Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Third Person’s POV

The elevator was completely empty except for the two of them. On a weekend morning, the entire apartment building was suffocatingly quiet.

The mirrored doors reflected their figures standing side by side. Seraphina stared at the reflection, suddenly feeling a sharp, bitter sense of déjà vu.

Shortly after she and Mortimer first got married, there had been a few times when they shared an elevator ride just like this.

Back then, it was their first mating anniversary. She had spent hours baking his favorite dessert from scratch, bringing it to him in the elevator with a heart full of nervous joy.

But Mortimer had merely given it a freezing, dismissive glance. Without missing a beat, he answered an international call from Vivian, casually pushing the carefully wrapped box right back into her hands.

Another time, harboring a secret, unspeakable affection, she had cautiously inched closer to him. Looking at their reflections standing shoulder-to-shoulder, she had desperately tried to delude herself: “Look, we really do seem like a loving couple.”

She had naively believed that as long as she stood close enough and waited long enough, one day, the mating bond would finally force him to respond to her.

But she waited, and absolutely nothing happened.

And now, he was the one actively choosing to stand closely by her side.’

But she was no longer the girl whose heart would skip a beat over it.

The soft hum of the elevator descending was exceptionally loud in the confined space.

In the mirror, Seraphina watched her own expression slowly fade into absolute indifference. That pathetic illusion-the one where she could trick herself into feeling loved just by standing next to him–had long been entirely shattered by the countless times she was ignored, abandoned, and placed second.

It turned out that when a one-sided, desperate love finally reaches its end, even the lingering scent it leaves behind is deeply

bitter.

She couldn’t even remember how she had managed to survive the agonizing heartbreak of those early days.

She didn’t notice that on the other side of the mirrored doors, Mortimer’s gaze was silently locked onto her face.

With his heightened Alpha senses, he easily caught the microscopic, suffocating shift in her emotions. It felt like watching a pool of bitter, stagnant water slowly sinking into the dark.

The hopeful light in his eyes instantly died out.

“What are you thinking about?” he suddenly asked, his voice low.

Seraphina snapped back to reality, giving a dismissive shake of her head. “Nothing.”

The elevator doors slid open. Standing in the hallway was the father and daughter they had run into a couple of nights ago.

The man recognized them instantly and smiled warmly. “Good morning, Mr. Craig, Mrs. Craig.”

Mortimer had always maintained a cold, impenetrable distance from outsiders. But the moment the respectful title “Mrs. Craig” dropped into the air, the freezing, hard lines around his eyes miraculously softened.

“Good morning,” Mortimer replied, actually taking the initiative to nod at the man. His gaze then fell onto the little girl holding her father’s hand. “Is this your daughter?”

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The man was clearly shocked that the intimidating CEO had initiated small talk. He froze for a second before nodding frantically. “Yes, yes, my daughter. We call her Una. Sweetheart, hurry up and say hello to Mr. Craig.”

The little girl tilted her head back, blinking her big, round eyes, and spoke in a soft, milky voice, “Hello, Uncle Craig.”

“Hello,” Mortimer replied, his deep voice subconsciously dropping into an incredibly gentle register.

His mind had already drifted far away. If one day, the child he and Seraphina made stood right in front of him… what would they

look like?

Those eyes would definitely look exactly like Seraphina’s, curving into two beautiful crescent moons whenever she smiled.

“Uncle, is this little doggie your baby?” The little girl’s sweet, innocent voice forcefully yanked him back to the present.

Her father panicked, quickly pulling her back. “Sweetheart, don’t talk nonsense! Mr. Craig is a human. How could a puppy be his baby?”

He then turned to Mortimer, frantically apologizing.

“It’s perfectly fine.” Mortimer looked down at the little girl, the faint smile still lingering on his lips. “Even though I didn’t give birth to him, he is still my baby.”

Standing off to the side, Seraphina looked at him, a strange sense of unfamiliarity rising in her chest.

She had seen his ruthless, cold-blooded corporate persona. She had seen his unconditional, protective indulgence of Vivian. But she had very rarely seen him speak to a stranger’s child with such unguarded, pure tenderness.

“Then… where is the baby you and the Auntie made?” the little girl asked again, her voice ringing with absolute, innocent

curiosity.

Seraphina’s expression instantly froze in place.

Mortimer completely stiffened, the smile literally solidifying on his lips.

He didn’t even dare to turn his head to look at Seraphina’s reaction. He just suddenly felt like that innocent question was a microscopic, lethal needle-piercing with terrifying precision straight into the exact spot where all his avoidance, neglect, and unforgivable debts from the past three years were buried.

The little girl’s father acutely sensed the sudden, suffocating drop in the elevator’s air pressure. He immediately jumped in to smooth things over. “Uncle and Auntie are still young! They’ll talk about that later. Stop asking so many questions, sweetheart.”

Not even waiting for the elevator to reach the ground floor, the man frantically hit the button for the next level. “Mr. Craig, Mrs. Craig, it’s wonderful being your neighbors! We’ll just get off here. Have a good day!”

The man scooped his daughter up into his arms and practically bolted out the door, walking so fast it looked like a terrifying, bloodthirsty beast was chasing him.

The elevator doors slid shut once again.

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