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Lahat ng Kabanata ng After the Divorce, My Billionaire Husband Lost His Mind: Kabanata 91 - Kabanata 100

102 Kabanata

Chapter 91

The smile disappeared from Elara's face.Instantly.Not dramatically.Not like someone receiving terrible news.More like someone recognizing something.A memory.A detail.A truth she'd forgotten wasn't hers alone anymore.I noticed it immediately.The hesitation.The shift.The way her eyes lingered on the questionnaire.Too long.Far too long.My stomach tightened."What is it?"Elara didn't answer right away.Instead, she reread the question.Again.And again.As though hoping the words would change.They didn't.Has anyone in either family ever experienced unexplained sudden death before age 50?Finally, she lowered the phone.Slowly.Carefully.And looked at me.The expression in her eyes told me everything I needed to know.There was something.Something important.Something I'd never heard before."Elara."My voice remained gentle."What aren't you telling me?"The question wasn't accusatory.Just honest.Because we'd spent too many years learning how dangerous assumptions cou

Chapter 92

Nobody spoke.The room seemed to shrink around the page.The words sat there.Simple.Ordinary.Impossible.For My Future Grandchildren.Elara stared at the paper as though it might disappear if she blinked.Her mother covered her mouth.I felt something tighten in my chest.Not fear.Not grief.Something else.The strange ache that comes from standing too close to love.Love that survived its owner.Love that kept moving forward through time.Slowly, carefully, Elara lowered herself into a chair.The page trembled slightly in her hands.Not because of the paper.Because of her.Because she was shaking.Her mother sat beside her.Close enough to touch.Close enough to share the moment.For several seconds, nobody urged her to read.Nobody rushed.Some things deserved patience.Eventually, she took a breath.Then another.And began."To whichever one of you finds this..."The room immediately fell silent.His voice lived inside the words.Not literally.But close enough.Close enough f

Chapter 93

Neither of us slept particularly well.Not because we were afraid.Not exactly.The problem was anticipation.Questions.Possibilities.The human brain hated unanswered questions.Especially when those questions involved children.Especially when those children hadn't even been born yet.So despite our best efforts, sleep came in fragments.Short stretches.Interrupted thoughts.Half-formed worries.By morning, we were exhausted.And pretending otherwise.The genetic counseling center occupied the third floor of a modern medical building across town.Bright.Quiet.Designed to feel reassuring.Which usually meant everyone inside was nervous.Us included.The elevator ride felt longer than it actually was.Neither of us spoke much.Elara held a folder on her lap.Inside were copies of Daniel's records.The few her mother had managed to find overnight.A death certificate.A coroner's summary.Several medical notes.Not much.Enough.Hopefully.When the elevator doors opened, a receptio

Chapter 94

For a moment, nobody moved.The city continued around us.Cars passed.People crossed intersections.A dog barked somewhere in the distance.Normal life.Ordinary life.Yet the world felt strangely still.Because the elderly man was looking directly at us.Not vaguely in our direction.Not coincidentally.Directly.At us.His smile was small.Gentle.The kind of smile grandparents gave children.The kind that somehow carried warmth without demanding anything in return.Beside me, Elara whispered:"Do you see him?"I almost laughed.Not because it was funny.Because it was such an unnecessary question."Yes."Her grip tightened around my arm."That's him."My pulse quickened."The volunteer?"She nodded immediately."Or he looks exactly like the volunteer."A pause."Mom showed me a sketch once."Another pause."And described him a hundred times."The man folded his newspaper.Slowly.Carefully.Then placed it beside him on the bench.Still smiling.Still watching us.I looked at Elara

Chapter 95

Everything inside me went cold.Instantly.The sunlight.The park.Arthur.The peaceful afternoon.Gone.Replaced by a single sentence.They found something on this morning's scan.My brain immediately did what brains do.It ran toward the worst possibility.Not the most likely possibility.The worst one.Elara looked exactly the same.Frozen.Pale.Trying not to panic.Trying and failing.I forced myself to speak."What exactly did they say?"Her fingers tightened around the phone."They didn't explain."A pause."They just said the maternal-fetal medicine team wants us back this afternoon."My stomach twisted.That wasn't enough information.Not even close."What else?""Nothing."Another pause."They said the doctor wants to discuss today's imaging in person."In person.The two most terrifying words in modern medicine.Because nobody called patients back urgently to discuss perfect results.Nobody.For several seconds neither of us moved.Then I took a slow breath.Another.Then a

