The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 146

Maloney walked over to the edge of the mattress and affectionately ruffled her sleep-tousled hair.

Nora dragged herself out of the blankets and immediately threw her arms around his waist.

"Hungry?" he asked smoothly.

"Mhm." Nora nodded against his stomach.

Even after they headed downstairs and finished dinner, Nora remained firmly attached to him, refusing to let go.

Alarm bells instantly went off in Maloney's head.

Logically speaking, he had showered her with millions in unprompted jewelry yesterday, pinned her to an ottoman to devour her—leaving her covered in scandalous bruises—and then aggressively confiscated her phone and interrogated her this morning. Even if she wasn't outright furious, she should at least be acting petulant, aggrieved, or demanding some heavy-duty groveling.

Instead, there was absolutely none of that.

Nora was being impossibly soft, obedient, and incredibly clingy.

It defied logic.

Was she still suffering from a lingering hangover from last night?

Or had sleeping all afternoon turned her brain to mush?

Whatever the cause, Maloney remained on maximum alert.

Shortly after eight o'clock, he had an important video conference to run. When he moved to head to his study, Nora stubbornly refused to unwrap her legs from his waist.

She simply stared up at him with wide, pleading doe eyes.

Something was definitely wrong.

Rubbing slow, soothing circles into her back, Maloney lowered his voice to a gentle rumble. "Did something happen today?"

"Nope." Nora stayed comfortably nestled against his chest, casually scrolling on her phone.

She made zero effort to climb down.

Resigned, Maloney simply carried her all the way to the study.

Usually, Nora loathed being dragged in here.

It was too rigid and uncomfortable.

She could never find a cozy angle to sit.

Panic flared in her eyes. She lunged to slap a hand over his mouth, shooting a terrified glance at his monitor. "Did you mute the microphone?!" she hissed.

"The meeting ended a minute ago."

"Oh. Thank God."

The tension instantly drained from her spine.

Maloney reluctantly withdrew his hand from the warmth of her pajamas. He tried one last time. "Are you absolutely positive nothing happened today?"

"No." Nora tilted her head, genuinely confused. "What exactly do you think happened?"

"Anything," he pressed.

"Hmm..." Nora chewed her lip. "Oh! Right. I have another celebration dinner to attend tomorrow."

"For what?"

"That video script Jasmine and Felix shot—the one I showed you last week. It's been live for three days and already crossed half a million likes! It's their very first major viral hit."

A radiant, infectious smile brightened Nora's face. "Isn't it wonderful? Everyone's winning right now. I know things are only going to keep getting better."