Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance novel Chapter 1775

“Hey Jupiter, does your ex know you’ve been sending her money?” a friend asked.

“She’s known for ages,” Jupiter said.

The friend frowned. “If she’s known all this time, why’d she suddenly send it back? And now I can’t even transfer it to her.”

Something dawned on Jupiter. “I gotta go,” he muttered, not wasting a second before calling his ex-wife.

As soon as she picked up, he cut straight to it. “Dolly, what’s going on?”

On the other end, Dolly’s mom sniffled. She wiped her eyes, trying to speak, but nothing came out except the sound of her crying.

Jupiter’s brow furrowed. He didn’t rush her or raise his voice, just waited, letting her get a hold of herself.

After a long pause, Abby finally spoke, her voice thick and shaky. “It just doesn’t feel necessary anymore.”

Jupiter’s old, booming military tone slipped out. “What do you mean, not necessary? If I’m not helping out, how are you supposed to get by over there?”

Abby changed the subject. “How’s your health these days?”

“I’m fine, not going anywhere yet,” Jupiter replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

Silence hung between them, except for Abby’s quiet sobs. Jupiter was pulled back to years before—coming home to find her sitting at the edge of the bed, teary-eyed after another spat with his mother. He’d always felt a pang seeing her like that.

He knew the real story. His mom had pushed Dolly hard, wanting her to have another son. “The Solomon family line can’t end here!”

“Don’t give me that! Mars doesn’t make stuff up. You don’t have to be shy with me.”

Abby didn’t answer.

Jupiter hesitated, then pushed out the words, “We’ve been at this for so many years. Why are we still acting like kids? Our daughter’s getting married soon, and we’re still holding grudges. That country isn’t home. You don’t belong there. Your real home is still here, waiting for you.”

Abby pressed her hand to her eyes, crying again.

Jupiter didn’t care about saving face anymore. Mars was right: “She’s your wife—what’s there to be embarrassed about? She already knows everything there is to know about you.”

He realized Mars had a point. “We’ve stumbled through half a lifetime together. You know I’m stubborn, never want to admit when I’m wrong. But I know I screwed up. I’ll do better. I thought if we just gave it time, things would blow over. Then you took our girl and left the country…”