Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 39

Elara delivered the ultimatum with agonizing slowness, her tone utterly stripped of dramatic hysteria, yet vibrating with an absolute, terrifying finality.

Julian flinched as if struck, violently jolted by her brutal rejection and the jarring sound of his full name falling from her lips.

Having navigated the trenches of life together for over a decade and having been madly in love for ten of those years, they had each other wired down to a cellular level.

Julian knew that tone; Elara wasn't just upset—she was radiating an apocalyptic level of fury.

"I'm s—"

Operating on pure survival instinct, he tried to apologize, but her lethal warning instantly forced him to snap his jaw shut and swallow the words down like broken glass.

Rooted to the doorway, he stared blankly at his shattered family for a long, grueling moment before silently turning on his heel and retreating into the hallway.

No matter how desperately he wanted to explain himself, the only smart move right now was to shut the hell up.

With Melody still hyperventilating, forcing his presence on her would only trigger a secondary meltdown.

There was simply no excuse for screaming at a tiny girl who had practically vibrated with joy at the mere sight of him.

He had crossed a massive line.

Suffocating beneath a crushing avalanche of guilt, Julian felt physically ill.

The entire chaotic encounter felt like a bizarre, grotesque nightmare, leaving him seriously questioning his own sanity.

Had he lost his goddamn mind?

Why the hell did he scream at his own daughter?

Was that how a real man treated his child?

Julian staggered blindly into the adjacent master suite.

Having abandoned this marital bed for the better part of two weeks, stepping back into the sprawling, familiar room suddenly felt incredibly alien.

He froze near the threshold, practically scanning the immaculate suite like a bewildered hotel guest checking in for the first time.

Elara had always been meticulously organized; every object had a permanent home, and if the cleaning staff ever displaced a single vase, she silently restored the precise alignment, ensuring their sanctuary remained an anchor of pristine stability.

For years, Elara had effortlessly orchestrated the flawless operation of their luxury estate.

But he hadn't truly bothered to look at the life they had built together in months.

As a result, his own bedroom felt simultaneously deeply nostalgic and entirely foreign.

Tossing his coat onto the velvet lounger, he started to sink into the cushions, only to freeze mid-motion as a dark, intrusive thought paralyzed him.

His cryptic text about being delayed hadn't explained a thing, leaving Vivian anxiously assuming he was trapped in a major crisis.

"Everything is fine."

Julian subconsciously softened his tone. "I'll be out of here in a minute. I'm coming to see you."

"How bad is the damage?"

Vivian breathed a dramatic sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God you're okay."

"I'm totally fine! It's just a tiny scrape on my knee. The doctor cleaned it up, so please don't stress yourself out over me."

Always playing the selfless martyr, she added softly, "You haven't spent time with Melody in ages, and it's getting late. Honestly, you should just stay home with your daughter."

Julian had heavily considered doing exactly that, but given the radioactive hostility vibrating off Elara and Melody's traumatized rejection, staying would only fuel the fire.

"I'm leaving the house right now. Are you still at the clinic?"

Grabbing his coat, Julian pushed himself off the lounger and marched toward the door.

As he passed the nursery, he hesitated at the threshold, briefly entertaining the idea of telling Elara he was heading out, but the sight of Melody still violently weeping onto her mother's shoulder swiftly killed that impulse, and he aggressively bypassed the doorway.

Elara caught the heavy thud of his Italian leather shoes, tilting her head just in time to watch his broad shoulders breeze right past the nursery.