All Chapters of THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

27 Chapters

CHAPTER 1 IRIDINA

"You weren't meant to come back home until tomorrow," my husband said, though after today, I doubt he’ll be my husband again.He said it calmly as if I hadn't just found him in our wedding bed.With my sister."I came early," I said, my focus more on the two people that were meant to always have my back wrapped up in the bed. "I wanted to tell you something."Lyana didn’t flinch or attempt to get out of the bed. She just smiled, and adjusted the pillow behind her back as if she were the owner of the damn bed.“Let me guess," Kieran said, kicking his legs out from under him. "You got a promotion again? Or you finally beat Mother at chess?""I'm pregnant."The room became deathly silent after that.Kieran blinked at me as if he didn't quite register what I’d said. Then he ran his hands over his face, letting out a heavy sigh. "Jesus, Iridina. Now?"My breath caught in my throat. "You. You knew I wanted to tell you first," I muttered. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while now.”"Good,

CHAPTER 2 JAXON

"Who the hell is she?" I said as I stormed into Kieran's office.He didn't even look up. He just kept typing away on his keyboard as if I weren't standing there. As if I hadn’t asked a question.Typical Kieran behaviour."I’m talking about the woman that just walked out of here, Kieran,” I continued. “The blonde from the boardroom. Too poise, too intelligent. Sorta looked like she could bankrupt a man with a smile."Kieran eventually sat back in his chair and gave me that slow, smug smile I'd been trying to scrub my brain clean of since we were in diapers. "That's our newest partner. Irene Nowell,” he finally said. New partner?! “She’s KnightTech founder and we just merged with them."Needing to understand whatever the fuck my brother was saying, I closed the door behind me and stepped inside. "And how, pray tell brother,”I said. “Are you sure she's legit?"“Simple,” he said, spreading his hands like he was talking about dinner and not the fact that he’d not taken a decision as critic

CHAPTER 3 IRENE

"I swear, if I have one more sleazy board member trying to sweet-talk their way to a contract." I muttered, fiddling with the front door lock and pushing the door open with my shoulder. “I might actually combust.”Cinnamon and something sweet-scented filled the air as I stepped in. Home.I kicked off my heels with a groan and slammed my bag down on the side table. My body ached. My head ached and my face ached the more from pretending to smile and give a fuck about those shit heads."Ms. Nowell!" someone shouted down the hallway. It was Rina, the nanny. She poked her head out from behind the kitchen door, still wearing an apron around her waist. "Tough day?""I just want to forget what happened today, Rina," I muttered.She laughed. "You starving? I can prepare something quickly," she said."Not yet,” I replied. “Where's my little dictator by the way?""In the playroom,” Rina said, taking my bag from where I’d dropped it. “I’ll take this upstairs ma’am,” she muttered, before she conti

CHAPTER 4 JAXON

The violins were overkill.I'd barely stepped into the bloody tower before a string quartet greeted me with some rendition of Vivaldi, glasses tinkling and muffled whispers wafting through the air like perfume."Remind me why we do this?" I asked the bartender, Louis, who was a friend of mine, as he slid a whiskey down the bar.A grin spread across his face. "Because your brother likes theatrics."Yeah. That was true.I leaned back against the bar, sipping from my glass slowly while taking in the sea of bespoke suits and surgically-engineered grins. All glass. All gloss. The perfect cage for corporate wolves.And then I saw her.Irene.She was standing beneath one of the chandeliers, the light washing over her like liquid gold. She wore this midnight-black dress that wasn't particularly attention seeking, but hell—it got mine. Every one of her curves was accentuated by the dress and her smiles were enough to make a man drown. But her eyes?They looked far away. And angry.Kieran stood

CHAPTER 5 – Jaxon

I couldn’t get the kid’s face out of my head.Those eyes… I’d seen them somewhere before, and the thought wouldn’t let me sleep. By the next evening, I was back outside the Black Enterprises tower, telling myself I was just passing through.The rain had been falling since before sunset, steady and unbothered, like it had decided the city needed scrubbing. The streets were slick and shining under the streetlights, turning reflections into shifting ghosts.I stood there, pretending I was waiting for a cab. That was the excuse I fed myself. The truth? I was waiting for her.Irene Nowell.She’d been in my head since the gala, not in the usual way women sometimes end up there. This was different. There was something in the way she moved—calm, measured, but like every step was part of a plan I hadn’t figured out yet.The tower’s glass doors slid open and there she was, stepping into the rain like she didn’t notice it. She had the boy with her again, his head tucked into her shoulder, curls

