My CEO HUSBAND sign the divorce novel Chapter 232

Chapter 232: A few drinks

For the first time, Angela began to understand something she had completely overlooked.

Alexander wasn’t only grieving Rosalind.

He was grieving Alicia.

Suddenly, Alexander reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Angela froze.

He placed one between his lips and lit it.

The flame flickered briefly before dying away.

Her eyes widened.

In all the years she had known him, she had never once seen Alexander smoke.

Not when his mother died.

Not when he became CEO.

Not during the company’s darkest crises.

Yet now he sat there smoking as though it had become second nature.

"When did you start smoking?" she asked quietly still in a daze.

"Recently."

His indifferent response only made her chest tighten further.

As if he was unaware of how much he had changed.

Or perhaps he simply didn’t care anymore.

Angela’s thoughts immediately drifted to her confrontation with Alicia at the mansion.

The cruel words she had thrown at her.

The accusations.

The insults.

Then she remembered Alicia’s final words.

"If my child is going to grow up around people like you, then I’d rather raise him without a father."

Angela’s face paled.

A possibility she had been refusing to consider suddenly surfaced.

Had she pushed Alicia away?

Had her words become the final straw?

Her gaze shifted back to Alexander.

The guilt nearly suffocated her.

What had she done?

"You don’t need to worry about me, Aunt," Alexander said, tapping ash into the tray. "Just focus on your self. I’ll handle my life."

Angela swallowed hard.

For once, she didn’t know what to say.

After a long silence, she picked up her handbag.

"I’ll be returning to Washington tomorrow," she said softly. "I can’t leave Bella alone for too long."

Alexander simply nodded.

Angela stepped closer and squeezed his shoulder.

"Please don’t destroy yourself."

Her voice trembled slightly.

Because she knew there was very little she could do.

She walked toward the door before stopping.

For several seconds, she simply stood there.

Then she turned around.

"Alicia and your child will be fine wherever they are," she said quietly.

Alexander looked up.

"And you should take care of yourself too."

A faint sadness appeared in her eyes.

"I’m sure Alicia wouldn’t want to see you like this."

With that, Angela left.

The door clicked shut behind her.

Silence returned to the villa.

Alexander remained seated on the couch, staring at the cigarette burning slowly between his fingers.

He leaned back and closed his eyes.

But the loneliness remained.

And for the first time in years, Alexander truly understood what it felt like to lose the person who had quietly become his entire world.

After a while the door opened again.

It was Jane.

Earlier that day, he had instructed her to look into Alicia’s personal records—not just recent information, but everything she could find. Her high school, university, old friends, former teachers, favorite places, hobbies, anything.

Anything that might give him a clue.

Perhaps there was somewhere she had always wanted to visit.

Some dream destination she had once mentioned.

Some place connected to a cherished memory.

The truth was that Alexander didn’t know.

And that realization filled him with guilt.

After two years of marriage, he knew Alicia’s work habits, her schedule, and her responsibilities.

But he didn’t know her dreams.

He didn’t know the places she longed to see.

He didn’t know what she wanted her future to look like.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

Jane had compiled everything she could gather and brought it over for him to review.

Jane was taken aback by her boss’s dishevelled state, but didn’t say anything and left quietly.

Alexander headed straight to the study after she left.

The rest of the afternoon passed in silence.

Stacks of files and reports covered his desk.

School records.

University records.

Awards.

Academic achievements.

Recommendations from teachers.

Old photographs.

The deeper he dug into Alicia’s life, the more he realized how little he truly knew about her.

Several times he caught himself staring blankly at the same page for minutes.

His eyes burned from exhaustion.

His shoulders ached.

Whenever his thoughts became too overwhelming, he would step onto the balcony, light a cigarette, and smoke in silence before forcing himself back to work.

Maria had brought him lunch.

And she practically stood beside him until he finished enough food to satisfy her.

By six in the evening, another knock sounded at the study door.

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