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All Chapters of My Ex Husband Chose My Sister: Now he wants me back Too Late: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

151 Chapters

021.

MILLYI barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the photographs.Declan!Isaac!Declan!Isaac!Again!And again!And again!The images replayed endlessly inside my head. The underground parking garage. The private restaurant. The business lounge. The dates stamped discreetly in the corner.Months ago. Long before the nightclub. Long before he approached me in the rain. Long before he asked me to marry him.I sat upright in bed shortly after dawn, staring at the city beyond the windows.Washington looked peaceful from up here.Quiet, beautiful and a lie.My stomach twisted. Because suddenly every memory felt different. Every conversation. Every promise. Every coincidence. Had he known who I was before that night?Had he been watching?Has the entire thing been planned?The thought made my chest tighten.I hated feeling foolish. More than anything.And lately, I seemed to be surrounded by men who made a habit of keeping secrets.By the time breakfast arrived, I was exhausted.

022.

DECLANThe moment Milly walked out of the ballroom, I knew the damage had already been done.Not permanent damage.But enough. Enough to plant doubt. Enough to make her question every conversation we’d had since the nightclub.That had been the sender’s goal.Not exposure and distrust I stood alone in the empty ballroom for several seconds after Adrian left. The photographs remained spread across the table.A neat little collection of half-truths. The most effective kind of lie. Because technically, none of them were fake.I had met Isaac Brooke before.Several times. What mattered was why.And whoever sent those photos had carefully removed that part.My jaw tightened.Interesting.Whoever was behind this wasn’t stupid.They understood perception.Three hours later, I was sitting inside my private office overlooking downtown Washington.The photographs were spread across my desk now.Alongside a folder Adrian had compiled overnight.I studied them again.Every image.Every angle.Ev

023.

KARAThe article had been published four hours ago. I knew that because I had checked.Repeatedly.Obsessively.Pathetically.Four hours.And somehow, in those four hours, the entire city had found another reason to worship Milly. I sat alone inside my apartment, staring at the headline glowing on my screen.WASHINGTON’S NEW ICE QUEENThe words made me physically ill.Ice Queen.I read it again.Then again.Then again.Like maybe if I stared long enough, it would magically disappear.It didn’t.The article was accompanied by a photograph from one of Declan Laurent’s charity events.Milly stood beside him in a black gown.Elegant.Poised.Untouchable.The camera loved her.The public loved her.Apparently the entire damn city loved her.I scrolled lower.That was my first mistake.She’s become so sophisticated.The Laurent influence looks good on her.Declan and Milly are Washington royalty already.Best revenge glow-up ever.My stomach twisted.Glow-up?Revenge?People were acting lik

024.

MILLYThe internet lost its mind completely and absolutely. I discovered that the next morning when Nancy burst into my room without knocking.At this point, I wasn’t even surprised anymore.“OH MY GOD!”I jolted awake.“Nancy!”She marched across the room holding her phone like it contained state secrets.“You and Declan broke the internet.”I groaned and pulled a pillow over my face.“I’ve been awake for seven seconds.”“Then wake up faster.”The pillow disappeared.I squinted at her.“Nancy.”“No.”She shoved the phone into my hands.“Look.”The post was still there. The same photograph. The same intertwined hands. The same single word.Nothing else. No explanation. No statement. No interview. Just one photograph. And somehow that made it worse.Or better.I honestly wasn’t sure anymore. The comments moved too quickly to read. Millions of views. Thousands of articles.Endless speculation. My stomach fluttered unexpectedly. Which was ridiculous. Because this was a contract.A busin

025.

MILLYFor one impossible second, the entire ballroom stopped breathing or maybe I did.I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that Declan’s hand was still against my waist. His mouth had just been on mine.And every single person in the room had witnessed it.The silence lasted less than a heartbeat. Then chaos exploded.Camera flashes erupted everywhere.Voices rose.Reporters rushed forward.Guests started whispering.The entire ballroom seemed to come alive at once.My pulse hammered against my ribs.I stared at Declan.Declan stared back.Completely calm.Completely composed.As if he hadn’t just shattered Washington society with a single kiss.As if he hadn’t completely shattered me with it.Because that kiss..That kiss hadn’t felt fake. Not even remotely.I had expected a performance.Expected strategy. Expected calculation.Instead, there had been something terrifyingly real about it.Something that still lingered beneath my skin. Something I couldn’t explain.Declan’s fingers tightene

026.

