Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Married the Man My Ex Could Never Compete With : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

Adrain POV I start noticing the pattern on a Tuesday morning. At first, it feels like a coincidence. By afternoon, I know it isn’t. The first sign is the car. Normally the driver arrives five minutes before I leave the house. Adrian’s staff is efficient, but never overly eager. Today when I walk out of the building, the car is already waiting. Engine running. The driver is standing beside the door like he’s been there a while. “Good morning, Mrs. Cole.” “Good morning,” I reply, sliding into the back seat. I check the time on my phone. I’m early. Ten minutes early. Yet the car is already prepared. I assume Adrian changed the schedule. That wouldn’t be unusual. He tends to adjust things around me without asking. Still, something about the driver’s posture catches my attention. He isn’t surprised to see me early. He was expecting me. I shake the thought away and look out the window as the car pulls into traffic. The city moves slowly around us. Morning commuters fill

Lydia POV The clinic used to feel private. Now it feels like a press conference waiting to happen. I notice the cameras before the car even stops. Two photographers stand across the street pretending to check their phones. Another one lingers near the entrance of the building with a long lens angled toward the driveway. They’re trying to look casual. They aren’t very good at it. The driver slows the car. “Mrs. Cole, we may need to use the side entrance.” “Because of them?” I ask. “Yes.” I look through the window again. The photographers are already shifting closer. They know it’s me. Of course they do. My schedule isn’t supposed to be public, but somehow these people always know where I’m going. Another reminder that privacy stopped existing the moment I married Adrian. “It’s fine,” I say. “We’ll use the front.” The driver hesitates. “Mr. Cole prefers—” “I know what Mr. Cole prefers.” The car door opens before he can argue. The noise hits immediately. “Mrs. Cole

Lydia POV The rumor begins the way most rumors do. Quietly. Almost politely. I’m sitting in the living room the next morning when it appears on the television. The financial channel plays softly in the background while I scroll through messages on my phone. It’s a habit I’ve picked up since marrying Adrian. If I don’t watch the news, someone eventually sends it to me anyway. Today the host looks unusually interested. “Cole Group shares remain strong this week following continued speculation about succession,” she says smoothly. Succession. That word again. My eyes lift to the screen. The segment continues. “However, some investors are now raising new questions regarding the timeline surrounding the Cole heir.” My fingers stop moving. Timeline. I already know where this is going. The host turns toward the guest seated beside her. An older man in a dark suit, the kind of investor who looks comfortable speaking about markets and empires. “Mr. Carrington,” she says, “you

Lydia POV The first time I realize Adrian is hiding something from me isn’t during an argument. It’s during silence. Silence has become a language in this house. The way he pauses before answering certain questions. The way his eyes harden when reporters mention his past. The way Marcus’s mother looked at him the night she confronted me. Not with anger. With disgust. At the time I thought it was arrogance. Now I’m starting to suspect it’s something older. Something deeper. Something everyone seems to know except me. The realization settles in slowly that afternoon. I’m in Adrian’s office at the estate, sitting across from Damien while he reviews a stack of documents. Adrian left early for a board meeting in the city, and Damien stayed behind to handle a few operational updates. At least that’s what he told me. But the conversation ended twenty minutes ago. And Damien still hasn’t left. He keeps glancing at me like someone deciding whether to say something he probably

Lydia POV The estate looks like a fortress. That’s the first thought that crosses my mind when the car finally stops. Tall iron gates. Stone walls stretch across the property. Security cameras are mounted on nearly every corner. And guards. So many guards. Two at the entrance. Two more near the main driveway. Another was standing near the front doors of the house. The place feels less like a home and more like a military installation. I step out of the car slowly, staring at the building. “Where exactly are we?” I ask. One of the security men answers carefully. “Mr. Cole’s private estate, Mrs. Cole.” Private estate. Of course, he owns something like this. Adrian Cole doesn’t do anything halfway. Still, something about the way the gates closed behind us leaves a strange feeling in my chest. Final. Locked. Like the world outside just disappeared. Inside, the house is quieter than I expected. Large windows. Soft lighting. Everything is d