All Chapters of Ex wife’s return: Claiming the billionaire’s crown: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The glass doors of Ashbourne Empire headquarters swung open with a force that made the receptionist jump.Scarlett Monroe Ashbourne stormed inside like a woman carrying a personal hurricane.Her heels struck the marble floors in sharp, decisive rhythms. Her expression was cold fury, lips pressed tight, eyes blazing with purpose. Employees barely looked up anymore - this had become familiar territory. The ex-wife and the CEO. Fire and gasoline.Another war.Or so they thought.“She’s here again,” someone whispered.“God help whoever’s in his office.”Scarlett ignored the murmurs. Her steps did not slow as she marched toward the executive elevators, her jaw clenched, every movement vibrating with anger. The guards did not stop her. No one ever did.She pressed the elevator button hard.The doors slid open.Inside, her reflection stared back at her -composed, furious, unstoppable.But the moment the doors closed, the anger in her face softened into something dangerously close to exciteme

The rain had just stopped, leaving the streets of Manhattan slick and shining under streetlights. Cassian stepped out of his car in front of the private art gallery, adjusting his coat collar. The evening auction inside promised wealth, influence, and secrets-all things he handled with precision.Inside, the gallery buzzed quietly, elegant voices blending with the soft hum of conversation and the occasional clink of glasses. Cassian’s eyes swept the room, scanning every movement, every face. Nothing unusual. Nothing yet.And then he heard it.“Strange, isn’t it?”A familiar voice, soft, deliberate.He turned. Elise Langford stood by the same abstract canvas he had been studying, her gold hair catching the light, her eyes warm, disarmingly confident. She wore a fitted ivory dress that hinted at every line of her body without effort, exuding calm elegance.“Oh,” she said, smiling. “What a coincidence.”Cassian noted the ease in her posture, the way her smile reached her eyes. Something

The sound of running water filled the room.Steam curled lazily from the slightly open bathroom door, spilling into the bedroom in soft waves. The faint scent of her perfume lingered in the air-something light, floral, deceptively innocent.Cassian Blackwell stood by the edge of the bed, fastening the cuff of his shirt with precise, practiced movements. His jacket lay draped neatly over the chair. His watch rested beside it, untouched.He was leaving,as usual.He always left first.That had become their rhythm over the past two weeks, his and Elise Langford.Unspoken. Unacknowledged. Controlled.No questions.No expectations.No complications.At least-that was how it was supposed to be.Behind him, the shower continued to run.Elise Langford hummed faintly, the sound barely audible over the water. Soft. Careless. As though nothing in the world required urgency.Cassian adjusted his collar, his expression unreadable.Something about her had never fully settled.Not enough to stop anyways

The rain came down harder than ever.Cold. Relentless. Blinding.It soaked through Scarlett’s clothes, clung to her skin, ran down her face in streams that mixed with something far more desperate. Her hair stuck to her cheeks, her lashes heavy with water as she pushed forward through the park, her eyes scanning frantically.“Theo!”Her voice broke against the storm.People were leaving now-parents gathering their children, footsteps quickening, umbrellas opening. The park that had been full of laughter minutes ago was dissolving into chaos and motion.But Scarlett saw none of it.Only absence.Only the space where her son had been.Her chest tightened painfully with every second that passed. Her breathing came fast, uneven-on the verge of collapse.“Theo!” she shouted again, louder this time, panic bleeding through her voice.Nothing.Just rain.Just wind.Just the sound of her own heartbeat crashing in her ears.Then-“Mommy! Mommy!! A frog!!”The voice cut through everything.Small.

“Langford as in-”“-yes, that Langford,” Elise replied smoothly. “The daughter who just got back. I am her.”Diane stared at her, still trying to reconcile the calm confidence in front of her with the chaos still ringing in her ears from moments ago.“I didn’t expect you to be… so-”“I didn’t expect you to be faking a pregnancy either,” Elise cut in lightly, settling onto Diane’s bed as though she had every right to be there. She bounced once against the mattress, relaxed, unbothered. “But here we are. Let’s not waste time on expectations.”Diane’s expression hardened immediately.She moved to the door and locked it, the sharp click slicing through the tension.“What do you mean by ‘partners’?” she asked, turning back slowly.Elise didn’t answer right away.Her gaze drifted lazily around the room, taking in every detail with quiet precision, as if she were mapping it in her head. When her eyes finally returned to Diane, they were sharper now. Focused.“It means,” she said calmly, “you