The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 379

The Phone Call (2)

MARY’S POV:

Alistair stared at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

I watched his expression shift as he glanced at the screen. Something flickered across his face, surprise, maybe. Or concern. He hesitated, his finger hovering over the answer button.

Then he answered.

“Hello?”

I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the line, but I could see the effect it had on him. His shoulders tensed. His jaw tightened. He turned slightly away from me, his voice dropping low.

“Slow down. Tell me what happened.”

A pause. The voice on the other end kept speaking, urgent and insistent.

“I understand,” Alistair said. “I’ll be there right away.”

Another pause. The voice spoke again, and Alistair’s eyes flickered toward me. Something passed across his face, hesitation, calculation, the quick weighing of options.

“Okay, I will bring her,” he said.

The words landed in my chest like a stone.

I didn’t wait to hear more. I pushed past him, my shoulder brushing against his arm, and walked into the bedroom. My legs were unsteady, my body still trembling from everything that had just happened. The towel was still wrapped around me, damp and cold against my skin.

I let it fall to the floor.

The air was cold on my bare skin, raising goosebumps along my arms. I stood there for a moment, frozen, staring at the dresser in front of me. My reflection stared back from the mirror, pale, hollow-eyed, a stranger wearing my face.

I reached for my clothes.

My hands were shaking as I pulled on a shirt, the fabric soft and familiar against my skin. Jeans next, the denim stiff and cold. I fumbled with the button, my fingers clumsy and uncooperative.

and

I thought about the way Alistair had touched me. The way his hands had roamed over my body, familiar and possessive. The way he had kissed me, demanding and desperate, as if he could force me to feel something I no longer felt.

I thought about the bruises.

They were still there, scattered across my skin like dark flowers. Purple and blue and yellow, the marks left by the inmates who had beaten me while I was in detention and would have hurt me more if Marl hasn’t come for my rescue. I had forgotten about them. I had been trying to forget about them. But there they were, impossible to hide, undeniable evidence of everything I had been through.

And Alistair had seen them.

He had seen them, and he had said, “If you’d stayed with me, none of this would have happened to you.”

Not I’m sorry my sweetheart or I swear I will always protect you.

Only that she should have stayed with him.

I pulled on a pair of socks, then my shoes. My fingers were still shaking, but I forced them to steady. I couldn’t fall apart. Not

1/2

+15 Banul

now. Not ever again

I thought about Elowen. About the way she had looked at me earlier, her eyes full of questions I didn’t have answers for

I would not be sad anymore.

I would not let Alistair control me anymore.

I would not let him touch me again.

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