My Husband Chose His Ex I Became His Regret novel Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Lila

នគ 87

The room is still dark with early morning, pale winter light barely beginning to gather beyond the windows, and he is asleep beside me with one arm still wrapped heavily around my waist like even unconsciousness has not convinced his body to let me go.

I lie there quietly and study him.

I do this often now.

Not because I do not know him but I just enjoy watching him.

Aidan asleep is different from Aidan awake. Softer somehow. Less controlled. His face loses that sharp composure he wears through the world so naturally, and what remains is younger than people expect from him. Exhaustion sits faintly beneath his eyes. There is stubble along his jaw from yesterday. His mouth is slightly parted against the pillow.

Beautiful man.

Dangerous realization.

I shift carefully, and his arm tightens instantly around me before his eyes are even open.

My chest does something stupidly tender.

“Good morning to you too,” I whisper.

One eye opens slowly.

“You moved.”

“I breathed.”

“Suspicious behavior.”

I laugh softly, and his eyes fully open at the sound. The look that crosses his face then-God.

That look.

Every single time he wakes up and finds me beside him, there is this tiny second where he seems genuinely relieved.

Like some part of him still expects to lose things he loves.

His hand slides slowly up my back beneath my shirt.

“You’re staring at me.”

10:56 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

“You are very stare-able.”

The corner of his mouth lifts lazily. “That was a terrible sentence.”

“You liked it anyway.”

“I like you anyway.”

Warmth spreads embarrassingly fast through my chest.

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It still catches me off guard sometimes, how openly affectionate he is with me when no one else is around. Not performative. Not polished. Just… constant.

A hand reaching for me automatically.

A kiss pressed absentmindedly into my shoulder while passing behind me.

The way he says my name like he enjoys having it in his mouth.

No one has ever loved me out loud before.

I think he notices when I drift too quiet because his expression changes immediately.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Lila.”

I sigh softly. “I was just thinking.”

“Sexy thinking?”

I smile despite myself.

Then his fingers brush lightly beneath my chin, guiding my face fully toward his.

“What were you thinking?”

The honest answer lodges unexpectedly in my

throat.

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That I am afraid to trust how happy I am.

Instead I say, “You’re so clingy even in your sleep.”

“I am not.” He denies laughing and I join in too.

“You cling.”

“I secure assets.”

10:56 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

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I laugh again, fuller this time, and suddenly he’s smiling too, that rare real smile that transforms his entire face when it escapes him unexpectedly.

God help me.

I love him so much it feels catastrophic sometimes.

His gaze drops briefly to my mouth.

The smile fades into something quieter.

Warmer.

Then he kisses me.

Slowly.

Sleepily.

Like he has nowhere else to be.

Morning kisses with Aidan are dangerous because they always start soft. Gentle. Lazy. And then suddenly his hand is sliding into my hair and his mouth deepens against mine and I am half underneath him without realizing exactly when it happened.

I make a quiet sound against his lips when his hand slips beneath my shirt, warm fingers brushing bare skin.

“Good morning,” he murmurs against my mouth.

“You already said that.”

“Well, I’m greeting your tits this time.”

I kiss him again before he can say anything else.

His body settles more firmly over mine, heavy and warm and familiar now in a way that still occasionally startles me. The intimacy of marriage is strange. Not the physical part. The emotional part.

The way another person slowly becomes threaded through your instincts.

I know the exact sound his breathing makes when he is trying not to laugh.

He knows I hate being watched while eating but I still enjoy him doing so.

This feels somehow more intimate than sex ever did with anyone else.

His mouth drifts slowly down my throat, kissing beneath my jaw while his hand spreads across my waist possessively.

Mine.

10:56 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

The thought flashes hot and immediate through me.

Not ownership.

Choice.

I chose him.

He chose me.

The realization still feels unbelievable some mornings.

“Aidan,” I whisper softly.

He lifts his head immediately at the tone.

“What?”

There it is again.

That immediate attention.

I touch his face gently.

“I love you.”

The words still surprise him slightly every time.

Not because he doubts them.

Because he feels them too much.

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I watch it happen in real time, the way his eyes darken, the subtle shift in his breathing, the emotion that moves across his face too quickly for him to fully hide it.

Then he kisses me like he cannot help himself.

Deep.

Certain.

My fingers curl into his shoulders as warmth floods low through my stomach.

The morning stretches around us quietly. Snow falling outside. Sheets tangled around our legs. His heartbeat steady beneath my palm.

For a little while, everything feels uncomplicated.

And maybe that is why I do not see it coming.

10:56 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

By noon the house feels alive again.

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Staff moving quietly downstairs. Security updates murmuring through earpieces near the front entrance. Deliveries arriving. Phones ringing somewhere in distant rooms.

Storm life.

I am curled into the living room sofa reviewing expansion proposals for the foundation when Thomas appears in the doorway looking deeply uncomfortable.

That alone immediately alarms me.

Thomas Park is a man professionally wired to remain calm in unclear conditions.

“Thomas?”

His gaze flicks briefly toward the hallway behind him before returning to me.

“Mrs. Storm.” A pause. “I need to speak with Mr. Storm urgently.”

Something cold slides slowly through my stomach.

“About?”

Another hesitation.

Bad sign.

“Thomas.”

His expression tightens slightly. “There are reporters outside the gates.”

The room stills around me.

“How many?”

“Too many.”

My pulse quickens instantly.

“Why?”