Chapter 6 - IRENE

I stayed under the awning long after she was gone, listening to the drip of rain from its edge onto my shoes. My mind was already picking apart every detail, every slip in her perfect mask. I’ve met enough liars to know the difference—the ones who lie for gain and the ones who lie because the truth would ruin them. And she… she was definitely the second kind. The rain kept falling, cold and steady, but I didn’t move. My fingers were stiff, half from the chill, half from the way my chest felt locked up. Something about her words—no, the way she looked at me—had sunk deeper than I wanted to admit. It wasn’t just about the lie. It was about what it cost her to tell it. By the time I stepped out from under the awning, the street was nearly empty. A single taxi rolled past, its tires slicing through a puddle that splashed up onto my jeans, but I barely noticed. My head was still in that hallway, replaying her face, her voice, her hesitation before she spoke. I should’ve gone ho

Chapter 7-IRENE

Her words still hung in the air, sharp enough to cut through the silence of my apartment. It will destroy you. I should have laughed, should have thrown her out and bolted the door. But I didn’t. Instead, I just stood there, pulse hammering in my ears, watching the rain drip from the ends of her hair onto my floor. She didn’t move. Didn’t shiver. Didn’t apologize for barging in. She only stared, and something in her eyes told me she was dead serious. “You can’t just break into my life and expect me to pretend this never happened,” I finally said, voice rougher than I meant. Her mouth pressed into a line. She slipped her hands from the pockets of her coat, fingers trembling like they’d been fighting to stay still. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “He isn’t who you think he is. And if you try to find out, you’ll regret it.” I almost laughed then. Not because it was funny, but because warnings like that never worked on me. If anything, they only stoked the fire. “You talk lik

Chapter 8-JAXON

The bus spat me out onto the curb with the rest of the morning rush. Suits, heels, umbrellas—everyone moving like ants toward the steel and glass giant looming over the block. Black Enterprises. It never looked like a building to me. More like a warning. A polished monument built to remind the rest of us that the Blacks always won, no matter who had to bleed for it. And still, my feet carried me closer. Every instinct screamed to walk away, but my gut had already made the choice back in my apartment when Irene’s voice still clung to the walls. He’ll destroy you the way he destroyed me. I had to know. The glass doors parted with a hush, and the cold air inside hit like a slap. Same sterile smell. Marble shining like ice. Receptionists who smiled with their teeth but not their eyes. I hadn’t been here in years but nothing changed. Except me. I wasn’t the same man who left. And maybe that’s why I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Your brother’s in a meeting,” one of the receptio

Chapter 9-JAXON

Blood.Not mine.His.The kid’s eyes—grey steel. The kind that cuts. The kind I’d grown up staring at across dinner tables where no one spoke, across boardrooms where silence cost more than gold, across mirrors I wanted to smash.Not coincidence. Not resemblance.Kieran.Irene knew I’d seen it. She turned her face quick, pulled the boy closer, and vanished into the river of bodies. I stood dumb on the steps, rain needling my collar, watching her coat flicker in and out of the crowd.My brother’s son.Hidden in plain sight.I should’ve let them disappear. Should’ve gone home, poured whiskey, convinced myself it was a trick of light.I didn’t.My feet moved before my head. I pushed through umbrellas, through curses muttered at me under the storm. Kept the line of her shoulders in sight, the way she bent toward him, protecting, always protecting.Two blocks. A corner. A narrow street no one bothers with unless they live there. She stopped once, knelt, tugged his head up, kissed his foreh

Chapter 10-IRENE

The words were still in my mouth when I left him. That’s exactly why I came back. They tasted bitter, reckless, like blood on my tongue, and I hated myself for saying them out loud.I didn’t wait for him to respond. Didn’t want to. If I stayed at that table any longer, under that blinking red camera light, with his eyes locked on mine like he could pull the marrow right out of me—I would’ve broken. Said too much. Given away everything.So I stood. Smoothed my coat, left the coffee untouched, and walked.One block. Two. The air was wet and heavy. My heels made sharp sounds against the pavement, but all I could hear was his voice. If he makes me choose between my life and that boy’s—I’ll end him.God help me, I believed him.I pulled my head up, kept moving. Didn’t breathe until the café was two streets behind. I didn’t look back. I never look back—it’s the first lesson you learn when your whole life is running from a man like Kieran Black.Charles.The thought of him waiting at home pu

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