Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE BARREN EX-WIFE WHO CAME BACK: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

SEBASTIAN'S POV My breath caught in my throat. I saw it happen through the glass. The kiss. My hands clenched into fists on my desk, every muscle in my body going rigid as I watched Nicholas press Vanessa against the wall of his office across the hall. Anger burned through my veins like acid. But I couldn't show it. Not with the transparent glass walls that let everyone see everything. Not when Nicholas and half the executive floor could probably see my reaction right now. I forced myself to look away, to focus on the documents spread across my desk. But I couldn't stop myself from looking back. Damn. Vanessa looked... incredible in that gown. That emerald green dress hugged every curve of her body—her full breasts, her narrow waist, the flare of her hips, that ass that the fabric clung to like a second skin. She'd always been beautiful, but now she was something else entirely. When had she become even more stunning? Seven years ago, she'd been pretty in a girl-next-door

SEBASTIAN'S POV Damn, Vanessa was hot. My Ex-wife had really returned smoking hot! Even in my shock at running into her, I couldn't help but notice how incredible she looked up close. The emerald dress that had driven me crazy from across the hall was even more devastating in person. The way it hugged her curves, the way the fabric clung to her full breasts and that perfect ass, the way her perfume—something expensive and intoxicating that I didn't recognize—filled the small space between us. Vanessa's eyes went wide as she stumbled back a step, her hand flying to her chest. "What the hell are you doing in the women's restroom?" she demanded, her voice sharp with disgust and shock. "Are you stalking me now? Have you turned into some kind of pervert, Sebastian?" "I walked in by mistake," I said, my voice coming out rougher than I intended. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going—" "Of course you weren't," she cut me off, her eyes flashing with contempt. "You never pay att

VANESSA'S POV A week had passed since that terrible confrontation in the women's restroom at Lancaster Global Industries. A week since Sebastian had cornered me against the wall and demanded to know if Elijah was his son. A week since I'd said those awful things to Nicholas and watched him walk away. We hadn't spoken since. Not really. Oh, we'd been forced to interact, of course. There had been fake romance photoshoots for Vogue and Forbes. Interviews with business magazines and society publications. Everyone wanted to see the new power couple in town—Nicholas and Vanessa Lancaster, the billionaire husband and his perfect wife who were taking the city by storm. We'd generated quite the buzz. The media loved us. The society pages couldn't get enough of us. Everywhere we went, cameras followed, capturing our perfectly coordinated outfits, our carefully practiced smiles, our staged displays of affection. To the world, we were the perfect couple. Behind closed doors, Nicholas had

VANESSA'S POV I don't know how long I stood there staring at the closed door, but my legs felt weak and everything hurt in a way I hadn't expected. I finally moved to sit on the edge of the bed, pressing my hands to my face as the reality of what had just happened crashed over me. What had I done? A soft knock at the door made me look up, and I quickly wiped at my eyes even though I knew it was useless. "Mrs. Vanessa?" Thomas, our driver, stood in the doorway with his usual professional posture. "I'm sorry to disturb you." "It's fine, Thomas." I forced my voice to sound normal. "What is it?" "Mr. Nicholas asked me to inform you that there's a photoshoot scheduled for this afternoon at two o'clock." He pulled out a card with an address written in Nicholas's sharp handwriting. "He's instructed me to drive you there." My stomach dropped, and for a moment I couldn't breathe. A photoshoot. Of course there was a photoshoot, because the world still expected us to be the perfect coup

VANESSA'S POV The drive to pick up Elijah from Westbridge Academy felt endless. Nicholas sat beside me in the back of the Bentley, his presence filling the entire space, but neither of us spoke. The silence was intense and suffocating, broken only by the soft hum of the engine and the driver's occasional turn signal. I kept replaying Olivia's words in my head. "It's good to know that Nicholas still tastes just as good as I remember." What did that mean? Had she kissed him? Had he kissed her back? Had they done more than kiss in that bathroom while I stood outside like a fool? My stomach churned with nausea every time I thought about it. When we pulled up to the school, I forced a smile as Elijah came running out, his backpack bouncing on his shoulders. "Mommy! Daddy!" He climbed into the car between us, chattering excitedly about his day. "We learned about dinosaurs today and Mrs. Peterson said my drawing of a T-Rex was the best in the whole class!" "That's wonderful, baby,"