Lahat ng Kabanata ng RECLAIMING HIS EX WIFE : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

It started with a fever.Not the dramatic kind that sends parents running to emergency rooms, but the subtle, unsettling kind that made Isabella pause when she pressed her lips to Juan’s forehead before bed.“You’re warm,” she murmured.Juan groaned softly, curling deeper into his blankets. “I’m sleepy.”She brushed his hair back gently. “I’ll get you some water.”By midnight, the fever hadn’t broken.By two a.m., Juan was shivering.By three, he was crying in his sleep.Isabella sat beside him, heart pounding, wiping his forehead with a cool cloth. She had cared for him through colds, scrapes, and the occasional flu, but something about this felt different.Wrong.She stood quietly and stepped into the hallway.Nolan was already awake.He stood near the window, phone in hand, tension etched into his posture like it had been carved there.“He’s not well,” Isabella said.Nolan turned instantly. “What’s wrong?”“Fever. Chills. He won’t stop crying.”Nolan followed her back to the room w

Nathan didn’t stay.Not at first.After agreeing to the tests, he left the hospital without another word, hands shoved into the pockets of his worn jacket, shoulders tight as if holding himself together by sheer force.Isabella watched him go through the glass doors, rain blurring his silhouette until he disappeared completely.Her chest felt hollow.“He didn’t even say goodbye,” she murmured.Nolan stood beside her, jaw clenched. “He doesn’t owe me politeness.”She didn’t answer.She was thinking about what Nathan did owe them.And how terrifying it was that they were waiting on the mercy of a man who hated the world they belonged to.The tests took two days.Two long, unbearable days.Juan was quieter than usual, his small body exhausted, his laughter softer, his eyes less bright. Isabella barely left his side. Nolan barely slept.Nathan came and went silently, allowing blood draws, scans, and consultations without complaint—but without warmth.He didn’t speak to Nolan unless necess

Isabella couldn’t breathe.The phone trembled in her hand as she stared at the screen. Nolan knelt on a concrete floor, hands bound behind his back, shirt torn and stained with blood. His head was bowed, dark hair falling into his eyes.But he was alive.For now.Her knees threatened to give out.Juan whimpered softly behind her. “Mommy…?”The man tightened his grip on her wrist. Not hard. Just enough to remind her he could.“Don’t scream,” he murmured. “Not in front of the child.”Her heart pounded so violently she thought it might tear itself apart.“What do you want?” she whispered.The man smiled. “Not money.”Her breath hitched.“Money is boring,” he continued. “Money doesn’t make people bleed the right way.”She swallowed hard. “Then what?”“Choices,” he said.She shook her head. “You don’t want me. You want him.”“Oh, no,” he said softly. “We already have him.”Her vision blurred.“This,” he continued, tapping the phone screen, “is about you.”Her chest tightened painfully. “Wh

The sound of the monitor tore through the warehouse like a scream.High. Shrill. Unforgiving.Isabella barely understood what it meant at first—only that it was wrong. Horribly wrong.“Nolan?” she whispered, gripping his face, her hands slick with his blood. “Nolan, look at me. Please—”He didn’t respond.His head lolled slightly to the side, lashes fluttering, lips pale.The medics surged forward, pulling her back gently but firmly.“Ma’am, we need space.”“No,” she sobbed, clinging to him. “Don’t touch him—don’t—”Nathan grabbed her shoulders, holding her upright.“Isabella,” he said sharply, forcing her to look at him. “They need to work.”Her chest felt like it was collapsing.She nodded weakly and let herself be pulled back, though every part of her screamed to stay.The medics moved with terrifying speed.Defibrillator.Oxygen.Commands snapped back and forth.Nolan’s body jerked as they shocked him.Once.Twice.Nothing.Isabella’s vision blurred completely.“This can’t be happ

The door slammed.The sound echoed through the house like a gunshot.Isabella spun around, heart slamming violently against her ribs. Her hand flew to the handle. She twisted.Locked.Her phone trembled in her hand.“Nolan,” she whispered. “The door just—”“I heard it,” he said, voice sharp. “Get out of the house. Now.”“I can’t,” she whispered. “It’s locked.”Silence crackled through the line.“Isabella,” Nolan said slowly, dangerously calm, “listen to me very carefully. Walk backward. Don’t turn around. Don’t run.”Her breath came in short, panicked bursts.“I’m scared,” she whispered.“I know,” he said. “I’ve got you.”She took a step back.Then another.The living room felt wrong.Too still.Too staged.Her eyes flicked to the walls.The message was still there.YOU DIDN’T CHOOSE WRONG.Her chest tightened painfully.“Nolan,” she whispered. “They were here.”“I know,” he replied. “Security cameras show movement thirty minutes ago.”Her stomach dropped. “They were waiting for me.”