Lahat ng Kabanata ng An Ex-wife's Guide to Revenge: Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

ERDENI left Lyssandra’s house without saying goodbye. No, it wasn't because I was angry, even though anger would have been easier to justify, but because I could feel the lie sitting between us like a third presence. Lyssandra might think she had me deceived, but she hadn’t denied it outright. She had just redirected my attention and my question, and she thought I wouldn't notice? I chuckled under my breath as I got into my car. She was going to meet Nyra.She might not do it today, or tomorrow but eventually, she would met her sister, but it wouldn't be her sister at all. I knew her well enough to recognize that particular resolve. The calm she wore when she’d already made a decision and was simply waiting for the moment she could act on it without having to answer to anyone. Including me.That realization followed me down the drive and into the car, settling heavy in my chest as I pulled away. I didn’t speed, nor did I slam the door. I drove like someone who needed the time to

ERDENErden gives his name at the front desk without slowing, doesn’t bother with pleasantries, doesn’t soften his voice. By the time the doors open, his jaw is already locked.The guard recognizes him, and there’s a flicker of something, and maybe it's fear, respect, caution, I'm not certain before his protocol kicks in. The guard opens the door and leads me into the room. Cade is seated at a metal table bolted to the floor. Immediately I can see that he looks smaller.It's not physically, though he’s lost weight, that much is obvious. His cheeks are hollowed, his clothes hanging loose on his frame, the institutional gray swallowing what little presence he once had. It’s his posture that does it, the way his shoulders slope forward as though the world has finally grown too heavy to hold up. His hands are cuffed, resting limply on the table. His hair is longer than I remember. It's also unkempt and falling into his eyes. He's broken, I think, with a surprising lack of satisfaction.

ERDEN“No, you won't. I make the final decisions when it comes to Nyra, and I won't change my mind on this.”I don’t sit back down.Aksel’s words land, and something in me stiffens in response, a reflex I don’t bother hiding. He’s in charge of Nyra’s care. He gets final say. He says it like it should end the conversation, like authority alone is enough to close doors between us.I straighten slowly, palms still braced on the edge of my desk. I can feel the heat crawling up my spine, the familiar pressure behind my ribs that means I’m already past calm and headed somewhere sharper.“You don’t get final decisions over my family,” I say.Aksel lifts his chin, eyes hard. “Nyra stopped being just your family the moment she needed protection you couldn’t give her.”Kavev exhales softly, the sound cutting through the room like a blade slipping between bones. “This isn’t going the right direction.”I don’t look at him. My attention stays locked on Aksel. He looks tired, yes,but there’s someth

ERDENI go back to Lyssandra instead of home.It isn’t a decision so much as gravity. I leave my office with my jaw tight and my head full, knowing damn well that if I sit alone tonight, I’ll start pulling threads I’m not ready to finish. Nyra. Aksel. The chain. The way Lyssandra keeps orbiting danger like it owes her answers.I can’t tell her Nyra is missing. Not yet.She’ll go cold first, then furious. She’ll accuse me of keeping things from her, and she won’t be wrong. But she’ll also go looking, and if she does that without us knowing exactly what we’re dealing with, I might as well hand her to my father myself.So instead, I call her. “Erden?”Her voice does something to me every time. It loosens the tight band around my chest, just enough to make breathing easier.“Are you still at the office?” I ask.“No. I just got home.” I hear movement in the background. “Why?”“Dinner,” I say. “With me.” “Is that a question or an order?”“A suggestion,” I say. “I’m hungry. And I’d like to

LYSSANDRAI wake slowly, the way I only ever do when I feel safe enough to linger.At first, I don’t open my eyes. I don’t want to break whatever fragile, quiet thing this is. My body is warm, cocooned in heated comfort, and there’s a solid weight behind me that wasn’t there when I fell asleep. A warm body that is breathing with me. It's Erden.The realization settles gently, like a blanket pulled higher around my shoulders. I shift without thinking, inching closer, pressing back into him just to reassure myself that he’s real and still here. His arm tightens instinctively around my waist, his breath changing against the back of my neck.I smile to myself.“Careful,” his voice murmurs, low and still rough with sleep. “You keep that up and I’ll expect a follow-through.”I laugh softly.. “Is that a threat?”He presses closer, his forehead resting briefly between my shoulder blades. “It’s a warning.”The way he says it sends a small, dangerous thrill through me. I lean back again, deli