Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 119

Meredith happened to walk back into the living room just as Maddox asked the question.

She only caught the tail end of it, but a gut feeling told her exactly what they were discussing. Too afraid to confirm it directly, she sat down and asked casually, "What are you all talking about? How long has what been going on?"

Maddox shot her a sidelong glance.

Meredith's stomach dropped as an ominous premonition washed over her. "What is it?"

Maddox turned his attention back to Elara, waiting for her answer.

Since Maddox refused to speak, Meredith didn't press him. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Elara.

Unlike the docile curiosity she showed Maddox, the look she leveled at Elara was razor-sharp, laced with palpable displeasure and a silent threat.

It was a look that clearly screamed: If you can't handle your own marriage, don't you dare try to pin the blame on my son.

Elara had fully intended to answer Maddox, but under Meredith's menacing stare, the words rolling on her tongue were forcefully swallowed back down.

She gave a bitter smile, kept her mouth shut, and lowered her head dejectedly, pretending she hadn't seen the glare.

The subtle visual warfare between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law flashed by in a fraction of a second, seemingly unnoticed by anyone else.

But Sebastian, leaning back against the sofa and lazily scrolling on his phone, saw everything. His eyes darkened, his long lashes fluttering down to mask his gaze.

Elara wasn't the type to just play the victim and fish for sympathy when wronged.

Her uncharacteristically submissive act in front of Maddox today—leaking hints about Julian's misdeeds while skillfully defending him enough to keep the absolute truth buried—was highly calculated.

It looked like she was trying to use Maddox to rein Julian in and force him back to his family.

Elara hastily chimed in with desperate concern, "Meredith, where is he? Is he okay?"

At those words, Maddox slowly shifted his sharp eyes back to Elara. "You couldn't reach him?"

As if suddenly realizing she had exposed the truth, Elara panicked, averting her eyes and shrinking her head down like a frightened quail.

But deciding that ignoring Maddox was too disrespectful, she bit the bullet and offered a pained, strained explanation. "I tried calling him right before the party started. Maybe he was just too swamped to see my texts and calls."

Maddox turned back to Meredith, demanding confirmation. "Is that true?"

Once the party kicked off, Elara had been too busy hosting guests and corralling children to try calling him again. But the fact that she was still in the dark about Julian's whereabouts meant that even if Julian had seen her messages, he had blatantly ignored them.

Meredith's face cycled between a sickly green and pale white. Her intuition told her Elara had laid this trap on purpose. Yet, if Sebastian hadn't thrown out that casual remark, Elara wouldn't have had the opening to ask that "worried" question.