My Husband Chose His Ex I Became His Regret novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Lila

The first thing I learn about public humiliation is that you wake up to it.

I wake up at 6:12am to my phone buzzing nonstop on my nightstand.

It’s not ringing.

It’s just buzzing.

Relentlessly.

For a second I forget where I am. I’m in sheets with grey winter light coming in. Aidan is beside me awake and sitting up. wearing reading glasses and holding his phone.

His face tells me everything before he says a word.

It looks bad.

Very bad.

The room feels heavy with it already.

My stomach tightens away.

“What happened?”

Aidan looks at me for a bit long.

He’s deciding how truth I can handle before I have caffeine.

That alone makes me irritated enough to wake up fully.

“Aidan “I say.

“There’s another leak coming at eight “he says.

I instantly lose sleep.

I sit up in bed. “What kind of leak?”

“We don’t know yet he says.

That means they know something. It’s bad enough that he’s choosing his words carefully.

His jaw is tight. He has stubble on his face. He’s tense in bed beside me.

He probably didn’t sleep at all.

I look at his phone.

“How bad did the video get overnight?” I ask.

There’s silence.

Then he says, “Eight hundred thousand views by three.”

Chapter 97

My chest drops.

Oh my god.

I immediately swing my legs out of bed.

The cold floor shocks me.

“Lila.” Aidan says.

I ignore him. Reach for my phone.

Aidan catches my wrist gently before I can unlock it.

“No.” he says.

I look at him.

“Thomas said not to read the comments.” he says.

“Thomas also once told me not to drink airport coffees. ” I say.

“This is different ” Aidan says.

“I know. “I say.

His grip tightens a bit.

“Lila.” he says.

There’s something almost pleading in his voice now.

Not controlling.

Afraid.

I understand that he thinks reading public opinion about myself and him will break something in me permanently.

Maybe he’s not entirely wrong.

But still.

“I need to know. “I say quietly.

His eyes search mine.

“For what?” he asks.

“The shape of it.” I say.

There’s a pause.

Then he says softly “That is an alarming sentence.”

Probably.

True.

I genth pull my wrist free

Then I unlock my phone

Thomas was right.

The comments are a mistake.

Not because they’re universally cruel.

Because they’re believable.

That’s the part.

If everyone hated me this would be easier.

People are divided.

Division creates uncertainty.

Uncertainty creates rot.

I sit curled in the corner of the bedroom sofa with coffee cooling beside me while Aidan moves quietly near the windows speaking low into his phone.

Legal.

Crisis management.

Meanwhile I scroll.

The video itself has crossed one million views now.

Comments move quickly to fully process.

Some defend me.

This feels misogynistic.

Even if they had feelings before that doesn’t mean she manipulated him.

People act like women can’t just be intelligent and attractive simultaneously

Then.

Why would the ex lie though?

The audio sounds real.

You can literally SEE the chemistry before the marriage.

Men like him always cheat eventually.

That one lands harder than I expect.

Not because of Aidan.

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Chapter 97

Because of Mark.

My thumb stills briefly against the screen.

There it is.

The thing Evelyn understood correctly.

Not my reputation.

My history.

She built the narrative around betrayal because betrayal already exists inside me somewhere half-healed and ugly.

Smart.

Cruel.

Very smart.

I keep scrolling.

Screenshots.

Old gala clips.

Slow-motion edits of me laughing beside Aidan before we were officially together.

God.

Watching yourself become a narrative is horrifying.

Every facial expression suddenly looks suspicious once strangers assign intention to it.

I watch a slowed-down clip of myself touching Aidan’s arm during a charity event and physically feel shame crawl up my throat even though I remember exactly what happened.

He had quietly told me there was lipstick on his collar from an investor greeting him earlier.

That was it.

That tiny ordinary moment now exists online with music beneath it and comments calling me manipulative.

I laugh softly under my breath.

Not because it’s funny.

Because otherwise I might throw the phone across the room.

“What are they saying?” Aidan’s voice comes from behind me now.

I look up.

He has ended the call.

Thank god.

Because suddenly I cannot bear the thought of him hearing strangers dissect me while he stands there helpless.

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Chapter 97

“Lila he says.

