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CHAPTER 74
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-04-11 18:04:47
Bab terkait
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 75
That evening, as I prepared dinner, my phone buzzed with a message from Jeff:Jeff: "I know I've hurt you, and I can't erase that. But I want to be someone you can trust again. Can we talk?"I stared at the screen, the aroma of garlic and herbs filling the kitchen, as memories of our past intertwined with the present. Taking a deep breath, I typed back:Me: "Come over. Let's talk."As I set an extra plate on the table, I realized that while the path ahead was uncertain, I was willing to take the first step towards understanding, closure, or perhaps, a new beginning.***I didn’t dress up. I didn’t light candles. I didn’t even bother to reapply lip gloss.This wasn’t a date.This was a conversation. One that had been crawling beneath my skin for weeks, maybe months. A conversation that needed to be peeled open like a wound. Because whatever Jeff thought he was doing—showing up with flowers, warm coffee, lingering glances—I needed clarity. Not games. Not nostalgia wrapped in ribbon and
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-11RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 76
The day started off normal enough—well, as normal as it could when your best friend was plotting a relationship stress test and your ex-husband had confessed he wanted you back.Chelsea hadn’t given me details yet. She said it had to “feel natural” to work. That if Jeff caught even a whiff of setup, it would ruin everything.So instead, I did what I always did when things got too real.I buried myself in work.Meetings. Emails. Approvals. Damage control from one of our junior designers who accidentally sent the wrong pitch deck to a client. It was the kind of chaos that usually kept my head clear. But today?Jeff’s face kept slipping into my mind.The soft way he looked at me lately. The way he listened—like every word I said mattered. The way he smiled when he saw me, like it was the only part of his day he was looking forward to.And worse?The way my chest fluttered when he did those things."Damn it," I muttered to myself, slamming my laptop shut as Chelsea walked back into the ro
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-12RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 77
The morning after Jeff’s confession felt like walking through fog—thick, disorienting, and impossible to escape. I kept replaying his words, the sincerity in his eyes, the way he said he’d wait for me. No pressure, no expectations. Just hope.Chelsea, ever the orchestrator, had taken it upon herself to “test” Jeff’s intentions. And while I initially resisted, part of me was grateful. I needed to see if his actions matched his words.At the office, Chelsea was unusually quiet, her eyes darting between me and the door. I raised an eyebrow. “What did you do?”She feigned innocence. “Me? Nothing. Just… maybe scheduled a meeting.”Before I could press further, the door opened, and in walked Jeff, carrying a box of pastries from my favorite bakery. He looked nervous, which was rare for him.“Morning,” he said, placing the box on my desk. “Thought you might need a pick-me-up.”I glanced at Chelsea, who was suddenly very interested in her computer screen. Turning back to Jeff, I nodded. “Than
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-12RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 78
The weekend crept in slowly, with a silence that settled deeper than usual. I spent most of Saturday in my apartment, curled up on the couch with a book I wasn’t really reading and a cup of tea that had gone cold hours ago. My thoughts kept drifting—uninvited and relentless—back to Jeff.He had laid it all bare. No pretenses. No excuses.He wanted me back.It was still hard to wrap my head around. This was the same man who, just a year ago, looked me in the eyes and said he didn’t love me the same way anymore. The same man who signed the divorce papers without hesitation, who packed his bags and left me with only silence and echoes of everything we used to be.He chose Stella.He didn’t just leave—he left for her.And now? Now he says she couldn’t fill the space I left behind?I had questions. So many questions. And no matter how many pretty bracelets or thoughtful texts he sent, they didn’t erase the one truth I kept choking on:He left.And no matter how much he regrets it now, I st
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-13RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 79
