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بيت / Romance / After the Divorce, My Ex Husband Came Crawling Back / Chapter 71 -الفصل 80

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71

ARIANAMolly’s face flushes. "Maxwell has a right….""Maxwell has nothing," I say quietly. "Except what I choose to give him."Maxwell stands abruptly. His chair scrapes against the floor. "You hid my children from me."His hands are flat on the table now, fingers spread wide, pressing down so hard his chest is heaving. The vein in his forehead pulses. His jaw works side to side, teeth grinding behind closed lips."I protected them." "From what? From me?""Yes."The word hangs in the air, and his face goes red. "I have a right to see them. To know them. You can't just…""I can," I say. "And I did."Thea starts fussing because of the raised voices.I reach for her, but Durrell is already there, lifting her into his lap, murmuring something soft that makes her settle. Both twins are hugging him tightly now.Maxwell watches as his hands curl into fists."You took everything from me," he says. "My inheritance. My children. My…""Your what?" I stand up from my seat, and I push it back slo
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72

ARIANAI turn to Victor. "Is this why you invited me? To watch him humiliate himself?"Victor's expression is unreadable. "I invited you to make things clear. To everyone.""Then let me be clear," I say. "I'm not interested in reconciliation. I'm not interested in joint custody negotiations. I'm not interested in anything Maxwell Cox has to offer."Maxwell's voice breaks. "They're my children.""Prove it.""I don't need to prove…""Yes, you do." I stand and turn to face him fully, Durrell calmly standing between us. "Because right now, all you have is a name on a marriage certificate that doesn't exist anymore. You have no claim. No rights. Nothing.""That's not true," he says desperately. "The inheritance clause…""Ah." I smile. "There it is. Finally."His face goes white."You don't want your children," I say softly. "You want your money back.""That's not…""Isn't it?" I tilt my head. "Because every time you talk about them, you mention the shares. The clause. The inheritance.""Be
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73

ARIANAEveryone turns to her.I'm surprised she managed to sit through all of it without saying a single word until now.She's looking at Maxwell. "You asked her for a second chance. Right in front of me. What am I supposed to do with that?"Maxwell doesn't answer.His mouth opens, and closes. His eyes dart sideways then back to her face, then to his hands. He's blinking too fast his throat moves like he's trying to swallow something that won't go down.He had forgotten she was there.It's written all over his face. The way his shoulders went stiff when she spoke, like a man caught sleepwalking. The way his hands move to grip the edge of the table, then nothing at all because he doesn't know what to hold onto.But above all, the look on his face that says one thing clearly: he just royally fucked up."Maxwell." Her voice presses. "What am I to you?"Still nothing, and the silence stretches.Selene’s hands are shaking now. "I left everything for you. I came back when you called. I wait
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74

SELENEMy mind is blank except for the onset of a headache as I drive home.The only thing I feel is the gaping ache in my heart. I'm surprised the feeling is still there, because after the day I caught Maxwell with his assistant, I've felt numb whenever I see him since then. Even whenever we make love… or should I call it sex, because all I do is perform for him. Sometimes I think he knows, but he just doesn't know how to come out and confront me.And to think I stuck around this long after that is unlike me. But I chalk it up to the fact that it's Maxwell. My first love. The first guy I ever gave myself to in high school.I love that jerk. I really do.Or is it ‘did’? Now that he has finally put the last knife into my heart and twisted it deep inside to a place where it has successfully torn it apart.When I eventually get home and walk through the front door of the house I share with Maxwell, the house that was never really mine, the house where Ariana's ghost still lives in every
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75

SELENEHe takes a step closer. "Selene, please.""Please what?" I ask. My voice is surprisingly calm."Please don't be like this."I pull myself out of my tearless daze. I turn around. I finally look up at him.He looks terrible. His face is pale. His eyes are red. His hair is a mess from running his hands through it a hundred times."Like what?" I ask. "Quietly? You'd prefer a scene?""No. I'd prefer you say something. Hit me. Slap me. Scream at me. Just do something the real you would do. React. Just don't be like this." He gestures at my passive form, my cold indifferent face.I don't say anything. I just continue to stare at him.Then a thought hits my mind slowly until it fully takes root. A thought I would never in a million years entertain, because I am not a quitter. I always fight for what is mine. That's one thing my mother taught me well.But now…Now… I get up and take out my bag. I start packing.Maxwell is right behind me."What are you doing?" Disbelief and shock in his
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76

