Semua Bab He Wants Me More After Divorce: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Karl’s POVI sat in my car outside the bar and stared at the neon sign flickering in the window. Inside was Sarah, waiting for our rescheduled date.The date I’d originally planned for the night of Harrison’s dinner. The one I’d cancelled when Estelle called and asked me to come play her husband for the evening.I’d loved Estelle since second year when she borrowed my chemistry notes.I’d watched her copy them in the library that afternoon, her hair falling in her face every few minutes until she’d push it back again, the tip of her tongue visible between her teeth when she was trying to decipher my terrible handwriting. Then I’d watched her fall for Harrison and I’d never told her how I felt.Now I was pretending to be her husband, playing house while none of it was real, and when Chloe had called me Daddy, it killed me a little more because she wasn’t mine and Estelle wasn’t mine and I was living in a fantasy I’d built myself.I’d met Sarah at a hospital fundraiser a week ago. Prett

Lyndsey’s POVMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I stared at my phone screen, reading the message again.I know what you did seven years ago. I know about Lucas. We need to talk.Karl. It was from Karl.I read it again, willing the words to change, to rearrange themselves into something harmless.They didn’t.I couldn’t breathe right. Short gasps that didn’t fill my lungs. The phone slipped in my sweaty palm and I grabbed it tighter, read it one more time.I know about Lucas.Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.I threw off the covers and stumbled out of bed, nearly tripped over my own feet. The hallway was dark and I didn’t bother with lights, just ran toward Claire’s room at the far end. My heart hammered so hard I thought I might throw up.I didn’t knock. Just shoved the door open and burst in.Claire sat up instantly, reaching for the bedside lamp. She switched it on and the room lit up. She blinked at me, her face going from confusion to fury in half a second.“What on earth—”I couldn’t

Estelle’s POVI stumbled through my apartment door and dropped my bag on the floor where it landed with a thud.Every part of me hurt. I’d been awake for over twenty-four hours straight and my body felt like it weighed twice what it should.Daisy appeared from the kitchen before I’d even kicked my shoes off. “How’s Lucas?”“Stable,” I said, bending down to yank at my shoe laces. “He’ll be okay.”She leaned against the doorframe and I could feel her watching me even though I wasn’t looking at her.“And you?”I straightened up and the question made something crack open inside me. I walked over to the sofa and dropped onto it heavily, staring at my hands in my lap.How was I supposed to answer that?“Every time I’m with him I feel like I’m supposed to be there,” I said finally, quietly. “Like he’s mine.”The moment I spoke, everything became real and I knew how crazy I sounded. Daisy came over and sat down next to me.“That’s just maternal instinct—”“No,” I interrupted, shaking my head h

Harrison’s POVI booked the room right there on my phone, grabbed the whiskey bottle, and left the house without telling anyone where I was going.The Meridian’s lobby was quiet and nearly empty this late. I checked in quickly at the front desk, took the lift up to the fifth floor, and let myself into room 504. It was anonymous and clean and impersonal. Just a bed and a desk and a window.I sat down on the edge of the bed with the whiskey bottle between my knees and checked my phone again. Still no response from Estelle.She wasn’t coming. Of course she wasn’t coming. Why would she come?I’d thrown her out of my house a week ago. I kept hurting her over and over, kept destroying her bit by bit.I drank more whiskey and watched the minutes tick by slowly on the digital clock next to the bed. Every sound in the hallway outside made me look up hopefully. Every time, it wasn’t her.I was starting to accept it, starting to feel how pathetic this whole thing was, when someone knocked on the

Estelle’s POVMy eyes opened slowly, and everything felt wrong before I even knew where I was.Not my bedroom. Not my ceiling. Hotel room—why was I in a hotel room?Then I remembered. Harrison’s texts, the wine I’d poured myself after reading them, the taxi, the hotel room door opening, his face when he saw me standing there.Oh god. Oh god, I slept with Harrison.I sat bolt upright and immediately regretted it, my head pounding so hard my vision swam. My mouth tasted sour and dry, my stomach lurching with every small movement.I looked down at myself—naked, tangled in white hotel sheets that smelled like his cologne and sweat and us—and then I looked beside me.Harrison lay on his stomach, one arm still stretched toward where I’d been lying, his face half-buried in the pillow. He looked peaceful, completely relaxed, his breathing slow and even, and he had absolutely no idea I was falling apart two feet away from him.I had a life I’d built from nothing, and I’d thrown all of it away f