All Chapters of Chasing the Wife He couldn't Love: Ex-Husband's Regret: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The helicopter pulled away, and the wind screamed past my ears. I couldn't breathe. My eyes were glued to the rooftop of the building across from my burning office. Bryan. I had seen him. He wasn't dead in the fire. He was standing there, watching me leave, holding that cursed black coin."He’s alive!" I screamed over the roar of the rotors. I grabbed General Vance’s arm, my nails digging into his tough skin. "Bryan is alive! Turn this thing around! He’s on the roof!"Vance didn't look. He didn't even flinch. He just stared straight ahead as the Manhattan skyline began to fade into the distance."I know he’s alive, Hazel," Vance said. His voice was cold, like a judge passing a sentence. "He had a job to do. The explosion was his exit strategy."I

The world was upside down. The smell of gasoline and burnt rubber filled my nose. I hung from my seatbelt, my head throbbing with a sharp, stabbing pain. I looked at the floor of the car. The baby carrier was empty."Elle!" I tried to scream, but it came out as a weak wheeze.I looked out the shattered window. My father, Henry Williams, stood under the orange glow of a streetlamp. He was holding my daughter. He looked at her like she was a trophy, not a human being. The Matriarch stood beside him, her black veil fluttering in the wind. She held a long, thin blade that glinted like a snake’s tooth."She’s perfect, Henry," the Matriarch whispered. "A clean slate. We will raise her to be the queen we always wanted.""No!" I found my voice. I fumbled for the seat

The red dot on Bryan’s chest looked like a drop of blood. My heart hammered against my ribs. After everything the explosions, the betrayal, the jump from the helicopter, it was still not over. The Syndicate didn't die with my father. It just needed a new head."Bryan, don't move," I whispered, my voice trembling.I was still soaking wet from the Hudson River. Elle was shivering in my arms, her small cries muffled by my chest. Bryan looked down at the laser on his heart and then looked at me. He didn't look afraid. He looked tired."They won't kill me yet, Hazel," Bryan said softly. "They need me to make sure you follow the script.""I'm not following any script!" I shouted at the dark trees. "You killed my father! You killed the Matriarch! Leave us alone!"

The camera flashes felt like lightning in the room. I stood at the podium, staring at the giant screen behind me. Julian Walton. The man who had tried to burn me alive was standing in a dark room, holding a lighter over my daughter’s crib."Julian," I whispered. My voice was amplified by the microphone, echoing through the hall. "How? I saw the boathouse explode. I saw you fall."Julian’s face appeared on the screen, scarred and twisted by burns. He looked like a nightmare. "Fire is an old friend, Hazel. It takes, but it also gives. It gave me a reason to stay alive. It gave me the drive to find where Jane was hiding your little prize."The reporters in the room began to panic. Security guards rushed toward me, but I didn't move. My soul was screaming. Every breath I took felt like I was inhaling glass.

The wind howled around the empty gas station. I stood there, clutching Elle to my chest, staring at the golden key in the briefcase. It looked beautiful, but I knew it was made of blood. The man in the suit bowed again, waiting for my answer.Behind him, in the black car, my father sat like a trapped animal. Henry Williams, the man who had faked his death and ruined my life, was now begging me with his eyes."Hazel, please," my father whispered through the open window. "I’m your blood. You can’t let them take me to the Black Site. You know what they do to failures."I felt a cold shiver go down my spine. The "Black Site" was a place people went when the Syndicate was finished with them. No one ever came back.Bryan stepped up beside me. He was leaning heavily