CEO’s Regret After I Divorced (Serena and Ryan) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 136 A press conference2

Serena’s POV

Then he continued, his admission sending an immediate ripple through the crowd. "Sophie Hart and I did have a relationship,but that was in the past."

The room erupted in a cacophony of voices and camera clicks. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Great. Now he was confirming the photos were real, which only made me wonder again why he’d looked at her that way—with an intensity he’d never shown me during our marriage.

"Mr. Blackwood, you’ve never publicly acknowledged your girlfriends before. Was Sophie special to you?" a reporter shouted.

Another called out, "Was your relationship destroyed by a third party like the rumors suggest?"

"Mr. Blackwood, why did you break up?"

I shot Ryan a venomous glare as the questions grew increasingly personal. My head was pounding from the noise and the lights and the absolute absurdity of this situation. He caught my glare and calmly tapped the table, commanding silence again.

"Please allow me to finish before asking questions," he said, somehow managing to quiet the room with just those few words. God, how did he do that? The power this man wielded was infuriating.

And then, without warning, he dropped the bomb.

"Serena and I were legally married three years ago. Here’s our marriage certificate."

My jaw literally dropped as he pulled our marriage certificate from his pocket. What the actual fuck? I’d thrown mine away the day we divorced—why the hell was he still carrying it around?

"Our marriage lasted three years," Ryan continued while I sat there in shock. "During that time, Serena sacrificed a great deal for me, but I failed to appreciate what we had."

He sighed, pulling out another document—our divorce papers—and placing them next to the marriage certificate. My eyes fixated on those papers, remembering how I’d felt that day, signing away what I thought would be my forever.

"It wasn’t until I lost her that I understood what our marriage truly meant to me," he said, his voice softening just enough for me to notice. "I’ve been trying to win her back ever since."

I sat frozen, my emotions a tangled mess inside me. Was he really saying these things? In front of all these people?

The same man who’d barely acknowledged my existence during our marriage was now declaring he wanted me back?

And yet... despite everything—despite the hurt, the years of silence, the way he used to shut me out—my heart gave the smallest, most infuriating flutter.

I hated that it meant something to me.

But it did.

Camera shutters clicked frantically around us. Whispers filled the darkened room.

"No way... is he using a press conference to propose?"

"I bet this whole scandal was just his ex trying to get attention."

"If they really loved each other, why’d they divorce in the first place?"

"Didn’t you hear him? He said he didn’t appreciate her until she was gone."

I leaned forward, panic rising in my chest, and whispered urgently, "What are you doing? Get up!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ryan shook his head, his expression more determined than I’d ever seen it. He opened the small velvet box, revealing a diamond ring that caught the spotlight and scattered brilliant fragments of light across the room. Gasps rippled through the crowd.

I stared at him wide-eyed, blinking in disbelief. Was he seriously proposing? Here? Now? In front of all these people? My mind raced frantically. If I rejected him, it would be front-page news tomorrow. But I wasn’t ready to say yes either. What was I supposed to do?

My heart pounded so loudly I was sure the microphones could pick it up.