The Billionaire's Ex-Wife (Her Ex-Husband's Regret) novel Chapter 56

Chapter 56
Kayden
Cassie stares back at me blankly.
“Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary,” I repeat. Then I smile at her sheepishly. “Although, I suppose you must have forgotten about that already. It’s not like we ever celebrated our anniversaries in the past.”
She looked away from me. “No. We never celebrated our wedding anniversary. But it’s not like I didn’t try anyway. But you never got home early enough.”
I raise a brow. “What do you mean you tried?”
year, I She sighs. Even though it’s been many years ago, I still detect a trace of sadness in that sigh. “During our first specifically remember cooking some fillet mignons. I remember it quite well because I spent the week before that calling my aunt to teach me how to do it.”
“And where was I?”
“At first, I thought you were just in the office, so I waited. Turned out you flew to Japan that afternoon for an emergency meeting.”
I look down at my plate. “I bet I always had emergency meetings.
“You did,” she says, forcing a smile on her face. “On the second week, I planned a getaway to a remote island. I spent months getting the booking.” She takes a deep breath, the memories flooding back. “I had everything arranged for our second anniversary. A private jet to whisk us away to a secluded island where the sand was as white as snow and the water as clear as crystal.”
“And where was I then?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Your secretary wouldn’t even let me through when I called you like a dozen times.” Her voice
but you never did.” slightly wavers as she continues. “I waited the whole day, hoping you’d show up,
“Cassie…” I don’t know what to say to her. I had no idea she went through all that trouble just to surprise me on our wedding anniversaries, even though I told her that our marriage was nothing more than a piece of paper.
“I know,” she laughs humorlessly. “Our marriage meant nothing to you. But… I tried to make it work.”
And God, she did! She really did try to make our marriage work. She was the perfect wife! And I didn’t know how much I loved being married to her until she was gone.
“And… on the following year? What happened?”
Cassie’s eyes glisten with unshed tears as she pauses, her lips trembling slightly. She takes a deep breath, composing herself before she continues, her voice barely above a whisper.
“On our third year…” Cassie continues, her gaze fixed somewhere far away, lost in the memories of a time long gone by. “I marched into your office to give you a big surprise gift that I thought would change our relationship forever…” she stops short. Her eyes widen slightly, as if she realizes she said too much.
“What was it?’
ask.
She bites her lip and shakes her head. “Nothing. I forgot what it was now. But anyway… it turns out you have a much bigger
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Chapter 56
surprise for me.” She raises a cold brow at me. “Do you remember what it is?”
F*ck! How could I forget? She walked into my office that day, looking rather cheerful. I thought she was in a good mood. If something good was happening to her, then she might not be too sad about the divorce. So, I chose that moment to drop the bomb on her, even though, deep inside, it didn’t feel right.
“Cassie…” I say in a weak voice. I watch her drink a glass of wine bottoms up.
“And, oh! I remember exactly what I did on our third anniversary. I was packing my stuff because I lost my job in your company. You also fired me!”
Yeah, I did that. But I ordered that she be well-compensated. And I wrote her a fat check after she signed the divorce papers. She could live off that check very comfortably. I thought she wouldn’t need to work a day in her life.
Ten million dollars. That was her divorce settlement. So, when I fired her, I actually have her retirement all planned for her. I had her mother’s house renovated, because I knew she loved that house very much. She could have lived there happily. Comfortably. I had no idea Megan would set it on fire! And I also didn’t know she would be too proud to take the check after the divorce. She sent the check back, after she shredded it to pieces.
She poured herself another glass of wine.
“Do you know that when an employee gets fired from their company they lose all their benefits on that day itself? Including their healthcare? No extensions. No considerations. So, if they get into an accident as soon as get out of your building, they would spend that severance cheque to pay for the hospital bills.” She takes a swig of her glass. “Your HR guys are a bunch of morons! That is why in my company, when someone loses their job, regardless of the cause, their healthcare and insurances are extended up to three months after they left the company. So it gives them time to adjust while they are looking for another means to survive.”
Wow. That actually makes sense.
“Cassie… when we divorced, I didn’t mean to send you out to the streets,” I say to her.
She takes another sip of her wine. “Oh, I know. Because… you wouldn’t be that cruel, would you?”
“Especially not to you,” I say. Guilt won’t stop gnawing me, and I know I deserve it. “Cassie…”
To my surprise, she starts giggling. “Who would have thought that we’ll get past that, won’t we?”
“What do you mean?”
“Four y
r years ago,
if someone told me I’d be in a hotel room, sharing a meal with you, I would tell that person that he’s crazy! Because… back then, I didn’t think I would be able to forgive you”
“I know. I find it hard to forgive myself now,” I whisper, more to myself than her. “I was an idiot!”
She nods. “Yes. You are. And I hope you don’t do that again in the future. When Megan becomes your wife, I hope you treat her a whole lot better than you treated me.”
Shit! Megan! I haven’t exactly told Cassie the truth about Megan And I know Megan is trying to fool the world and making everyone think that we’re in love, even though I’ve been blunt enough to make her feel that I loathe her. No one knows the real story behind our engagement. But now… I at least want Cassie to know the truth.
