บททั้งหมดของ The Wife He Chose Too Late: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 49

Damien's POVThree days had passed since Claire's memorial, but time had lost all meaning to me.I hadn't gone back to work. My inbox was overflowing with emails I couldn't bring myself to open, meetings had come and gone without me, and my phone buzzed often enough that I eventually stopped looking at it altogether. Somewhere beyond the walls of this penthouse, the Laurent Group was still running because Olivia and the board refused to let everything collapse, but I barely knew what day it was anymore. The company I'd once believed was the most important thing in my life suddenly felt so insignificant that I couldn't understand why I'd sacrificed so much for it.The penthouse had become a prison.Every room echoed with silence, but it wasn't the kind that brought peace. It was heavy. Suffocating. Every corner reminded me that Claire was gone, and with every passing hour the reality settled deeper into my chest until it became almost impossible to breathe.I wandered aimlessly from ro

Damien's POVAs we reached the end of the corridor, my legs suddenly felt far heavier than they had only moments before.The room was right there.Just a few steps separated me from the woman I'd spent the past week believing I'd lost forever, yet every step toward that door seemed harder than the last. I had imagined this moment a thousand different ways since Dr. Reynolds told me Claire was alive, but now that it was finally here, I wasn't sure I was ready.Claire was on the other side of that door.My wife.The woman I'd already mourned.The woman I'd loved for so many years.The mother of our unborn child.My hands were shaking by the time I reached for the door handle.Before my fingers could close around it, Dr. Reynolds gently rested her hand on my arm."Mr. Laurent..."I turned to look at her."I want you to remember what we discussed. Mrs. Laurent may appear completely like herself. She can speak normally, answer questions, and carry on a conversation, but please don't mistak

Claire's POVI searched Damien's face, trying to understand why his eyes looked as though he'd just walked through every emotion imaginable from fear, relief to hope but there was something else too something so overwhelming that it almost frightened me.He drew in a slow breath before speaking again. "Before I tell you," he said quietly, "I need you to promise me something."I tilted my head slightly. "What?""If you don't feel anything... if you don't remember anything..." He gave me a small, reassuring smile. "That's alright."I frowned. "I don't understand.""You don't have to." His voice remained impossibly gentle. "Just listen."I nodded. "Okay."For several long seconds, he simply looked at me. I had the strange feeling he was choosing every word with incredible care.Finally, he spoke. "Claire..." His voice trembled ever so slightly. "You're pregnant."Everything around me seemed to stop as I stared at him, convinced I'd misheard. "...I'm what?"His smile wavered, but it never

Claire's POVI couldn't stop looking at him.Only a few minutes earlier, Damien had confessed that he'd realized he loved me when it was already too late to save our marriage. Now I found myself wanting to understand how two people who had signed divorce papers had somehow ended up expecting a baby together.Nothing about our story sounded ordinary."So..." I began, curling my fingers a little tighter around the blanket. "You promised you'd tell me about us."A faint smile touched his lips. "I did.""Then start at the beginning."He leaned back in his chair, letting out a slow breath as though he was travelling back through memories he'd visited a thousand times before. "Alright."For a moment his gaze drifted toward the window, but I could tell he wasn't really looking outside. He was somewhere else entirely."You already know Tiffany left me at the altar."I nodded. "You told me that yesterday.""What I didn't tell you..." His eyes found mine again. "...was that you were there."I s

Claire's POVAfter the doctors left, the room suddenly felt much quieter. The cheerful chatter disappeared with them, leaving only the soft hum of the air conditioner and the distant sounds of hospital life drifting through the corridor.Olivia placed the sunflowers on the windowsill before turning back to me. "They're your favorite."I looked at the bright yellow petals catching the morning sunlight. "They are?"She smiled. "They've always made you happy."I walked over to them slowly. "They're beautiful."She beamed. "I knew you'd say that."I laughed softly. "I'm beginning to think I was a very predictable person.""Oh, no." Olivia grinned. "You were impossible to predict.""Except with flowers.""Apparently."We shared another small laugh before I looked toward Damien. He hadn't interrupted us once he simply stood near the door, quietly watching and not impatient and not uncomfortable just waiting almost as if he'd learned long ago that letting me finish a conversation mattered.I