The Ugly Wife’s Stunning Comeback (Felicia and Max) novel Chapter 545

Max held the man's searching gaze, a quiet laugh escaping him. "Honestly, all I want right now is to live a simple life with her and watch Anne grow up. She has you as her big brother now. What else could I possibly want?"

Darin's face turned serious. He stood up, his voice cool. "I hope you really mean that this time."

He left the villa without another word.

That night, Anne begged to sleep in the master bedroom with her parents. She wriggled into her dad's arms, then rolled over to her mom, and even bounced on the bed to show off a dance for both of them. She was a bundle of energy, only settling down after quite a bit of chaos.

Once Anne finally drifted off, the room fell quiet. Felicia and Max lay in bed, each scrolling through their phones and tablets, lost in their own worlds.

Max broke the silence. "Have you thought about what we should do for Anne's birthday?"

This year, Anne's birthday landed right in the middle of the holiday. It was the first time Felicia would get to spend both the holiday and a birthday with her daughter. Thinking back to just six months ago, it all felt surreal. She never would have guessed she'd get this chance.

"You can take care of it," she said softly.

Max nodded. "Alright. Let's invite more of your friends this year. If anything comes up, we can figure it out together."

Before long, Anne's kindergarten let out for winter break, and she went off to stay at the Hawthorne family estate.

Felicia was finally wrapping up her work for the year. The TC Project was massive, and after the holidays, Jeremy would be taking over as the lead, with Felicia supporting him. All her work for the start of next year was already lined up.

At BlueMarble Investments, the executive office had just hired a new assistant. Her name was Dannie. She was twenty-six.

Max had personally handled the final interview. Dannie had a master's degree in finance from Stanford and had worked on Wall Street, even pulling off a major merger. For someone her age, her resume was about as impressive as it got.

On paper, she was exactly what Max was looking for.

Probably not. If he had to do it all over again, he doubted he’d accept a woman who showed up at his door pregnant.

Still, Felicia’s decision to leave and disappear for five years had caught him off guard. In that moment, he realized maybe he’d never really known her.

Maybe he’d overestimated himself, too.

Anne had been an accident, but now she was a part of his life he couldn’t imagine living without.

He could accept some surprises.

But divorcing Felicia? That wasn’t going to happen. He couldn’t stand the thought of her marrying someone else and starting a new family.