SELENEI press him more. "And you want a second chance with her because you love her. Say it, Max.""No." He shakes his head as he brings it back down to look at me. "That's not why."I continue. "You want a second chance because you hate losing. You lost your inheritance. You lost your standing with your father. You lost access to your children before you even knew they existed. And now you want her back because she's the one thing you lost that you think you can still win.""That's not…""It is." I step closer. "But there's something you haven't realized. Something Ariana already knows. Something I'm only just figuring out."I let the words settle."You don't love, Maxwell. Not really. You love the idea of winning. You love the fantasy of being chosen. Of being the one she finally picks. Of being right for once." I pause. "Of being the man who gets it right."He stares at me."But here's the truth." My voice is steady now. "You're never going to win her back. She's moved on. She's h
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77

SELENEPosters on the wall, and books on the shelf. The ghost of the girl I used to be, before Maxwell, before Ariana, before all of it.I lie down and stare at the ceiling.Then my phone buzzes. I look at it.MAXWELL: ‘I'm sorry.’I stare at the words. Three minutes later, another message.MAXWELL: ‘I'm sorry for all of it.’I don't respond. What would I say? *I forgive you?* *I hate you?* *I wish I'd never met you?* None of that is true.So I set the phone down and close my eyes.Minutes later, I hear a soft knock. My mother pushes the door open without waiting for an answer. She sits on the edge of the bed.For a long moment, neither of us speaks."So," she says finally. "He chose her.""He didn't choose anyone. He just... can't let go.""He's a fool."I almost laugh. "Yes.""But you're not." She looks at me. "You gave him everything. You waited. You stayed. You played the game exactly the way I told you to. And still, he wouldn't dance."I don't say anything.She reaches over and
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78

Maxwell walks into the VIP lounge of my bar like he still owns everything his eyes touch, with the same look he's been carrying since the divorce settled on his shoulders like a weight he can't shake off.My friends notice him before I do, and immediately the laughter at our table fades, and someone mutters something I don't catch.I set down my drink.He doesn't sit but just stands at the edge of the table with his hands in his pockets, looking down at me like he has already decided how this conversation ends."You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"I lean back in my chair. "It's a public bar. You can order a drink, or you can leave. Makes no difference to me.""I'm not here to drink.""Then say what you came to say and go." I pick up my glass again. "You're killing the mood."His jaw works beneath the skin as the muscle jumps the way it always does when he's trying to hold himself together. Then he leans forward, palms flat on the table, and drops his voice low enough tha
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79

DURRELLSomething shifts behind his eyes as the insult lands where I meant it to.His hands curl into fists again. "If I want you out of the picture, all it takes is a phone call from me."I stop mid-step and turn around. "Say that again.""You heard me." His voice hardens. "I have people. People who can make problems disappear. You think because we're family, you're untouchable?"I set my glass down and walk back toward him.My voice drops, low and quiet. The kind that makes people lean in without meaning to."You don't want to start a war you can't finish, Max. There are people who answer my calls before the phone even finishes ringing. Connections you can't even touch." I pause. "If I wanted to destroy you, I could. And there wouldn't be anything left for anyone to bury."Maxwell stares at me.His mouth opens and closes. I see the calculation behind his eyes, the same one I've watched him make a thousand times since we were boys. He's trying to figure out if I'm bluffing. Trying to
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80

ARIANAFive days after the disaster they now call Sunday dinner, my life finally starts settling back into something almost peaceful.Almost.The twins are in the garden behind the house, chasing bubbles while the afternoon sun paints gold across the grass. Their laughter drifts through the open glass doors and into the living room, warm and loud and alive.It still amazes me sometimes how, after everything, after Maxwell, the lies, and the years of feeling unwanted. I somehow end up here.Durrell stands behind me, his hands pressing into my shoulders while I sit curled sideways on the couch with my laptop balanced on my thighs."You're tense," he says."I'm working.""You've been saying that for four hours.""I have deadlines.""You have problems."I shoot him a look over my shoulder. "Excuse me? Says the person who's been walking around like he has something on his mind."For a brief second, something flickers across his face. That same distant look he's worn since the night he came
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