My CEO HUSBAND sign the divorce novel Chapter 182

Chapter 182: The cracks are beinning to appear

"But why..." Alexander muttered softly.

"Why did it take me so long to realize it?"

Raphael smiled faintly.

"The person trapped in the middle is always blind," he said calmly. "The people outside see things much more clearly."

He leaned back slightly before continuing,

"You and Lilian... honestly, from the beginning, that relationship was mostly driven by her."

"She adapted to you. Chased after you. Tried to fit into your world."

"To me, it never looked like a relationship built on equal feelings."

Raphael paused briefly.

"I didn’t expect her to come back."

"And I definitely didn’t expect that even after she returned, you’d still let yourself get tangled up with her."

His gaze sharpened slightly.

"I thought you would eventually understand that the only person you truly owed anything to... was yourself."

"Alicia never owed Lilian anything."

"You shouldn’t make Alicia suffer just to compensate for your guilt toward someone else."

"And you definitely shouldn’t drag her into that mess with you."

Raphael’s words struck Alexander like a sudden blow.

He lowered his head slightly before letting out a quiet, almost self-mocking laugh.

"You make it sound so simple."

His voice sounded exhausted.

"So why did it take me this long to understand?"

His thoughts drifted uncontrollably to that night.

The night he and Alicia had been tangled together in bed—

Only for Lilian’s agent to suddenly call and say Lilian had disappeared.

At the time, Alicia had asked him to stay.

But he still left without hesitation.

Worse—

He had even accused her of being cold and lacking empathy.

Alexander slowly closed his eyes.

Looking back now, those words felt unbearably cruel.

Why should Alicia sympathize with the woman who had destroyed her marriage?

If someone called him today and told him Aiden was missing—

He would probably applaud.

Raphael continued calmly,

"And honestly, even if you did owe Lilian something, that still doesn’t mean you should indulge her endlessly."

"Back then, everyone blamed you for what happened."

"But they all conveniently ignored one thing."

"Both you and Lilian were adults."

"You weren’t her guardian."

"She chose to run away from school in the middle of the night. That was her decision."

"As for the kidnapping..."

Raphael’s expression darkened slightly.

"That was the kidnappers’ greed and cruelty. It had nothing to do with you."

"Calling the police was the correct decision at the time."

"If you hadn’t, things might’ve turned out even worse."

"I know you feel guilty," he admitted. "That’s why you’ve spent all these years trying to compensate her."

"But compensation isn’t unconditional."

Raphael’s voice became firmer.

"If Lilian asked you to break the law for her, would you do it?"

"Promises don’t last forever either."

He looked directly at Alexander.

"If you and Alicia had a child someday, and Lilian still wanted to be with you..."

"Would you agree to that too?"

Alexander froze completely.

Raphael sighed quietly.

"Lilian is an adult."

"She chose to leave back then."

"In a way, she abandoned that promise herself."

"She has to take responsibility for her own choices too."

The private room fell silent again.

After a while, Raphael finally stood up slowly.

"I’ve said everything I wanted to say."

He looked at Alexander seriously.

"Don’t betray your own heart anymore."

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