All Chapters of Chasing His Divorced Wife: Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

DAMIEN'S POVI woke before Elara.That has become my habit. Early light, the apartment still quiet, Elara's breathing steady beside me.I lay there for a few minutes not thinking about anything specific. Just the ceiling and the morning and the weight of her head against my shoulder.Then carefully, without waking her, I got up.Coffee first. The machine knew what I wanted by now, or rather I'd learned what I wanted and stopped changing it. Black, two cups, the second one sitting until it was almost cold because that was when I actually drank it.I stood at the window with the first cup.Her, obviously. But also this. The quiet before the day started.I heard her moving at seven-thirty.She came into the kitchen with her hair loose and her reading glasses already on, which meant she'd been checking her phone in bed."Yuki emailed," she said. "She started the piece.""Already?""Yesterday afternoon. She sent a photograph of the first marks."She held out her phone. The image was a roug

DAMIEN'S POVElara bought a plant on Friday.She came home with it tucked under her arm, a small green thing in a terracotta pot, and set it on the kitchen windowsill without ceremony."What is it?" I said."A fig tree. Small one." She stepped back and looked at it. "It needs a lot of light.""The windowsill gets morning sun.""That's why I put it there."She went to change out of her work clothes and I looked at the plant.It was a deliberate thing, buying a plant. You only bought living things for spaces you intended to stay in.She came back in a sweater and socks and stood beside me looking at it."My mother had one," she said. "In the kitchen of the house I grew up in. I always meant to get one.""Why now?"She considered the question."It felt like the right time." She glanced at me. "Some things you wait on without knowing you're waiting."I didn't push it further.We made dinner together, which had become its own language. She handled the things requiring attention and I handl

DAMIEN'S POVThomas arrived at two on Sunday.He came through the door with his coat still damp from outside and a chess board under his arm, the old wooden one he always brought, not because he didn't trust us to have pieces but because that board was part of the ritual.Elara took his coat.He shook my hand.His handshake was the same every time. Firm, direct, held for exactly one beat longer than necessary. It was the handshake of a man who believed you could learn something about a person from how they received it."You've been reading," he said, noticing the book on the side table."Military history. The Italian campaign.""Whose account?""Rick Atkinson."He nodded approvingly."Good choice. He understands that logistics wins wars, not heroism." He sat down in the chair across from the board. "Most people get that backwards."Elara brought tea and then made herself scarce in the way she did when she understood something was meant to unfold without her managing it.Thomas set up

DAMIEN'S POVThe apartment was on the fourth floor with windows that faced the water.We went Tuesday afternoon, the agent meeting us in the lobby with keys and a practiced efficiency that she quickly set aside when she understood we weren't people who needed a sales pitch.Elara walked in first.She did what she always did in a new space, stood still for a moment before moving. Taking the measure of it. The light, the proportions, the way the rooms connected.I stayed back and let her look.The main room was large without being excessive. Wood floors, good bones, the kind of space that had been built when buildings were meant to last. The kitchen opened to the living area and beyond that the windows ran the full width of the wall.The water was visible. Gray-green and distant but there.Elara walked to the windows."You can see the sound," she said."On clear days further than that."She looked out for a moment then turned and walked through the rest of the apartment without hurrying

DAMIEN'S POVMaya called at three.I was in the middle of a contract review and I set it aside immediately because Maya Bennett calling me directly was not something I was going to let go to voicemail."Thank you for calling," I said."Don't thank me yet." Her voice was professionally direct. "I have questions about the building.""Ask them."She did. Specific, technical questions about the structural warranty, the building's maintenance history, whether the HOA had any outstanding assessments. She'd clearly done more research than a friend casually looking things up. She'd done the work of someone who intended to be thorough.I answered what I knew and told her honestly what I'd need to verify."I'll have James pull the full building history," I said. "You'll have it by tomorrow morning."A pause."That's fine," she said.Silence for a moment."Maya," I said."Don't make it sentimental.""I wasn't going to." I paused. "I just want to say what you did for her after the divorce. Gettin