All Chapters of My Prodigal Ex-Husband Wants Me Back: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

41 Chapters

CHAPTER 30: She Was Already There

And just as I thought, Lila came home.Even better, it was their anniversary.She appeared in the doorway and the tears were already there, shining in her eyes. But my sweet, useless sister tried so hard to stay level-headed. She swallowed hard, lifted her chin, and spoke directly to Elias like I wasn’t even standing three feet away.She talked about the cookies she’d bought for him that morning, her voice shaky but polite, as if this was just an ordinary conversation on an ordinary day. She handed him a piece with that trembling smile still plastered on her face.I watched every second of it.The pain in her eyes was raw, deep, and so fucking delicious I could almost taste it. She was breaking right in front of me, and she was still trying to be the good wife. Pathetic. Yet so fucking perfect.Elias eventually mumbled something and left the room, abandoning her there with me.Lila turned toward me as I dressed, her voice small but determined.“Why are you doing this, Clara?”I tilt

CHAPTER 31: Lila, Though?

It should’ve felt like victory. And it did, mostly. But something about seeing her completely shattered in front of me had left a strange, restless energy I couldn’t shut off buzzing under my skin. “Hey… are you still awake?”Elias’s voice was low and rough with sleep and I felt the bed shift as he turned toward me.I blinked, pulling my mind back to the present, and rolled over to face him. The soft light from the hallway light cut across his face, making him look gentle.“Yeah,” I murmured. “Couldn’t sleep.”“Nightmare again?”I hesitated for half a second, then lied smoothly. “Yeah. Same one.”He didn’t question it and just lifted the covers and opened his arms without hesitation.“Come here,” he said quietly. “I’ll hold you until you fall asleep.”Guess it’s about time I stopped spiraling about Lila.I slid across the sheets and let him pull me against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, one hand stroking slow circles between my shoulder blades as I closed my eyes and pressed

CHAPTER 32: Actually Fucking Funny

LILA DANFORTH°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･The couple of days blurred into one long, painful grind.I woke up before the sun, dragged myself out of the guest bed with Peanuts glued to my side, and started the endless list of chores that had become my new life. And those chores of course included cooking from nothing but raw ingredients, chopping onions until my eyes burned and my back screamed, boiling rice, scrambling eggs, trying to make it all taste like something worth eating. Then the cleaning.God! That was the worst of it.Dusting every surface, scrubbing toilets, vacuuming rugs that never seemed to stay clean, and mopping. Always fucking mopping. My knees throbbed from kneeling on the hard floors, my ribs pulled with every stretch, and the old bruises from the alley still hurt when I lifted the heavy bucket of water. But I did it. I mean, what choice did I have?My parents also only spoke to me when they wanted something — “The floors need doing again” or “Dinner at seven” — and otherwise

CHAPTER 33: In. Out. In. Out

I laughed until my ribs and my throat got exhausted and finally burned itself out. When it was over, I eventually pushed myself up and grabbed the mop to finish cleaning the mess, pushing the filthy water into the bucket with slow, mechanical strokes. Every movement pulled at my bruises and each breath reminded me how fucked up everything and my body had become. But I cleaned it anyway. When the floor was clear, I dumped the bucket, rinsed the mop, and stood there for a long moment with my hands braced on the counter, staring at nothing. Then I clipped Peanuts’ leash on and slipped out the side door into the backyard. The late afternoon sun felt warm on my face as I walked slowly across the grass, Peanuts trotting beside me, but then I heard it. My father’s voice, coming from the open window of his study just around the corner. He was on the phone and I hadn’t meant to listen, but the words carried clearly in the quiet. “Marcus Hale is ruining everything,” he hissed with fr

CHAPTER 34: I’d Already Lost Everything

I had two choices.Open the door and lie through my teeth.Or stay silent and let her decide what that silence meant.Neither option felt right.Clara’s voice came again, softer this time, almost gentle.“Lila… if you don’t open this door, I’ll make sure you regret it.”The words slid under the door like smoke while I stayed frozen on the floor, arms still locked around Peanuts, my heart hammering so hard it made the bruises on my ribs throb. For a second, I almost moved. My hand even twitched toward the doorknob. Because, maybe it was best I opened it. Maybe I should just lie, play dumb, beg if I had to. She was still my twin, after all. But just because our parents had chosen her didn’t mean she got to treat me like this. Yes!Besides… what more could I lose? I’d already lost everything.She already stole everything!The second that thought crossed my mind, I suddenly felt insulted by her threat.Not scared — though I was terrified — but insulted. Like even after everything th

CHAPTER 35: Clara!

