Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 45

The door swung open to reveal a towering figure. As the gap widened, she finally recognized Julian stepping into the room.

Melody's eyes immediately widened with explosive joy. Even in the shadowy morning light, her gaze sparkled like twin stars.

"Dad—"

The word tumbled out as she scrambled across the mattress, desperate to hurl herself into his arms. But halfway there, reality crashed down on her, and the rest of the greeting died in her throat.

He had screamed at her last night. He hadn't explained himself, he hadn't apologized, and he had simply vanished into the dark.

She had made a solemn vow to her mother before bed: she was absolutely not going to forgive him.

A kid who broke their promises was a bad kid.

Melody instantly scrubbed the delight from her face and aggressively plopped back down on her pillows, twisting her body to present him with her stubborn little back.

A mixture of amusement and heartbreak washed over Julian as he fully entered the room.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

He greeted her gently, swiping the heavy curtains open to let the sunlight flood in before taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

He was sitting far too close. Stealing a wary glance at him, Melody clutched her blanket tight and silently shimmied toward the opposite side of the mattress, creating an impenetrable buffer zone.

Her defensive posture couldn't have been clearer.

Pretending not to notice the blatant rejection, Julian asked, "Aren't you going to say good morning to your dad?"

It was a strict household rule: always say goodnight before bed, and always say good morning upon waking. Melody was usually impeccably polite about initiating the greetings.

Her tiny brows furrowed. Still clinging to her blanket and refusing to look at him, she muttered a deeply reluctant response. "Good morning, Dad."

Rules were rules. No matter how mad she was, she refused to be a hypocrite like him.

"Good morning to you too, Melody."

Julian replied, reaching out and gently ruffling her messy bedhead. "Are you still mad at me?"

He meticulously dissected the situation, addressing every single one of her unspoken grievances. He owned up to his terrible behavior, capping it off with three back-to-back apologies.

After a full night's rest, Melody's raw anger had mostly faded, but hearing him lay out his crimes reignited the sharp sting of betrayal.

Tears welled up in her enormous eyes. Her bottom lip trembled dangerously, but she swallowed hard, desperately fighting the urge to sob.

She had sworn not to forgive him. If she started bawling the second he apologized, he would think she was a total pushover.

He had broken countless promises and abandoned her in tears. There was no way she was letting him off the hook this easily!

"It's okay."

Wisely keeping his hands to himself, Julian spoke with agonizing gentleness. "I don't expect you to forgive me right this second. Take all the time you need."

"I just wanted to apologize, and hope that my beautiful girl might give me a chance to make things right."

"Can I try?"