sleep. My eyes were swollen from crying, my throat raw.But I had to face him. Had to pretend everything was fine for Gio. Had to sign away whatever we'd had.The kitchen smelled like pancakes. Gio was perched on a stool at the island, syrup-covered and grinning, while Maxwell stood at the stove flipping another pancake with mechanical precision.He didn't look at me when I entered."Mommy!" Gio's face lit up. "Daddy made dinosaur pancakes! Look, this one's a T-Rex!""That's great, baby." My voice sounded foreign even to my own ears.Maxwell slid the

Hailey's POV I woke to gray light filtering through the curtains and the immediate, crushing weight of what today was.The hearing.My phone read 6:47 AM. I'd managed maybe three hours of sleep, and those had been filled by nightmares of losing Gio, of watching him being taken away while I stood frozen, unable to speak.The week since Christina's office had been hell.We'd practiced. Standing in the living room after Gio went to bed, rehearsing answers to devastating questions while carefully maintaining two feet of distance between us. Maxwell's voice clinical and hollow. Mine shaking. Both of us dying inside."Are you in love with your husband, Mrs. Kingston?""Yes.""Look at him when you say it."I'd looked. He'd looked back. And the pain in his eyes had been so raw I'd had to look away.We'd gotten better at faking it. Or at least, we thought we had.But I knew the truth: we were walking into that courtroom already defeated.I forced myself out of bed, my hands shaking as I pulle

Hailey's POV The house came into view, and my chest tightened so hard I couldn't breathe.Maxwell pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. Neither of us moved.Through the front windows, I could see movement, Susan probably, or maybe Gio himself, waiting for us to come home."How do we do this?" My voice came out broken.Maxwell's hands were still on the steering wheel, knuckles white. "I don't know."We sat in the terrible silence, the weight of what we had to do crushing down."We just tell him the truth," he said finally. "In terms he can understand.""And if he asks why?" My voice cracked. "If he asks why he has to leave?"Maxwell's jaw clenched. "We tell him the judge said so. That it's not his fault. That we love him."That it's our fault. That we failed him. That we destroyed our marriage and handed him over in the process.But we couldn't say that."Okay." I unbuckled my seatbelt with shaking hands. "Okay."We walked to the front door like we were walking to an execution.