ON YOUR KNEES, EX-HUSBAND のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

Xavier~I could barely breathe.Or maybe it was just the weight pressing against my chest that made everything feel too tight, too stiff. I sat behind my desk, fingers drumming impatiently against the polished wood as I stared at the two nannies standing before me.They looked exhausted.I saw how hard they tried not to let it show, but failed very miserably at it. One of them even had visible dark circles around her puffy eyes. It was clear they'd both gotten little to no sleep.And I already knew why.“Ryan barely touched his food again today, sir,” one of them said cautiously, her hands clasped in front of her like she was bracing for impact.The other nodded. “He cries a lot. Especially at night. Sometimes during the day too. We try everything, but nothing seems to calm him.”My jaw tightened.Over a week.It had been over a damn week since Carla was sent away. In my mind, that should have been enough time. Children adapt. They easily forget. That’s what logic said.Yet...“He ke

Carla~The first thing I learned about St. Louis asylum was that time never moved forward.It only circled, every second dragging way longer than it was supposed to.I didn’t know how long I’d been on the floor when the door screeched open. The sound alone sliced through my skull, sharp and merciless. Light spilled into the cell, blinding after the darkness, and I flinched instinctively.However I wasn’t given enough time to brace myself before hands suddenly grabbed me.Rough, impatient hands picked me off the cold floor like I was some object about to be used.I was dragged up before my knees could lock, my bare feet scraping against the concrete as they hauled me into the corridor. The straitjacket cut into my arms, restraining every fight I might still have in me...which wasn't much, by the way.“Move,” one of them barked, causing me to flinch and stumble. Someone laughed.We passed the other cells; faces pressed to bars, eyes too dead or too alive. Some whispered, some screamed.

Xavier~I don’t remember who screamed first.All I remember is the sound; the shrill cry cutting through the hallway as I shoved the door open.Ryan.He was on the bed, too still for a child who almost never stopped moving. His skin was blotched, flushed in angry red patches, his small chest rising too fast, too shallow. His lips were swelling. His eyes reflected the discomfort he was feeling even as he was too exhausted to voice out.“Peanuts,” one of the nannies cried. “We...we didn’t know, sir. He just...he took one bite...”I didn’t wait for the rest.My body moved before my mind caught up. I crossed the room in only a few strides and scooped him up, his weight light in my arms in a way that terrified me more than anything else.“Ryan,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady even as my pulse roared in my ears. “Hey. Look at me, champ.”His fingers clawed weakly at my shirt.“Daddy,” he rasped.That single word hit me like a brick to the chest.“Call the doctor,” I barked over m

Carla~“Where are we going?”My voice broke the steady hum of the engine as I shifted in the backseat, fingers twisting together in my lap. Damian didn’t answer immediately.He remained seated beside me, one leg crossed over the other, a newspaper spread open in his hands like this was just another ordinary morning for him. He glanced up at me over the edge of the paper, a slow, knowing smile tugging at his lips.“Don’t worry,” he said easily. “You’ll see soon.”That was it. No further explanation or details whatsoever.I studied his face for a moment, searching for something, anything. But all I saw was calm confidence. The kind that came from being in control of everything around him.With a quiet sigh, I leaned back against the seat, conceding defeat for now. Pressing my head lightly against the window, I watched the city pass by in a blur of movement and color. Streets I barely recognized. Buildings too tall, too sleek. People who looked like they all knew exactly where they were

Xavier~My grip tightened around the phone until my I could almost hear it crack.“What do you mean she’s gone?” I snarled, my voice low and dangerous as I stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office. The city sprawled beneath me, calm and indifferent, oblivious to the storm raging inside my chest.There was a pause on the other end of the line.Then, nervously, “Sir… she was released.”Released?That word made no sense to me. How can an asylum possibly release one of their patients just like that?“You don’t release someone like her,” I snapped. “You were paid very well to make sure she stayed exactly where she belonged. So I’ll ask again, how did this happen?”Another, much longer pause this time. I was almost losing the little I had left of my patience.“Our hands were tied, Mr. Lockwood,” the man said carefully. “The order didn’t come from us. We had no legal grounds to keep her once he intervened.”My jaw clenched.“He?” I repeated. “Who is he?”For a split second, I w