My Husband Chose His Ex I Became His Regret novel Chapter 85

11:20 Mon, May 18 M…

Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Lila

I did not know it was going to be the last peaceful day I would have during the honeymoon.

90

55 vouchers

If I had known I would have appreciated it more. I would have paid attention to every thing, like the way the sunlight came into the villa and the sound of the water below. I would have remembered the way Aidan breathed when he came up from swimming it was like he was happy and tired at the time.

I would have held onto all of those things if I had known.

The thing about the day of something is that you only know it is the last day after it is over.

We had such a lovely day but it seems m

Aidan’s behavior changed instantly.

night is about to be ruined.

He was being careful like he was trying not to upset me.

He sat up beside me. His phone was still ringing in his hand. His face was blank like he was hiding his feelings.

My stomach felt weird like it was twisting.

“Aidan.” I started softly. He did not respond right away.

When he finally looked at me his face was still blank.

“What is going on?” I asked him.

“It’s nothing.”

“But it doesn’t seem like nothing. Nothing doesn’t answer the question.”

When he said “nothing” it felt like he was hiding something.

Men always say “nothing” when something’s wrong.

I did not even realize I was tense until he tried to touch me. I pulled away.

It was a movement but I could tell it hurt him.

His hand stopped in the air like he was not sure what to do.

Then he said my name softly, “Lila.”

“Who’s Evelyn?” I asked cutting straight to the chase.

He lets out a slow breath, thinking carefully. Too carefully.

11:21 Mon, May 18 M

Chapter 85

Don’t tell me he’s thinking of the lie he’s about to tell.

“It’s work.”

An instant heaviness crawls up inside my chest.

Work. Another favorite word for men who are hiding something.

90

55 vouchers

Now I’m sitting up too, holding the sheet tight around me, though the room’s already warm. I feel exposed. Not just bare-skinned, bare, everywhere.

“You looked like you saw a ghost.”

“I didn’t want this tonight.”

Not a no. Not an explanation. Just that.

It cuts, sharp and sudden. “What exactly didn’t you want tonight?” I ask.

He finds my eyes. “Lila.”

No. Not that voice. That managed, careful steadiness, like soothing a cornered animal.

My heart rate starts racing.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Talk to me like you’re managing me.”

His eyebrows pull together fast. “I’m not managing you.”

“You’re hiding something.”

“I’m handling something.”

There’s a difference, I guess, but in this moment, it doesn’t matter.

And suddenly, I hear my ex-husband in my own head, Mark always saying it’s nothing, telling me to mind my business and stop meddling in his affairs and somehow memories started flooding in.

You’re overreacting. You’re imagining things. You’re too emotional. Nothing is going on between us, get a life, she doesn’t mean anything to me, Mark lied to me with these words all those years while we were dating and he still had Sienna around.

I hate how quickly my brain returns to those places. How effortlessly fear takes over logic. I was safe seconds ago, curled up against Aidan. Now I feel like I’m back on thin glass, barefoot and bracing for the break.

His phone buzzes again.

11:21 Mon, May 18 M…

Chapter 85

EVELYN.

I can’t stop staring at the name. It feels personal, intimate somehow.

“She keeps calling in the middle of the night, on our honeymoon?”

“She’s not calling to flirt.”

“How would I know that?”

The words escape, sharper than I intend.

Aidan freezes.

“Lila.”

“There it is again.”

He frowns. “What?”

“That tone, like you’re waiting for me to embarrass myself.”

“You’re not embarrassing yourself.”

“I feel like I am.”

Silence. Immediate and thick.

The ocean outside sounds loud now.

90

55 vouchers

I get up, dizzy and shaky, pacing to the balcony doors. Cross my arms, trying to hold myself together.

I hear Aidan rise behind me, sheets rustling.

“Talk to me.”

A dry, flat laugh shakes out of me.

“That’s funny, coming from you.”

His patience tugs, just for a second. “I’m trying to.”

“No, you’re deciding how much to share.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Then tell me I’m wrong.”

He says nothing.

And in the gap, something in me snaps.

11:21 Mon, May 18 M.

Chapter 85

90

55 vouchers

I spin around. My hair slaps my shoulder. “God, isn’t there always something? Always a woman, or a secret, or something I’m not supposed to know because I ‘can’t handle’ reality…”

“That’s not this.”