DECLANThe words had left my mouth before I could reconsider them.A rare mistake. I didn’t make mistakes often.Especially not ones involving honesty.The silence inside the car immediately changed.Milly stared at me and I stared back too. For a second, neither of us spoke. Then the car stopped in front of the penthouse.Perfect timing.“Goodnight, Milly.”I opened the door before she could respond.Cowardly?Possibly.Necessary?Absolutely.Because I wasn’t interested in examining why I’d kissed her.Or why I’d enjoyed it. Or why I could still remember the exact softness of her mouth hours later.Those sounded like personal problems. And I preferred professional ones. Unfortunately, sleep had other ideas.3am in the morning.I was awake staring at the ceiling and annoyed. I had an eight o’clock board meeting.A pending acquisition. Three international calls.And somehow my brain had decided the only thing worth revisiting was a kiss.I closed my eyes.I immediately regretted it. B

027.

MILLYThe rain hadn’t stopped. Washington seemed determined to drown itself lately.I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of Declan’s penthouse, coffee warming my hands while gray clouds stretched endlessly across the skyline.Three weeks ago, I would have been hiding.Avoiding headlines, avoiding people and mirrors.Now I couldn’t walk into a grocery store without someone recognizing me.The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it mostly exhausted me.“You know, for someone who accidentally became famous, you’re surprisingly bad at enjoying it.”I glanced over my shoulder. Nancy was sprawled across my couch with all the elegance of a drunk raccoon.Her feet rested on expensive furniture. Something Adrian would probably have a stroke over.“I didn’t become famous.”She snorted.“Milly.”“I didn’t.”“You literally kissed the most powerful bachelor in Washington in front of three hundred people and twelve news cameras.”I opened my mouth.Then I closed it. Fair point sh

028.

ISAACI almost didn’t recognize her. That was the problem.I stood across the street while guests poured out of the hotel behind her, and for the first time since I’d met Milly Whitmore, I couldn’t predict what she was thinking.That should have been impossible.For five years, I’d known exactly how she’d react.She’d forgive, stay and still bend until she broke completely. And somehow…She wasn’t doing any of those things anymore. The rain soaked through my coat.I barely noticed. My eyes stayed on her.She was laughing at something Nancy said.Not the careful smile she used to force around my family. Not the nervous smile she wore during charity dinners.A real laugh.The kind I hadn’t heard in years. Maybe ever.The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth. Then she looked up.Saw me and the smile disappeared.Just like that. Reality returned.I watched her shoulders straighten.I watched the wall slide back into place.Nancy followed her gaze. I frowned immediately.“Seriously?

029.

DECLANThe moment I stepped out of the car, I knew something had happened. Not because of Isaac but Milly. She was standing too still and quiet.The expression on her face reminded me of the woman I’d first seen outside that nightclub.Not broken, quiet but shaken. My gaze shifted to Isaac.Rain dripped from his coat. His jaw was tight. His eyes were fixed on Milly.And immediately, irritation curled through my chest. An ugly, unfamiliar irritation.The kind I hadn’t felt in years. I shut the car door slowly. Neither of them spoke yet. That meant the conversation had already happened. And judging from Isaac’s face, it hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped.I slid one hand into my pocket.“Am I interrupting something?”Milly exhaled quietly. Almost like she was relieved to see me. The realization settled somewhere uncomfortable inside my chest.Isaac noticed it too. I could tell. His expression darkened immediately.“No.”His voice was sharp.“You arrived right on time.”I looked at him.Th

030.

MILLYNeither of us spoke during the elevator ride.The silence wasn’t awkward, it was worse and awareness.The kind that lingered after something happened that neither anyone wanted to discuss.Or maybe I couldn't. I kept thinking about Isaac.About the look on his face when he said he hadn’t thought I’d actually leave him. And then I kept thinking about Declan stepping between us without hesitation.Which was somehow even more dangerous.The elevator doors opened. Declan stepped out first.I followed. He loosened his tie as we walked through the penthouse.His expression was unreadable again. Like whatever had happened outside had already been locked away inside one of those emotional vaults he kept hidden behind expensive suits and cold stares.I wasn’t sure whether to admire that or be annoyed by it.Probably both.“Thank you.”Declan stopped walking.Slowly turned.“For what?”I folded my arms.“You know what.”His gaze held mine for a moment.Then he shrugged.“It was necessary.

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