Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 55

By framing it as a fear of past crises repeating themselves, and then directly pleading for his honesty, Elara masterfully trapped him.

She had completely destroyed Leo's ability to play dumb and brush her off.

Of course, Elara already knew the truth. She wasn't expecting Leo to actually give her a straight answer.

What she wanted was to gauge his stance.

She needed to know exactly who her enemies were before deciding how to destroy them.

Leo was genuinely caught off guard by her direct approach, but he quickly realized what she was fishing for.

The company was running perfectly fine. Forget about a crisis massive enough to drag Elara all the way out here—they hadn't even faced a single minor lawsuit in the past year.

Except for that specific issue...

Leo silently cursed Julian's carelessness but kept his composure flawless. He laughed easily. "Honestly, it's fine. It's nowhere near as dramatic as Julian made it sound."

He had made his choice. He was going to continue covering for Julian.

Elara's smile dimmed slightly, but her tone remained perfectly even. "Is that so? I noticed Julian couldn't even focus on his breakfast this morning. He was constantly texting someone... You know how he is. He never uses his phone at the table. Seeing him act like that, it's hard not to worry."

Leo gave a dry laugh. "There are a few annoying hiccups, sure. But Ark isn't the little startup it used to be. Our legal team isn't just for show."

"So really, there's no need for you to stress over it. We've got it handled."

Elara offered a faint, chilling smile. "I guess I was just being a busybody."

"Not at all, it's totally natural to worry—"

Leo tried to placate her with more empty reassurances, but his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. It was Julian calling him back to the meeting.

"Got it, I'm heading back right now."

Holding the phone in one hand, Leo pointed toward the door with the other, signaling to Elara that he had to leave.

Elara nodded, feigning complete understanding.

As he pulled the heavy fire door open, the call disconnected. Leo shoved the phone back into his pocket and stepped through the frame. But before the door could close, Elara's voice floated out from behind him.

"Oh, right, Leo. I heard one of our colleagues got seriously injured last night. How are they? Are they okay?"

Leo genuinely had no idea what she was talking about. He blurted out, "Injured? Who got injured? I haven't heard anything about that."

"Huh?"

Elara's expression twisted into perfect confusion. "No one got hurt?"

"Last night, the second Julian walked through the front door, he rushed right back out in a panic. He explicitly said a colleague had been in an accident and he needed to go. He was in such a rush he even yelled at Melody and made her cry. She still hasn't forgiven him."

Elara paused, then smoothly pivoted. "I noticed Vivian wasn't here today, so I naturally assumed she was the one who got hurt. As the boss's wife, since I was already here, I figured it was only right to check on our employees."

The color drained from Leo's face, his smile turning deathly pale. "Julian is waiting for me, I really need to go..."

The heavy steel door of the fire escape slammed shut with a deafening thud, hitting Elara like a sledgehammer straight to the chest, suffocating the breath right out of her lungs.

The polite smile she had fought so hard to maintain instantly shattered. It took her several long moments to regain control of her own body. She tried to force the smile back, but the muscles in her face simply refused to cooperate.

It was as if the devastated, nearly broken woman from moments ago had never existed.

She patted her cheeks lightly, pulled open the heavy steel door, and stepped out with her head held high.

Julian's wrap-up meeting had concluded. The managers she had seen earlier were filing out of his office, but Leo wasn't among them.

He was likely still inside, either discussing something else or getting his story straight with Julian. Elara glanced at the closed door and decided not to interrupt, giving them plenty of time to orchestrate their lies.

"Don't you think you're being a little too ruthless with Elara?"

Inside the office, Leo leaned against the heavy desk, staring down Julian. "Can't you just negotiate a clean divorce? Does it really have to go this far?"

"She was your first love, Julian. You guys have been together for a decade. She gave you a daughter. Even if you don't appreciate what she did for Ark, she's still the mother of your child. Can't you handle this amicably?"

Julian looked up at him, his gaze dark. "What did Elara say to you?"

"She didn't exactly say anything, but she did ask about the 'injured employee.'"

Leo shrugged. "But you know how sharp a lawyer's intuition is. If I hadn't reacted fast enough, she absolutely would have cornered me."

"I seriously think she's starting to figure it out. You need to sit down and negotiate with her properly."

"Because if this blows up, she's going to go scorched-earth."

"Negotiation isn't an option."

Julian folded his hands together, his tone agonizingly slow and deliberate. "She wants half of my assets. My hands are tied."