“How do I know?”

His face sharpens. “Because I’m telling you.”

“And men never lie?”

I see the words hit him as they leave my mouth.

Not because they fit him, but because he knows who they really belong to. I’ve thrown someone else’s sins at him.

I can’t help it. Fear is its own engine now.

“Just give me one honest answer,” I whisper. “Are you seeing someone else?”

He looks at me, hard enough that I flinch.

“What?” He asked dumbfounded.

That quietness is worse than anything he could shout.

“You heard me.”

“Lila.”

“Are you?”

“No.”

Firm. Immediate. Sure,

But panic is already tearing me up, all teeth and claws.

“Then why do you look guilty?”

“Because I didn’t want you learning about this like this.”

“Learning what?”

He clamps his jaw shut. Another pause.

And my chest hollows out.

“Oh my god.”

“Stop.”

11:21 Mon, May 18 M.

Chapter 85

“Don’t tell me to stop.”

“You’re spiraling.”

“I wonder why.”

He closes his eyes just briefly, but it feels final.

My voice snaps apart. “I knew this was too good to last.”

His eyes open. “Lila…”

90

55 vouchers

“No, really.” I’m laughing, but it’s ugly and shaking. “Did I think a man like you would fall in love with me and just…never hurt me? Never lie? Never wander?”

“That’s not what this is.”

“Then tell me.”

“I’m trying to….”

“Try harder!” I shouted.

The words echo back, bouncing off stone and wood. I hate myself as soon as I say them.

But underneath all the anger, something colder is moving, real fear.

Because I’m not really here anymore. I’m years ago, in another bedroom with another man holding another phone, my reality giving out from under me while he insists I’m crazy for noticing.

I press my palms to my eyes. Hard.

“I can’t do this again,” I whisper.

Everything stops. Changes.

Aidan’s anger evaporates. Gone, just like that.

“Hey,”

He’s gentle now.

I shake my head, too much and too fast. “Don’t ‘hey’ me.”

My voice is trembling. Fast breath. I hate how quickly fear transforms me into a stranger.

He crosses the room slowly, careful, like I might bolt.

“Look at me.”

“I don’t want to.”

11:21 Mon, May 18 M…

Chapter 85

“I know. Do it anyway. Please.”

Lowering my hands is hard, but I do it.

His expression almost unravels me.

Not hard. Not closed. Heartbroken.

90

55 vouchers

“For the record,” he says, soft as anything, “there’s nobody else. There never was. There never would be.

Swallowing hurts.

“Then who’s Evelyn?”

His jaw tightens, but differently now. Tired. Frustrated.

“She’s a journalist.”

I blink. “A what?”

“She’s tried to get my attention for months. Writes for magazines, celebrity and business fluff, mostly. Calls it investigative work, but it’s just gossip.” His mouth goes flat. “Now she’s writing about you.”

Something cold blooms in my chest.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

The space feels smaller all at once.

“What kind of articles?”

He hesitates. That hurts worse than words.

“What kind, Aidan?”

“Ugly ones.”

My stomach twists.

“She claims you married me for money. Pulls out old relationships, overlaps your divorce, takes photos out of context.” His expression gets even darker. “The most recent article went after your mental health. Called you emotionally unstable.”

The words land like punches.

Emotionally unstable.

I laugh, but it’s only because crying would take me under.

Chapter 85

“Creative.”

He flinches. “Lila.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

“I wanted to handle it before it got to you.”

“You can’t protect me from the internet.”

“No,” he says. “But I can try to shield you from cruelty.”

Something inside me folds down, small.

I sit on the edge of the bed. My legs feel loose and watery.

“Oh.”

That’s all I manage.

He kneels in front of me, hands warm and careful on my thighs.

“I should’ve told you.”

“Yes.”

“I know.”

I can’t look at him long before shame slips its way in, prickly and cold.

“You weren’t cheating.”

“No.”

“And I just…”

His hand moves lightly over my knee. “You got scared.”

“I accused you of an affair five minutes after telling you I love you.”

“You got scared,” he says again, gentle,

My eyes sting.

“I hate this.”

“What part?”

“This part, the suspicious bit. Always bracing. Waiting. I don’t know how to stop being her.”

His face twists, softer than I can stand.

90

55 vouchers