1 lock the phone slowly.

“A mix” I say.

He studies my face carefully.

Then crosses the room toward me.

“Show me.” he says.

“No.” I say.

His brows pull together immediately.

“Why?” he asks.

“Because you already look like you’re considering murdering someone and I would prefer not to escalate your morning.

say.

A tiny exhale leaves him.

A laugh.

Almost.

Then he crouches in front of the sofa taking the phone gently from my hand before I can protest.

His eyes move across the screen.

I watch his entire expression harden in real time.

Cold.

Not emotional.

Worse.

Controlled.

“Aidan “I say.

He keeps reading.

Jaw tightening incrementally with each scroll.

Then finally he locks the phone. Sets it face down on the table beside us.

“You’re done.” he says.

“I’m not.” I say.

“Yes you are.” he says.

“I need to think. “I say.

“You need to stop feeding yourself poison. ” he says.

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Chapter 97

His voice sharpens slightly on the word.

I stare at him.

Then lean back against the sofa slowly.

This narrative works.” I say.

Silence.

He does not interrupt.

That means he agrees.

I continue anyway.

“It works because it has texture “I say. “Real screenshots. Real footage. Audio clips. A crying ex-girlfriend with lighting and believable heartbreak.” I swallow once. “It’s emotionally coherent.”

Aidan watches me quietly.

Suddenly I know exactly what he’s doing.

Assessing damage.

Not corporate damage.

Mine.

I hate how instinctively he scans me for fractures now.

Not because he’s wrong to.

Because I’m beginning to realize how visible they are becoming to him.

“She studied me.” I say softly.

His expression shifts immediately.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

I lean forward slowly.

“She made assumptions about how I’d respond ” I say.

Aidan goes still.

I reach for the notebook sitting on the coffee table beside me and flip it open.

Blank page.

Pen.

Then I begin writing.

Not comments.

Not insults.

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Chapter 97

Patterns.

Aidan watches silently while I write the line.

Assumption One: Silence equals guilt.

The second.

Assumption Two: Emotional retaliation equals instability.

Third.

Assumption Three: Public shame will isolate me emotionally from Aidan.

My handwriting sharpens slightly with each sentence.

“She expected me either to disappear or explode. “I murmur mostly to myself.

Aidan’s eyes stay fixed on me now.

Careful.

Intent.

I continue writing.

Assumption Four: I will become reactive of strategic.

The room goes quiet except for the scratching of my pen.

Then finally Aidan says softly:

“What are you doing?”

I look up at him.

“Thinking. “I say.

“No” his voice lowers slightly. “You’re profiling her.”

Maybe I am.

The realization settles oddly through me.

Because suddenly this feels familiar.

Not emotionally.

Professionally.

Crisis mapping.

Behavioral prediction.

Weakness assessment.

God.

I look down at the notebook.

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Chapter 97

“She wants me emotionally loud “I say.

“Why?” Aidan asks.

“Because women are easiest to dismiss once they become visibly emotional in public I say.

Aidan stares at me.

Very quietly:

“You already know what you’re going to do ” he says.

Not entirely.

Something is forming.

Something sharp.

I tap the pen once against the paper thoughtfully.

“No” I say slowly. “I know what I’m not going to do.”

His eyes narrow slightly.

“And that is?” he asks.

I meet his gaze fully.

“I’m not going to defend myself like someone begging to be believed “I say.

Something dangerous flickers briefly across his expression then.

Not fear.

Recognition.

Because he knows that tone, in me

The one that appears right before I stop surviving situations and start strategizing them.

Aidan rises slowly from his crouch.

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

Before I can answer, my phone flashes on bright again on the table next to me.

Unknown number.

A text message.

It just says three words.

Check your email.

I feel a chill run down my spine away.

Aidan notices my face change instantly.

“What?” he asks.

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Chapter 97

I open the message.

There’s a screenshot attached to it.

It’s an email draft.

From me.

To Aidan.

Dated two years ago.

I never sent it.

My breath gets stuck in my throat.

Because I remember writing it.

It was late at night.

I was already of in love, with him and trying not to be.

The subject line says:

I think I’m making a mistake by staying near you.