جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 120

*Clara's POV* The phone buzzed on my kitchen counter, slicing through the lingering tension that had settled over the apartment. I glanced at the screen and released a weary sigh the moment I saw Alex's name. Again. I still hadn't recovered from the argument with Bella. Her voice, sharp with hurt and disappointment, had echoed through my mind for days, and I doubted it would leave anytime soon. I stood there for a long moment, staring at the screen before finally answering. "Alex." I kept my voice even, although exhaustion seeped into every word. "Clara," he said immediately. His voice was low, strained, and carried the weight of someone who had spent too many nights talking to his own regrets. "I need your help." I closed my eyes for a second and rested one hand against the kitchen counter. "I thought we already settled this," I replied carefully. "Bella made herself clear. She doesn't want to see you, Alex. She said no." "I know," he answered, and something inside h

*Bella's POV.Night settled over the house with the gentle weight of a long exhale, wrapping every room in the kind of quiet that somehow made every thought inside my head sound louder. I lingered in the hallway with one hand resting against the doorframe, watching Sarah tuck the children into bed while I stood there, suspended between the life I had built and the past that refused to loosen its grip on me. The bedroom glowed beneath the warm golden light of the bedside lamp. Toys remained scattered across the rug exactly where little hands had abandoned them earlier, picture books lay half-open as though the stories had simply paused until tomorrow, and a stuffed bear leaned against a pillow with one ear folded over. Everything about the room felt ordinary, and that ordinary peace had become the foundation of my world. Caleb had curled himself into his blanket with the quiet seriousness of a tiny old man. Noah had somehow managed to occupy nearly the entire mattress despite his s

*Bella's POV*I hated it the moment I stepped into the café. I regretted that promise the moment I saw him. Alex was already sitting at a corner table with his back perfectly straight, his hands clasped together so tightly that it looked as though he was afraid they might betray the storm inside him. For one impossible second, the years disappeared, and all I could see was the man I had once imagined spending my entire life with. He stood as I approached. "Bella." The sound of my name in his voice pressed against an old bruise I had spent years trying to protect. I remained standing for a heartbeat, letting the silence stretch between us until it became almost unbearable. Only then did I pull out the chair opposite him and lower myself into it. I offered no greeting. The low hum of the espresso machine filled the silence while neither of us spoke. Finally, Alex swallowed and drew a careful breath. "Thank you for coming." I kept my eyes on the untouched glass of water waitin

*Alex's POV*I hadn't planned to come here.That was the lie I kept feeding myself as I wandered through the streets of Manhattan, hands buried deep in the pockets of my coat while the wind slipped between the buildings and stung my face. I blamed the stale air in my apartment. I told myself I needed to clear my head, that the city's relentless noise might drown out the thoughts that had refused to leave me alone for days.Yet every turn I made seemed to lead in only one direction.Before I realised it, I was standing across the street from the familiar glass building with its polished brass lettering gleaming beneath the morning sun.My feet stopped moving.Traffic surged between us in restless waves. Yellow taxis rushed by. Office workers hurried along the pavement, their takeaway coffees in hand and phones pressed to their ears. The city carried on with its usual urgency while I stood rooted to the spot, my chest tightening with every passing second.I drew in a slow breath that

*Bella's POV*I could feel the storm gathering long before the first word was spoken. Daniel paced my living room in slow, measured strides, the kind of pacing that carried the weight of restraint instead of rage. Every turn was controlled, every breath deliberate, as though he was forcing himself to stay composed because he knew that if he allowed even one crack to appear, everything he had been holding inside would spill into the room. Clara sat at the edge of the sofa with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She looked as though she wasn't sure where she belonged in the conversation. She wanted to stand beside me, to protect me, yet she couldn't entirely agree with Daniel either. Her anxious gaze drifted between us, searching for a way to stop the collision she knew was coming. I remained by the window with my arms folded tightly across my chest. The glow of the streetlights filtered through the curtains, brushing against the glass and softening the reflection staring back at