Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 72

Julian gently pushed open the door to Melody's bedroom.

A warm yellow nightlight was on, casting a cozy glow over the room.

Melody's tiny body lay in the middle of the large bed, the blanket pulled up to her chin, revealing half of her chubby cheeks.

Julian tiptoed to the edge of the bed, tentatively resting a hand on the mattress before slowly sitting down. He leaned forward, gently reaching out with his other hand to brush away the strands of hair falling across her eyes.

Even so, his light touch disturbed the sleeping child.

Melody furrowed her brows, swatted her little hand a few times to push the annoying fingers away, mumbled something incoherent, and rolled over to escape whatever was bothering her before falling back asleep.

Julian's hand froze mid-air, not daring to move another inch.

After a long moment, he lowered his hand with a bitter smile, sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed. He quietly watched his daughter's sleeping face, his mind racing with how he was going to explain this to her tomorrow.

This wasn't his first broken promise. He was breaking a new promise before she had even forgiven him for the last one. Explaining himself tomorrow was going to be a nightmare.

Thinking of this, Julian couldn't help but feel frustrated. Why did he lose control the second he saw Vivian? Couldn't he have shown a little restraint and patience?

They were together almost every day and would get married eventually anyway. A little time apart wouldn't have killed them.

But Melody was different.

Melody had unique needs. Building trust and making her rely on him was harder than closing a multi-million dollar deal, but destroying that trust took nothing more than a few wrong words or careless actions.

Even though Melody hadn't explicitly said she forgave him yesterday, she hadn't held it against him after breakfast. She happily rode in his car to school, and when she got out that afternoon, she used Elara's phone to text him just like always, acting completely normal.

He had taken that as a sign she had forgiven him, which led him to be careless again tonight.

Julian had grown up with a single mother, so he knew exactly how hard it was for a woman to work, make money, and raise a child all by herself.

Melody was his only child, and she was sensitive. If Elara wanted to continue her career as a lawyer, she wouldn't have the time or energy to take care of her, making it exponentially harder.

He didn't want that, and he absolutely refused to let Melody suffer through the grueling hardships of a single-parent household like he did.

Though he hadn't been as hands-on as Elara, in a child's eyes, a father was just as important as a mother. After the divorce, Melody probably wouldn't object to staying with him. He just needed to get Elara to give up custody.

Julian walked over and stood beside her.

Melody still didn't react.

Elara was tying Melody's hair into braids. Once she finished one side, she moved to the other.

She was about to walk around to Melody's other side, but before she could take a step, Melody swiveled in her seat, turning sideways to face Elara and completely turning her back to Julian.

Seeing her face the sofa, Julian simply sat down on it right in front of her. Father and daughter were now face-to-face, sitting so close that if he moved his leg, their knees would bump.

But Melody still refused to look up at him.

Not only that, but he had been in the room for several minutes, and she hadn't even said good morning.

When her back was turned to him, he could console himself by thinking it was just inconvenient for her to speak. Now that they were face-to-face, what was the excuse?

Besides, she didn't actually have to look at him to say good morning...