TRIGGER WARNING!Animal Cruelty ❁✿❀But If Clara had done something to him, if she’d hurt him just to punish me… I didn’t know what the hell I would do, but it wouldn’t be pretty.She led me through the back hallways of the mansion, past the kitchen and the utility rooms, until we reached a plain-looking storage door I’d walked by a thousand times as a kid. She glanced over her shoulder with a smug little smirk, then pressed something on the side panel. A soft click echoed, and the entire wall section swung inward, revealing a narrow staircase going down.A secret passage.I’d lived in this goddamn house my entire life and I never knew this existed. But at the same time, why would they ever show the spare twin the parts of the house where they did their real business?Clara started descending without a word. I hesitated for half a second, then followed her down the cold stone steps, the air growing damper and heavier with every level we dropped. The lights were sparse, just bare b

CHAPTER 36: Be Careful

“No… no, no, no!” My voice cracked and broke as I rushed forward, still holding my dog, and slammed my shoulder against the iron bars. Pain burned through my already battered ribs, but I didn’t care. I shook the bars with everything I had left, rattling them uselessly. “Clara! Come back! He’s dying! Peanuts is dying, please!”My body trembled violently as the words tore out of me, with tears streaming down my face, and mixing with the blood on my skin.“I’ll do anything!” I screamed, voice echoing off the damp stone walls. “Please! I’ll stay. I’ll be your fucking maid. I’ll never leave. I’ll keep my mouth shut about everything I heard — just don’t let him die down here! Clara! Please!”Peanuts let out another weak, pained whimper in my arms, his body shaking against mine as the bite on his leg continued to bleed steadily, dark red soaking into my clothes. I dropped to my knees right there at the bars, rocking him gently, pressing my forehead to his head as sobs ripped through me.“I’

CHAPTER 37: What A Shame

Clara’s laughter continued to echo up the stairs, until it finally faded and the heavy door slammed shut above with a dull, final thud that seemed to seal me in forever.The silence that followed was worse.For a moment, all I could hear was the ragged sound of my breathing. Then, from the corner of the cell, the madman started muttering again. But for some reason, it was clearer this time.“Hungry… hungry… I’m so hungry… I’m hung…”His voice was hoarse, and rasped out of him in broken fragments, repeating over and over. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, trying not to look at him, but I could feel his stare burning into the side of my face. Then came the growl, followed by the wet, sickening sound of teeth sinking into flesh.He was biting his own hand.I risked a glance. He had his wrist clamped between his teeth, biting down hard enough that blood was starting to trickle down his arm. His wild, bloodshot eyes were locked on me. “Hungry… hungry…” he kept chanting, voice muffled ar

CHAPTER 38: Why Should I Stop

The madman growled low in his throat, still glaring at me with those wild, hungry eyes. He jerked forward again, teeth snapping at the air between us.I sighed, shoulders slumping.“But if you’re against me too…” I murmured, voice quiet and tired, “then there’s really nothing more I can do, is there?”I pushed myself up slowly, legs unsteady. My body felt heavy, every bruise and cut screaming in protest, but I forced myself to stand anyway.“I’m exhausted,” I sighed, more to myself than to him. “I need to sleep.”I started walking toward him.One slow step at a time.“I don’t even know what you’ll do to me,” I continued. “You might rip me apart the second I accidentally get close enough in my sleep. You probably will.” I let out a small, broken laugh that didn’t reach my eyes. I stopped a few feet away from him, close enough that I could smell the rot and blood clinging to his skin. Close enough that if he lunged hard enough, he might actually reach me.I just stood there, swaying sl

CHAPTER 39: I Kept Walking

Just as I expected, they left me down there.Three days passed in a haze of pain, thirst, and the slow, suffocating reality of the dungeon. By the second day, the smell had become unbearable. By the third, it was suffocating. The air was thick with the stench of rot, urine, and decay. Peanuts’ body had started to bloat, his once-soft fur now tight and discolored. I still held him, though my arms had long since gone numb. I couldn’t bring myself to let him go, even as the smell of him made my empty stomach twist violently.The madman in the corner had stopped muttering. He mostly lay curled up now, too weak to do much else. Sometimes he would whimper or growl when I moved, but the fight had drained out of both of us.I was dizzy, weak, and so fucking thirsty I could barely think straight. My lips were cracked, my head pounded constantly, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of Clara’s face or Peanuts whimpering in pain.On the third day, I finally heard footsteps on the st

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