Forgotten Wife My Ex-Husband Regrets It After I Left (Clara and Liam) novel Chapter 265

Sienna’s POV

The room was atready dark when I finished placing the book I’d been reading on the nightstand beside the bed.

The soft patter of rain outside the window made everything feel calm, as if the world itself was taking a long breath before sleep.

Noah had been fast asleep for nearly an hour, after briefly whining and asking Liam to stay with him and read one short story.

Liam and I were getting ready for bed too, and I had just pulled the blanket over myself when he switched off the lamp beside his side of the bed. Fatigue slowly crept up from my feet to my shoulders, but my mind felt crowded and heavy, as if there was no space left for rest.

Liam turned toward me, his voice gentle. “How was the meeting today?”

I took a deep breath before answering. “Heavy. But I’m glad it’s over.”

He blinked slowly, waiting patiently.

“I told them I wouldn’t work with Emily,” I finally said. “It feels relieving. But also confusing.”

Liam nodded calmly. “Confusing how?”

I sat up a little, leaning my head against the headboard. “Idon’t have a cover model now, Liam. And I don’t know where to look. I’m afraid the publisher will be disappointed. Afraid readers won’t be interested. Afraid my book will fail.”

There was a long pause before he answered. He shifted closer, turning his body toward me, his eyes meeting mine in the dim light lit only by the glow from outside the window.

“Sienna, you made the right decision for yourself. The rest can be figured out slowly.”

lowered my gaze, my fingers curling into the edge of the blanket. “I just don’t want to waste any more time.

Everyone is waiting for results. Vina, the publisher, Liliana and you. Sometimes I’m scared I’ll disappoint all of you.”

Liam sighed softly and reached for my hand. “You don’t need to be afraid of disappointing us. We want you to be happy. That’s all.”

His words touched a fragile wall inside me, one that had been tightly holding everything in for a long time.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the sentence sink in. We want you to be happy. It sounded simple, yet somehow it was the hardest thing for me to accept.

Happiness often felt like something that had to be earned through struggle, not something I was allowed to choose without guilt.

“I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be happy withoutconditions,” I whispered. “There’s always a target, a deadline, an expectation. If I stop for even a moment, it feels like failure.”

Liam didn’t respond right away. His hand tightened around mine, slightly warm, steady. A touch that demanded nothing.

“You’re allowed to stop,” he said at last. “Not forever. Just to breathe. You’re human, Sienna. Not a machine that has to keep producing something.”

“Tomorrow,” he said softly, “we’ll think about solutions.

Maybe a new idea for the cover. Maybe new people. It doesn’t have to be tonight.”

I took a small breath, holding back the sudden swell of emotion.

“Still,” I said, “a book cover really matters. Readers often get interested from that first.”

Liam went quiet for a moment, clearly thinking. Then slowly, he said, “In that case you could start looking for inspiration somewhere with lots of interesting covers.”I frowned slightly. “Where?”

“The library,” he said firmly. “You told me yourself back in college, you loved spending time there. There are so many books with different cover styles. You can browse. See what fits the theme of your book. You don’t have to find a model right away. Maybe you just need inspiration.”

The library.

The word echoed warmly in my mind. Old memories stirred gently wide quiet spaces, the scent of aged paper, the soft sound of pages turning, endless rows of books.

I smiled without realizing it. “That’s a good idea.”

Liam smiled back. “Sometimes you just need the right place to think.”

I looked at him for a long moment. “You’re sure I’m not too slow?”