All Chapters of MY EX WANTS ME BACK: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

111 Chapters

Questions Without Answers

Zephyr's povNo one spoke during the drive back.Rain tapped softly against the windshield.The ledger rested in Diane's lap.Her fingers never left its worn leather cover.As if she was afraid it would disappear.Or worse...Be taken from her again.I reached over and gently covered her hand with mine.She looked at me."You don't have to carry it so tightly."She smiled faintly."I know.""But I don't think I'm holding the ledger anymore."I frowned."What do you mean?"She looked out the window."I think it's holding me."Back at Holloway Industries...Richard immediately ordered additional security.The executive conference room became our temporary headquarters.Olivia carefully placed the ledger inside a fireproof document case."No one opens it alone."She said firmly."And no one leaves it unattended."Marcus looked around."I suddenly feel like we're in a spy movie."Sarah smiled."Only with less style."Marcus looked down at his wrinkled shirt."I disagree."Richard turned t

Before She Remembered

Diane's povSleep never came.Every time I closed my eyes...I saw Holloway House.The hidden archive.The hooded stranger.And those impossible words."You have your grandfather's courage."By sunrise...I gave up trying.My phone vibrated.A message from Zephyr.Breakfast?I smiled despite myself.Only if you're buying.His reply came almost instantly.I was always buying.I laughed quietly.Some things never changed.Maybe that was a good thing.An hour later...The café was almost empty.Zephyr pushed a mug of hot chocolate toward me before I even sat down."You remembered.""You always order this when you're overwhelmed."I looked at him."You notice everything.""No."He smiled."I notice you."For a second...The noise of the city disappeared.There were still questions.Still danger.Still fear.But there was also this.A quiet morning.A warm drink.The man I loved.Sometimes healing wasn't dramatic.Sometimes...It looked like breakfast."So..."Zephyr asked gently."What ar

The Name She Forgot

Diane's povNo one moved.The television screen had gone black.Yet Charles' voice still echoed in my mind."Grandpa Charlie."The words refused to leave me.I looked around the room.Richard.Sarah.Marcus.Olivia.Zephyr.Every face reflected the same mixture of confusion and disbelief.Finally...I found my voice."Tell me someone else heard that."Richard answered first."We all did."I laughed.A small, broken laugh."Then why does it feel like I'm the only one who's lost?"I walked out before anyone could stop me.The hallway outside the storage room was empty.Quiet.My footsteps sounded too loud against the polished floor.I reached the balcony overlooking the city and gripped the railing.My hands were shaking.I had spent my whole life believing I knew where I came from.Who my family was.What my childhood looked like.Now...One videotape had turned every memory into a question.Or worse...Into a lie.The balcony door opened quietly behind me.I didn't need to turn around

For Richard

Richard's povMy hands shook as I held the cassette.I couldn't remember the last time they had.Not when the company nearly collapsed.Not during boardroom battles.Not even after Charles died.But now...A single cassette tape had reduced me to the frightened boy who had once followed his grandfather through the halls of Holloway House.Olivia found an old cassette player in storage.She placed it carefully on the conference table."You ready?"I wasn't.But I nodded anyway.She pressed play.For a moment...Only static filled the room.Then...His voice.Older.Tired.Familiar."Richard."I closed my eyes.It had been years.Yet somehow...It felt as though he were standing beside me."If you've found this...""...then you've become the man I always hoped you would."I laughed quietly."You always did start with impossible expectations."Marcus glanced at Sarah.Neither of them spoke.They knew this wasn't meant for them.It was a conversation between two people separated by time.

Fragments

Diane's povThe lullaby wouldn't leave me.I didn't know where I'd heard it.Only that every time I closed my eyes...The melody returned.Soft.Gentle.Familiar.It followed me into sleep.I stood in a garden.Sunlight filtered through enormous oak trees.Someone laughed.A man's voice.Warm.Kind."Diane..."Tiny feet ran across fresh-cut grass.Mine.I couldn't have been older than four.I held a small wooden horse against my chest."I'm gonna win!"I shouted.The man laughed again."You always think everything is a race."Another voice joined him.A woman."If you keep encouraging her...""She'll become impossible.""I already am!"Little me declared proudly.Everyone laughed.The sound wrapped around me like a blanket.Safe.Home.Then...The dream shattered.I woke with a gasp.My cheeks were wet.The clock beside my bed read 3:17 a.m.The room was silent.Yet I could still hear laughter echoing in my ears.Not imagined.Remembered.The next morning...I walked into Holloway Ind

