All Chapters of Mr Ex, Call me your uncle's wife now.: Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

Vivian's povWhen the hearing broke for a recess, I stood up on legs that felt like they belonged to someone else.Ethan's hand was at my elbow immediately, steadying me, and then Mark walked toward us.“That went well, that went better than I expected,” he said, flipping through the pages of a book. We have fourteen days.”I nodded along without really hearing him, because I was watching Sandra rise from her table across the room.She walked toward us. Slowly, deliberately, the way she did everything. Megan trailed behind her with her phone still in her hand."Vivian," Sandra said, stopping a few feet away. "You look well.""Thank you.""I see you later made the decision to take this case this far." Her smile was small and kind and completely false. "I hope you're ready for what comes next."The clock is ticking Sandra,” I said. “Be prepared to lose.”She glanced at Ethan, and something flickered across her face. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a great deal of each other over the next few

Vivian's POVThe drive home took longer than it should have.I went the long way, past the river, past the park where I used to run in the mornings before everything got complicated. The city was doing its late-afternoon thing…. gold light on the water, people walking dogs, a man selling flowers out of a cart on the corner. All of it is ordinary. All of it going on without me.I got home a little after five.The house was quiet. Ethan's car wasn't in the drive. I stood in the foyer for a minute and listened… no footsteps upstairs, no television, no clatter from the kitchen. The maids had the day off. I was completely alone in a house that had never once felt like it belonged to me.I didn't go upstairs right away. I wandered instead.The living room first. Then the library, where I ran my fingers along the spines of books nobody had read in years. Then the sunroom, where the light was gold and the plants were blooming from series of care. Then the kitchen, where I opened the fridge a

Vivian's POVI thought about the folder. I thought about the photographs, and the handwriting, and the way he'd stood in the hallway at the courthouse and looked at me like there was something he wanted to say. I thought about the coffee he left out for me in the mornings and the way he'd held my hand on the courthouse steps like it was the most natural thing in the world.And I thought about the doctor's words. “He asked us not to tell you.”I leaned forward and reached out and touched his jaw.Just my fingertips, just the lightest brush, and his skin was still warm but not burning anymore. I traced the line of it… the hard corner of his jaw, the stubble that had grown in since this morning, and I felt something in my chest loosen and tighten at the same time.His hand caught mine.Fast. Reflexive. His fingers closed around my wrist and his eyes snapped open and for a second there was nothing in them but alertness, the kind of alertness that belonged to a man who'd spent his life e

Vivian's POV He closed his eyes and let out a breath and his shoulders dropped, and I watched the relief move through him the way it had last night, and I felt something twist in my chest that I didn't have a name for.He was relieved. He was relieved that I didn't know.Whatever it was, whatever the doctors had sworn not to tell me, whatever condition he'd been hiding from the world and from me… it mattered more to him than anything else in this room. More than the fever. More than the hospital. More than me.I stood up."I'm going to go get you breakfast," I said. "Real breakfast. Not whatever they're going to bring you on that tray.""You don't have to.""I know." I picked up my bag. "I'll be back in an hour."He nodded without opening his eyes. I walked to the door and looked back at him one more time… the dark hair against the white pillow, the IV line taped to the back of his hand, the slow rise and fall of his chest, and then I stepped into the hallway and pulled the door shut

"Vivian. Can I say something?""Go ahead.""You know I love you. You know I'm on your side. But you need to remember who you're dealing with." She looked at me with something that was almost gentle. "This is Ethan Blackwell. The man is cold. You've told me yourself… strict, closed off, treats everything like a business transaction. And that's exactly what this is. A contract marriage. You win the case, you get your mother's assets, and then it's over. That's the deal.”I looked at her.She was right.She was completely right.The marriage was a contract. I'd signed it. I'd agreed to it. I'd done it to get back what had was about to be taken from my mother, and once I had it, I was done. That was the plan.So why did it feel like something in my chest had just cracked open?"You're right," I said.I sipped my drink and looked at the table and Sophie watched me with her eyes narrowed."Vivian.""Hm.""Don't tell me you've fallen for this guy."I flinched. My whole body jerked like she'd