He exhales once.

“There’s been another article.”

I stare at him.

Something in my face must change because his own expression softens slightly.

“Aidan is handling it.”

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

Of course he is.

That is what Aidan does.

Handles things.

Controls things.

Contains things before they spread.

And suddenly last night rushes back into me all over again.

The omission.

The fear.

The argument.

I set the papers slowly aside.

“What does the article say?”

Thomas hesitates long enough that I already know the answer before he speaks.

“It’s personal.”

Ice spreads through my chest.

“Thomas.”

His jaw tightens.

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“She implied your relationship with Mr. Storm began before your employment officially started and that you got the job solely because you seduced him and that you don’t have real skills to lead and…

For one second I genuinely cannot breathe.

The room tilts slightly around the edges.

That is not true.

Not even in the slightest.

But facts do not matter once a narrative becomes entertaining enough.

Humiliation floods hot through my body so fast it almost feels like nausea.

“Oh,” I hear myself say quietly.

Thomas looks like he wants to say more but he doesn’t.

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

Then footsteps sound in the hallway behind him.

Aidan.

The second his eyes find my face, he knows.

He stops cold.

“What happened?”

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“Another article.” Thomas visibly straightens. “The legal team only received the publication seven minutes ago.”

Aidan’s attention returns to me immediately.

Everything else disappears.

“Lila.”

I stand too quickly from the sofa.

“I need a minute.”

His face changes instantly. “Wait.”

“I just need..” My voice catches embarrassingly. “A minute.”

I leave before either of them can stop me.

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The bathroom door locks with a soft click behind me.

Then silence.

Bright marble.

Cold counters.

My reflection staring back at me from the mirror looking pale and stunned.

I grip the sink harder.

Breathe.

This is not real humiliation.

Not compared to what I survived before.

Not compared to betrayal.

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

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But somehow this feels intimate in its own horrible way because the article is not attacking my marriage.

It is attacking my character.

Gold digger.

Suggesting I slept my way for a job I didn’t deserve.

Emotionally unstable wife.

I laugh once softly under my breath because otherwise I might cry.

How quickly the world turns women into stories.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Lila.”

Aidan.

I close my eyes briefly.

“Please open the door.”

“I’m fine.”

“You are very obviously not fine.”

My throat tightens.

“You cannot fix this immediately, Aidan.”

Silence.

Then quieter:

“I know.”

Something about him admitting that cracks painfully through my chest.

I unlock the door slowly.

The second he steps inside, his entire focus narrows onto me completely.

God.

He looks furious.

Not impatient.

Protective.

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

It should comfort me.

Instead I suddenly feel exhausted.

“I hate this,” I whisper.

His face softens instantly.

“I know.”

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“No, you don’t.” Tears sting suddenly behind my eyes. “You do not know what it feels like to have strangers discussing your morality over breakfast over and over again.”

A shadow passes across his expression then.

Dark. Brief.

“You’re right,” he says quietly. “I don’t.”

The honesty disarms me slightly.

I look away first.

“I can handle criticism,” I say softly. “I can handle people disliking me. But this…” My throat tightens painfully. “This makes me feel dirty.”

Aidan goes very still.

Then he crosses the room slowly and takes my face carefully in both hands.

“Look at me.”

I do.

“You are not dirty.”

Emotion burns hot behind my ribs.

“They’re saying I manipulated you.”

“They’re lying.”

“They’re saying I started sleeping with you before and while working for you.”

His jaw tightens visibly.

“And if I could sue people for being idiots, I would own half of Manhattan by now.”

Despite everything, a startled laugh escapes me.

Tiny.

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

Broken.

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But real.

Relief flickers briefly across his face at the sound.

Then his thumb brushes gently beneath my eye.

“You know what actually happened?”

“Yes.”

“I know what actually happened.”

Another nod.

“And anyone who matters to either of us will know too.”

I want to believe that.

God, I want to.

But shame is irrational.

It arrives anyway.

“I was so careful,” I whisper. “When I worked for you. I was so careful not to become that stereotype.”

Aidan’s expression shifts immediately.

“What stereotype?”

“The sleeping with the powerful man.”

His eyes flash with sudden anger.

Not at me.

At the sentence itself.

“Lila.”

“It matters.”

“No.” His voice firms. “What matters is that you were brilliant at your job and every person at Storm knows it.”

“That’s not what they’ll say now.”

Silence.

Because we both know I’m right.

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

The realization settles heavily between us.

Then suddenly his phone rings.

Once.

Twice.

He ignores it.

Then it rings again.

Thomas.

Aidan closes his eyes briefly like a man standing at the edge of violence.

“I have to take this.”

There it is.

Reality.

Storm Industries.

Media crises.

Damage control.

The world pulling at him constantly.

I step back first.

“It’s okay.”

“It isn’t.”

“No,” I say softly. “But answer it anyway.”

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His gaze searches my face like he’s trying to determine whether leaving me alone right now constitutes abandonment.

The fact that he worries about that nearly breaks me.

“I’ll be here,” I whisper.

Reluctantly, he answers the call.

And while he speaks quietly into the phone beside me, issuing calm ruthless instructions to legal teams and PR departments, I look at my husband standing in the middle of our marble bathroom with fury simmering beneath his composure and one terrible thought settles slowly into my chest:

10:57 Fri, May 22

Chapter 91

This is only the beginning.

And somewhere out there, someone wants to destroy uss, how much can we survive?