“I need to tell you about my engagement with Megan.”
She shakes her head. “Forget it. It’s none of my business, Kayden She drinks the last of her wine. Then she turns to me with a serious expression on her face. “I don’t t wanna now.”
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She quickly finishes her food, and then she stands up.
“Thank for dinner. I will
you
go
the room now.”
+5
Without wending for my response, she turns on her heel and heads toward the room.
My heart sinks. I wanted more time with her. And I really want to let her know that Megan and I are not a thing. At most, we’d be married on paper and co-parenting our child. And someday, I will find a way to divorce her, so I can free myself of her threats.”
1
I cannot stop thinking about Cassie’s words as I sit alone in the dimly lit living room. Guilt weighs heavy on my chest, knowing that I had caused her pain and hardships. The way she calmly discussed the dismissal from her company, contrasting it with her own principles of taking care of employees, struck a chord within me.
I know that I caused her pain, but I didn’t know just how much until now.
What a big piece of *ss am I? How could I ever make that up to her? How do I erase that monster image of me inside her head?
And on top of it, she must think that after I confessed my feelings for her, I got engaged to Megan shortly after.
When I let Megan coerce me into an engagement because of her pregnancy, I thought Cassie had married Sullivan in Vegas. I thought I was done for. I thought there’s nothing more for me to look forward to. I lost the love of my life to another man. So, it doesn’t matter if Megan makes my life a living hell. I deserved it anyway.
But then, I realized that Cassie never married Sullivan. They aren’t even engaged. It gave me an idea that maybe, there’s still a chance for Cassie and I.
Maybe it’s too late to redeem myself. Maybe not. Maybe she’ll think of me as a monster forever. Or she may still change her opinion of me. But right now, I’m sure about one thing. I’m not going to let her think that I am having an affair with Megan after I confessed my feelings for her. Ands he can do whatever she wants with that information, but I want her to know that I meant every word I said to her when I confessed my feelings for her.
Hurriedly, I warch towards the bedroom. I knock on her door, and when there is no answer, I slowly open the door.
I find her standing in the corner, staring at the raging storm outside. Slowly, I make my way towards her.
“Cassie…”
She quickly wipes her cheeks before facing me.
D*mn it! She’s crying again. Is she crying because… she remembered everything that happened between us? Was it because our conversation earlier opened up old wounds? Wounds that were best left forgotten?
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. I was certain I caused her these tears this time.
“It’s all in the past, Kayden. It’s pointless to talk about that now.” she says in an annoyed tone.
I was right. She is crying because of me.
“No. I think we really need to talk about it,” I insist.
She turns to me with a glare on her face. “No, we don’t! You’ve done enough already? I thought I have forgotten how painful it was to love someone as cold and careless as you, Kayden! But no! Remembering how much I suffered when I was married to you, makes me realize how lucky I am to have escaped that hell, almost scathe-free.”
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Chapter 56
Hell? Yeah. I guess that’s what I did to her. But, hold on. Did I hear that right?
“You really loved me?”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“Answer me,” I insist. “Just tell me once. Were you really in love with me when we were married?”
52%
“Yeah,” she finally answered. “It was probably the reason why I agreed to marry you, too. I thought…” she sighs. “I thought that if I tried my best to be come a good wife, you would learn to love me, too.”
Oh, God! Please kill me now!
How could I get this woman to take me back, when I’ve caused her so much heartache in the past?
“I have to tell you something, Ca*sic. About my engagement with Megan.” I shake my head. “It’s not real. We are not a couple.”
“What are you taking about? She’s pregnant with your child! Which means you touched her!”
“Yeah. One drunken night I cannot even remember.”
“What?”
+5
“It’s true. I cannot remember what happened between us. But she’s gone so far as threatening me if I don’t marry her,” I growl. “I cannot turn away from my responsibilities as a father. And I told her I will take care of the baby. She just refuses the setup. It’s either I marry her, or I don’t see that baby ever again, and she tells the whole world how I abandoned her and the baby.”
Cassie looks shocked. Well, who can blame her? To say that Megan has gone to the extreme is an understatement. I cannot believe a woman would go as far as threatening a guy to marry her. I thought only father-in-laws do that. Well, Cassie’s father did threaten me, too. And I punished Cassie for it. Now, Megan is doing the same thing to me.
“Why are you telling me all this?” Cassie asks.
Yeah. Why am I telling her this when I know she cannot do anything about it. I don’t want her to get involved, too. I don’t want Megan to hurt her or Kai. Because to be honest, I have a feeling that Megan is capable of anything now.
“Well, I guess, I’m telling you all this because…..” I sigh, as I step closer to her. “I don’t want you to think that there’s anything going on between Megan and me.”
“Why does it matter if I think that?”
I shake my head, as I take a step closer to her. “I don’t want to you to think that we’re doing something wrong when I do
this.”
And without warning, I snatch her into my arms and take her lips in one ravishing kiss.
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