Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 352

After a few failed attempts to schedule a meet-up, Sebastian was growing noticeably restless.

The next time he texted Elara, he dropped the subtlety and asked directly: [Getting ready for the holidays?]

[You seem incredibly busy lately.]

Perhaps Elara was hanging out with Melody and had her phone in hand, or maybe she was just mid-scroll. Either way, her reply came through quickly this time.

[You could say that.]

[The firm is swamped with year-end cases. Everyone is rushing to wrap things up before the holidays so we can actually enjoy the break.]

Sebastian knew she was currently working at her friend's firm, but he had assumed it was just a temporary placeholder to strengthen her case for Child Custody. Given her current situation, he figured she wouldn't officially dive into the grind until after the new year.

He never expected her to plunge back into the deep end so quickly.

Too baffled to overthink it, he replied: [You're already taking on a full workload?]

Elara: [Not quite.]

[I'm just helping out for now, trying to find my rhythm and get used to the pace again.]

"..."

Sebastian thought to himself: Who casually 'finds their rhythm' by working themselves into the ground?

But he knew Elara wouldn't appreciate the lecture, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Besides—and he wasn't sure if he was just being paranoid—ever since he 'accidentally' slipped up while dropping off the Artisanal Estate Provisions the other night, her attitude toward him had noticeably shifted.

She had become a little distant.

It felt like she was intentionally avoiding him.

They hadn't seen each other in over a week. Every time he suggested grabbing dinner or taking Melody out to play, Elara politely turned him down with excuses like, "I'm swamped, I probably can't make it work."

Even though he now knew she genuinely was pouring all her free time into her career, spending time with Melody was already part of her routine. How could she possibly have absolutely zero time?

She was clearly icing him out on purpose.

Without seeing her face-to-face, Sebastian couldn't be entirely sure his instincts were right, no matter how sharp his deductive skills usually were.

He stared at Elara's text, analyzing it over and over. From a single short sentence, he managed to spin several different theories. He mapped out exactly how he would respond to each scenario in his head, predicting her potential reactions to every single word.

After meticulously running through every possible dialogue tree, he carefully typed: [That sounds exhausting.]

Right after sending it, he quickly added another: [You have to take care of Melody and juggle work. If you push yourself too hard, she'll notice and be worried about you.]

And so would I. I worry about you.

Of course, Sebastian didn't have the nerve to actually text that last part.

Elara was in the middle of discussing case strategy with Gillian. The court date with Vivian had finally been set for next week, giving them just seven days to iron out the final details.

Seeing Sebastian's messages, she instinctively assumed he was worried she was using work to numb the pain of Julian's betrayal.

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