Divorce and Freedom No More Homemaker for Him novel Chapter 30

Chapter 30 A Wound Exposed

The driver was behind the wheel, while Ayla sat in the front passenger seat.

Draven and Will were in the back.

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Once things quieted down, Ayla finally noticed the sharp sting in her palm. She opened her hand to find the skin beneath her thumb scraped raw, the worst cut already scabbed but splitting open again, fresh blood welling up.

She hadn’t brought a bag with her–no tissues, no alcohol wipes. She had thought it would just be a quick delivery and then back to the office. Ayla wanted to stop at a drugstore to clean the wound, but the car was already moving. She couldn’t ask everyone to wait for a small injury.

“Stop the car,” Draven’s deep voice ordered.

The car halted at once. Ayla’s heart jumped. She turned and found Draven watching her. “Get out. Take care of that cut.”

She hadn’t expected him to notice. Flustered, she hurried out and jogged toward the drugstore to save everybody time.

Her work phone buzzed with a message.

Will wrote, “Take your time. Your wound matters more. We’ll wait.”

Ayla knew Will’s concern came from Halle. She replied, “I’ll be quick.”

Inside, the pharmacist carefully cleaned her hand. The deeper cuts were covered with bandages; the smaller scrapes were left open.

“It’s not serious,” the pharmacist said. “Just keep it dry, and it’ll heal faster.”

Ayla nodded, paid, and turned to leave–only to run straight into Troy and Skyla.

While she was being treated, Troy bought a box of bandages and iodine swabs. No doubt, they were for Skyla.

So her guess was right.

Last night, Troy had rushed off just because Skyla scraped her finger. Something so small was enough to rattle him completely.

Troy usually had people do everything for him. He almost never handled real–life errands himself. Yet here he was, in a pharmacy, buying medicine with his own hands.

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Chapter 30 A Wound Exposed

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Seeing it with her own eyes, Ayla finally absorbed the truth. To her surprise, she didn’t feel as much pain anymore.

Troy’s eyes flicked to her palm, then back to her face. “You’re hurt too?”

That one word–too–made Ayla press her lips tight.

He probably thought she had hurt herself on purpose, copying Skyla just to get his attention. Maybe even to compete with her.

After the divorce, for every misunderstanding Troy had, she no longer felt the need to explain.

But this time, she wanted to.

Ayla followed her heart and said it. Her voice was flat. “No one wants to get hurt on purpose.”

Troy’s brows tightened.

“I’ve got things to do,” she said flatly, stepping past him and Skyla. Then she walked away.

Skyla watched Ayla’s back as she left. Suddenly, she realized Ayla wasn’t as smart and thoughtful as her stepmother had claimed, nor as gentle and quiet as Max had once described her.

Her act of playing hard to get seemed stiff and forced. It must have been exhausting for Ayla to keep up the charade.

Still, that had little to do with Skyla.

Max and Rolf had followed Skyla to the drugstore. By chance, they ran into Ayla on her way

out.

Max noticed the bandages on Ayla’s hand. He was about to ask what happened, but she had already walked away.

He froze, then stepped inside the store. “Did she hurt herself back at the event?” he asked, surprised he hadn’t noticed earlier.

Skyla frowned. “Max, do you care about her?”

Max caught the shift in her tone and smiled faintly. “Do I? Maybe I just made a guess. You didn’t know?”

It might have been nothing more than a thoughtless remark, but Skyla still disliked how Max paid attention to Ayla. To her, Ayla was a nobody. For people of their status, there was no reason to care at all.

Skyla stayed quiet.

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Chapter 30 A Wound Exposed

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Rolf, however, spoke coldly. “Always putting on a show. A little scratch, and she makes sure we all see it.”

Max glanced at Troy. His face was dark, and it was clear he agreed with Rolf.

Normally, Troy ignored Ayla completely. But the fact that he looked displeased at all showed he hadn’t totally dismissed her.

When Max stepped outside again, Ayla was gone.

She had already left in a car.

Max couldn’t even tell which one. All he knew was she disappeared faster than expected.

He couldn’t stop himself from wondering, Ayla, are you just putting on an act, or are you really planning to get a divorce?

As the thought crossed his mind, Rolf came over and bumped his shoulder. “You want to leave with me?”

Troy was with Skyla, so Rolf had no interest in being the third wheel.

Max asked, “Weren’t you recruiting talent? Why are you leaving when you haven’t found anyone worth your time?”

Rolf shook his head. “I’ve been talking more with Skyla. She knows the developer behind LugiX. When she has time, she’ll introduce us.”

Max lamented. “Skyla’s got some real pull.”

Rolf’s tone was full of respect. “Of course.”

Skyla worked with the best in tech. Any lead she gave him was far more valuable than him chasing his own tail.

Rolf had even watched her at a racing event. On the track, she shone with a kind of charm entirely different from her usual self.

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