Chapter 96

The man remained where he was.Motionless.Watching.Not in a threatening way.Not like a stalker.Not like someone hunting.More like someone gathering courage.The distinction mattered.Though neither Elara nor I knew it yet.Because by the time we pulled out of the parking garage, he was gone.The photograph remained in his hands.And the opportunity passed.For now.That evening, our apartment felt different.Lighter.Not carefree.Never carefree.But lighter.The hospital call that had terrified us all afternoon had ended with reassurance.Monitoring.Observation.Patience.Nothing more.For the first time in days, we allowed ourselves to breathe.Really breathe.The ultrasound image sat on the kitchen counter.Already becoming one of our favorite possessions.Every few minutes one of us would glance at it.Smile.Then pretend we hadn't.The twins.Reaching toward each other.Even before birth.Even before names.Even before we'd met them.The image felt like a promise.Not a gua

Chapter 97

Nobody spoke for several seconds.Not us.Not Margaret.The silence stretched across the phone line.Heavy.Meaningful.Dangerous.Because there were only so many reasons someone would say:I always wondered if he'd come back.None of them were casual.Elara sat upright.The photograph still clutched tightly in her hand."Mom."Her voice trembled slightly."What does that mean?"On the other end of the line, Margaret sighed.Not the sigh of someone trying to remember.The sigh of someone deciding.Deciding whether to finally tell a story she'd spent years avoiding.When she spoke again, her voice sounded older somehow.Smaller."Arthur wasn't just your father's friend."The room went completely still."He was his best friend."Neither of us expected that.Not because it was impossible.Because it was huge.Best friend.Not acquaintance.Not volunteer.Best friend.The kind of friendship that shaped entire lives.The kind of friendship that should have been mentioned.Repeatedly.The k

Chapter 98

Neither of us moved.The phone sat between us on the couch.The photograph glowing on the screen.Arthur.A grave.Jonathan Hartwell.And beneath it:He kept his promise longer than anyone knew.The room felt unnaturally quiet.The refrigerator hummed somewhere in the kitchen.Traffic moved outside.A neighbor's door closed down the hall.Normal sounds.Ordinary sounds.Yet everything felt distant.Muted.Because suddenly we had a new question.Perhaps the biggest one yet.Who sent the message?I reached for the phone.Checked the number.Nothing familiar.No saved contact.No identifying information.Just a number.Anonymous.Which immediately made me uncomfortable.Elara apparently felt the same."Can you call it?"I nodded.Already trying.The call connected.Rang once.Twice.Three times.Then voicemail.No name.No personalized greeting.Nothing.Just a generic automated message.I hung up.The silence returned.Heavier now.Elara stared at the photograph."I don't understand."N

Chapter 99

The words landed harder than I expected.Arthur says he doesn't have much time left.Not dramatic.Not theatrical.Just simple.Matter-of-fact.Which somehow made them worse.Beside me, Elara went completely still.The groundskeeper seemed to realize how his statement sounded.Because he immediately added:"Oh, he's not dying today."A pause."At least I don't think so."Not particularly reassuring.The man winced.Apparently realizing that too."I'm not helping.""No."Elara managed a weak smile."Not really."The groundskeeper sighed.Then leaned against the handle of his maintenance cart."Arthur talks."A pause."Mostly to strangers."Another pause."Sometimes to birds."That earned a tiny laugh.Unexpected.Necessary.The groundskeeper continued."He mentioned doctors recently."A pause."Appointments."Another."Tests."The smile disappeared from Elara's face.Immediately.Because lately everything seemed connected to doctors.Hospitals.Tests.Waiting rooms.Life had become sur

Chapter 100

The world seemed to narrow.Not the room.Not the building.Just the moment.Everything else faded.Because there were certain sentences that immediately changed the shape of a conversation.Your father asked me to stay away.This was one of them.Elara stared at Arthur.Completely motionless.I wasn't doing much better.Because that sentence contradicted everything.Every assumption.Every story.Every conclusion we'd reached.Arthur looked toward the community room.The people inside.The laughter.The life.Then back toward us.His expression had changed.The warmth remained.But something heavier sat beneath it.Something old.Something carried."Would you walk with me?"Neither of us answered.We simply nodded.A few minutes later we were outside.Moving slowly through the gardens surrounding Saint Gabriel's.The afternoon sun hung low.Golden.Soft.The kind of light photographers loved.The kind of light that made memories feel close.Arthur walked carefully.Not fragile.Just

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