Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 67

Julian captured Vivian's lips one last time, vowing fiercely in his heart that he would never let her wait much longer.

Vivian's personal condo and the Beckett family home were in completely opposite directions across the city.

Even without the evening traffic, by the time Julian pulled into his driveway, it was well past ten o'clock.

Melody was already fast asleep.

Trudging upstairs, Julian first headed toward Melody's room. He rested his hand on the doorknob, about to push it open, but reconsidered. The icy winter chill clinging to his coat might startle the little girl awake, so he quietly let go.

He made his way to the master bedroom instead.

Elara had already washed up for the night. She was lounging on the sofa with her tablet, watching a video.

At the sound of the door opening, she lifted her head and looked his way.

The room was pitch black save for the single bedside lamp illuminating Elara's space, casting heavy shadows that made it impossible to read each other's expressions.

Yet, bathed in the cool light of the lamp, Julian felt an undeniably predatory, chilling aura radiating off of her.

Their eyes met in the dim light. Elara's indifferent gaze was like a blast of freezing winter wind cutting through a cracked door, slicing directly across Julian's face.

Julian's heart skipped a nervous beat. Like a man caught red-handed, his posture instantly went rigid.

But it wasn't exactly surprising.

After all, he had personally sworn to Melody that he would be home before bed. He broke his word, so it was only natural for Elara to be harboring resentment.

Julian rationalized the tension, mentally rehearsing his apology before stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him.

"I'm sor—"

Before the apology could even leave his mouth, Elara dragged her gaze away, looking back down at her tablet to continue her video.

She was watching some sort of legal documentary. Julian strained his ears to listen, shocked to realize it was an analysis of a brutal divorce case.

"It's just been a very long time since you cared about anything I was doing," Elara remarked dryly. "Hearing you ask feels like a rare novelty."

Julian was speechless.

Elara pressed further, "You haven't been possessed by a demon, have you?"

Julian had no response.

He awkwardly placed a hand on top of her head, forcefully turning it back toward the screen. "Just go back to watching your video."

The documentary she was watching detailed a classic divorce battle where a cheating husband, showing zero remorse, tried to scheme his loyal wife into leaving with nothing. Instead, the wife outplayed him completely, leaving the bastard utterly bankrupt.

Since Julian remained rooted to the spot instead of heading into the bathroom, Elara assumed he was intrigued and casually looped him into a discussion about the case.

As the video cut to an analysis of the husband's psychological motives, Elara sighed dramatically. "You know, some men just have to be absolute bastards instead of being decent human beings."

Julian remained dead silent.