The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 196

HANNAH’S POV:

"It's okay," I said gently with a smile and I meant it. It really was okay, I was going to be back. They couldn't keep me down for long.

She looked genuinely upset. "It was so beautiful. The craftsmanship, the meaning behind it... I cried watching the teaser video."

"You cried?" I asked, touched.

"Sobbed," Paige corrected. "My fiancé thought something was wrong. But it was just... the way you talked about your mother, about legacy and love and memory. It was everything I wanted for my wedding. Something meaningful. Something real."

I felt my throat tighten. This was why I did what I did. Not for the money or the fame, but for moments like this. For the chance to make someone's most important day feel special.

Something inside me settled and I found myself saying, "You'll still get your dress."

Paige blinked and almost choked on the water in her mouth. "What?"

"A new collection, The Mirada collection to honour my mother...," I continued, the words forming even as Cherry's head snapped toward me. "It'll be released in a month."

Cherry's eyes widened so dramatically I thought they might pop out of her head and I could feel her wanting to scream at me in questioning.

"In a month?" she repeated, staring at me in disbelief.

Paige gasped with excitement that scared me written on her face. "Are you serious?"

I smiled. A real one and I confidently answered. "Very."

"Hannah," Lila said carefully, "I don't know much about fashion, but isn't a month... really fast?"

"Insanely fast," Cherry muttered.

"It is," I agreed. "But it's also necessary."

Paige looked like she might cry again. "Can I... can I still get on the list? For a dress?"

"Absolutely," I said, pulling out my phone. "Give me your number. My team will contact you."

As Paige fumbled with her phone, hands shaking with excitement, Lila watched me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Respect, maybe. Or concern.

"You're brave," she said quietly.

"Or crazy," I replied.

"Sometimes those are the same thing."

Hannah Martinez....where...how are you going to do this in a month? I found myself questioning myself loudly.

After the game and after bidding the girls goodbye. They seemed to be influencers and I kind of feared that the news of what I had just promised would be all over the news before I knew it. Cherry and I sat at a nearby café for lunch, sunlight spilling across the table, plates of salad and sandwiches between us. Cherry hadn't stopped staring at me since we left the court.

"A month," she finally said, stabbing her fork into her salad. "A month, Hannah?"

Her face made me cackle but I still answered confidently. "I said what I said."

"You didn't even tell me." She said with a look of hurt on her face, and I had to quickly assure her because of how betrayed she looked.

"I didn't know until I said it out loud." I answered honestly and sipped out of my glass of smoothie.

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