The Woman Who Remembered

Abe's povI read the name again.Eleanor Ashcroft.It meant nothing to me.But to my mother...It meant everything.She was still staring at the broken teacup scattered across the kitchen floor.Her breathing had become shallow."Abe..."Her voice barely rose above a whisper."Where did you find that name?""In Charles' letter."She closed her eyes."So...""He finally decided it was time."I knelt beside her."Who is she?"My mother hesitated.For a long moment, I thought she wasn't going to answer.Finally...She whispered,"The bravest woman I've ever known.""Was she part of The Circle?"I asked."No."She answered immediately."She fought them.""With Charles?""And your father."She nodded."There were three of them.""Charles Holloway.""Thomas Carter.""Eleanor Ashcroft.""They weren't detectives.""They weren't police officers.""They were ordinary people who refused to ignore extraordinary evil."She looked toward the rain-covered window."And they paid for it.""What happen

The Road Home

Diane's ppvThe drive began before sunrise.Mist clung to the empty highway as Richard's SUV led the convoy out of the city.No one talked much.It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.It was the kind that came before life changed forever.I rested my forehead against the window.Fields slowly replaced skyscrapers.Concrete gave way to forests.The farther we drove...The more my chest tightened."You okay?"Zephyr asked quietly.I nodded.Then shook my head."I don't know."He smiled gently."I think that's an acceptable answer today."I laughed."Probably."Marcus yawned loudly from the back seat."Anyone else notice we're driving straight into the middle of a horror movie?"Sarah looked up from her book."Only you could compare emotional healing to a horror movie.""I'm just saying...""If an old woman opens the door and says she's been expecting us...""I'm getting back in the car."Even Richard chuckled."I'll remember that."Three hours later...The GPS lost its signal.Olivia frown

The Night They Chose You

Diane's povThe farmhouse was impossibly quiet.Outside...The wind whispered through the oak trees.Inside...Every clock seemed to tick louder than the last.Eleanor wrapped both hands around her teacup.For a long moment...She simply looked at me.Not with pity.With love.The kind that had survived decades.Finally...She spoke."Your mother's name was Amelia."The name hit me like a heartbeat I had forgotten."Amelia..."I whispered.Eleanor smiled."She was brilliant.""Stubborn.""And far too brave."A soft laugh escaped her."You inherited all three."A tear rolled down my cheek."And my father?"His name caught in Eleanor's throat."Jonathan."She said softly."He loved your mother from the day they met.""They argued over everything.""But never over whether to protect you."Richard leaned forward."Were they working with Charles?"Eleanor nodded."They weren't investigators.""They were teachers."The room fell silent.Marcus blinked."Teachers?"Eleanor smiled sadly."The

Her Mother's Letter

Diane's povThe stuffed rabbit rested in my lap.My fingers traced the faded blue stitching where one button eye had been replaced.I remembered doing that.Not clearly.Not perfectly.But enough.Enough to know it had once mattered more than anything in my little world.The memories came like distant waves.A laugh.A hug.The smell of lavender.My mother's perfume.I closed my eyes.For years...I'd searched for answers.I never imagined the first one I'd find...Would be love.No one interrupted my silence.Not Richard.Not Sarah.Not Marcus.Not Olivia.Not Abe.Even Marcus, who usually couldn't survive five minutes without making a joke, simply stared into his untouched cup of tea.Finally...Eleanor spoke."Grief is a strange thing."I looked up."It doesn't care how much time has passed."She smiled sadly."You lost your parents thirty years ago.""But to your heart...""It happened this morning."A fresh tear slipped down my cheek.She was right.It felt new.Painfully new.Ze

The Fifth Person

Diane's povThe room seemed to grow colder.Eleanor held the locket in both hands as though it had suddenly become dangerous.No one spoke.No one even breathed too loudly.Finally, Richard broke the silence."Who was the fifth person?"Eleanor looked at him.Then at me.Her eyes were filled with something I hadn't seen before.Not grief.Fear."His name was Daniel Mercer."The name meant nothing to me.To everyone else too, judging by their expressions.But Eleanor's voice trembled when she said it."He was Charles' closest friend.""Thomas trusted him with his life.""And your mother once called him family."Abe frowned."What happened?"Eleanor closed the locket."He happened."Rain began tapping against the farmhouse windows.The sound filled the silence between us.Eleanor slowly sat back down."When we first started investigating The Circle, there were five of us.""Charles handled the records.""Thomas gathered evidence.""Your mother traced the financial connections.""Your fa

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