My Husband Chose His Ex I Became His Regret novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

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Aidan

When we leave the stage to go into the wings out of sight from the audience, Lila turns to me and says, “Did you see his face?” Her eyes are bright! They are fierce! They are alive! “Did you see his face when…?”

“I saw.” I touch her diamond earring that has slightly shifted out of place from her presentation and let my fingers linger on the back of her ear a moment longer than necessary. “You looked amazing up there.”

“I was so scared.”

“Nobody knew that.”

“I had shaky hands.”

“I know.” I did. I had squeezed one of them when she was standing next to me during her presentation as a way of grounding her. “You hid it very well.”

She laughs. She’s breathless! She’s giddy! “This is crazy! It’s all crazy! Did we just embarrass Mark Knight in front of everybody?”

“We did.” I straighten my bow tie. “And we’re not finished yet. I’m expecting him to approach us soon. The question is whether or not you will be ready for the conversation.”

Her smile fades slightly, as reality begins to set in. “What if I freeze? What if I say something stupid? What if

“You won’t.” I’m holding her shoulders, now turned towards me. “Lila, listen to me. You just spoke in front of five hundred people, with no script. You stood on stage with me and looked like you belonged there, being there. You smiled at Mark Knight like he was nothing! You’ve already won; everything he says now is just noise.”

“But what if…”

“No what-ifs.” I’m speaking in my “CEO” voice, the voice that doesn’t allow for a rebuttal. “You are Lila Stark. Don’t doubt yourself, not now, not tonight.

Then she stares at me; her countenance shifts from indecision to resolution.

“You are right,” she says, with a sense of quiet conviction.

“I usually am.” I say smugly.

She laughs, the sound of her laughter does things to me.

“Come on,” I extend my arm once more. “let’s grab something to eat while Mark wonders how the hell he could have possibly made such a mistake by letting you go.”

I can feel every eye in the room watching both of us and hear the whispers trailing behind us like wind over

Chapter 26

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water.

“That’s her. Mark Knight’s ex-wife.”

“She’s with Aidan Storm now.”

“Did you see that presentation? Storm Industries is about to dominate the market.”

Music to my ears.

The food has now arrived, wonderful, overpriced French food. However, all my senses are still focused on the room and specifically I am fixed on Mark Knight who is literally three tables away and he cannot take his eyes off Lila as if she were a ghost, a figment of his imagination.

While she tries to speak with the Nakamura table seated next to us, she is completely ignoring the fact that Mark is looking at her with what I can only describe as the look of a “man that has lost something that was the best thing in his life.”

I can see everything coming together after three months of planning.Halfway through our meal, I could feel someone coming up to our table. I did not have to look; I could sense that particular type of frantic energy.

Mark Knight arrived next to our table with Sienna hovering behind him like a lost puppy.

“Lila”, he said.

Just her name. As if he had any authority over it.

Lila drops her fork, wipes her mouth with her napkin, and takes as long as possible to look up at him.

Finally, she finally looks up at him.

“I’m sorry,” said Lila, her voice cold and polite, “Do I know you?”

The whole table falls silent. Everyone nearby ceases to eat; cease to talk; cease to breathe.

Mark’s countenance is a series of rapid transitions – shock, sorrow; anger, desperation.

“Lila, don’t,” he said.

“Oh, wait;” Lila tilted her head as if she had remembered something. “Mark Knight. Congratulations on your engagement by the way, Sienna, you look…lovely.”

The word lovely drips with just enough poison to be unmistakable.

Sienna’s face turned bright red.

I took a drink of wine to conceal my smile. Wow. What a woman.

“Can we speak,” Mark requests. “Privately?”

“I’m eating,” said Lila. ” Possibly some other time.”

10:04 Wed, May 13

Chapter 26

“Lila, please -”

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“Ms. Stark,” I said with a cool and cutting voice. “is busy, as you can see. Maybe you should return back to your table; I think your entrée is getting cold.”

Mark’s stare quickly turned toward me, and there was hatred in his eyes. A pure, unmixed disdain.

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