It had been a week since that conversation in the café, and every day since felt like a slow unraveling of everything I’d tried so hard to tuck away.Jeff didn’t push after that day. No late-night calls. No over-the-top gestures. Just quiet, consistent presence. He texted good morning. He sent me silly memes. He asked about my day. And strangely, it wasn’t suffocating.It was comforting.And that scared me.Because I remembered too well what came after comfort the last time. I remembered how it felt to have the rug pulled out from under my life just when I’d thought we were finally solid. Jeff didn’t just break my heart—he shattered my sense of certainty. So even if he was different now, even if he was trying… how could I believe it wouldn’t happen again?“Earth to Demi,” Chelsea snapped her fingers in front of my face.I blinked. We were at a small rooftop wine bar downtown, watching the sun dip behind the buildings, painting the sky in shades of lavender and gold.“What?” I asked, s
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-13RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 80
The days that followed felt like the start of something uncertain—but not in the terrifying way I’d once dreaded. It was a quiet sort of uncertainty. The kind that came with the possibility of growth, of redemption, of second chances not yet taken, but not entirely out of reach either.Jeff kept his word—he showed up.He didn’t push or pry. He didn’t smother me with grand gestures. Instead, he kept doing the small things. Things that felt intentional, thoughtful, familiar. A note slipped onto my desk with a reminder to eat lunch. A playlist link sent in the middle of the day with a message that simply read: Thought you’d like this one. A text every morning, every night—sometimes funny, sometimes tender, sometimes just one word: Here.And I felt it.The shift.Like we were inching back toward something we’d lost, only this time with more care. More clarity.Chelsea, ever the spy she was, didn’t let a moment pass without commentary. “You’re glowing again,” she said one morning as we sto
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 81
The following week unfolded like a delicate dance, each step measured, each movement tentative. Jeff and I continued our cautious re-engagement, sharing brief lunches, exchanging playlists, and occasionally walking together after work. It was comfortable, familiar, yet tinged with the uncertainty of uncharted territory.One evening, as we strolled through the park near our office, Jeff turned to me with a thoughtful expression.“Demi,” he began, “there's something I've been meaning to tell you.”I glanced at him, curiosity piqued. “What is it?”He hesitated, then continued, “Stella reached out to me last week. She wanted to talk about some unresolved matters.”A chill ran down my spine. The name alone was enough to stir a whirlwind of emotions.“What did she want?” I asked, striving for composure.“She apologized for everything,” Jeff said. “She admitted to her mistakes and wanted closure.”I nodded slowly, processing his words. “And how did you feel about that?”Jeff sighed. “It was
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 82
I didn’t realize how much tension I’d been holding in my body until Jeff wrapped his arms around me that evening.It was late. The office had long emptied, and the moon had risen, casting silver shadows over my apartment. I’d just stepped out of the shower when he texted:“Can I come over? Just to talk.”I almost said no.But something inside me—a quieter part, the part that still remembered how his voice sounded when he whispered goodnight—nudged me toward yes.So I said okay.And now, here he was. Standing barefoot in my living room, hands tucked into his pockets, looking like the same man who used to hum while making pancakes on Sunday mornings… and yet entirely different. Changed. Softer, maybe. Or just more real.“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said, breaking the quiet. “About everything, really.”I stood near the kitchen counter, arms crossed—not out of anger, but instinct. A shield.“I know,” I replied. “And I shouldn’t have brought up Stella the way I did. That was unfair.”He
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-15
Bab terbaru
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 101
Around noon, I found a note taped to my computer monitor. Simple, clean handwriting. I didn’t need to ask who it was from."Dinner. Your place. 7PM. You don’t have to say anything. Just let me try. –J"I stared at it for a long time.It wasn’t a plea. It wasn’t a demand.It was... a hope.A quiet one. One I hadn’t earned yet. One I wasn’t sure I could accept.But when seven o’clock rolled around, I was home. I had lit candles. Put on soft music. Worn something that wasn’t just lounge clothes.And I waited.At 7:02, there was a knock.I opened the door, and there he was—holding a bag of takeout from my favorite Thai place, rain in his hair, uncertainty in his eyes.“Hi,” he said softly.“Hi,” I replied.He stepped inside, and we moved through the motions like a dance we hadn’t forgotten. Plates. Chopsticks. Steam curling from cartons. But the real heat in the room wasn’t from the food.It was the tension.I finally broke it.“Who was that message from?” I asked, voice even but my heart
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 100
I didn’t go far. Just to the small park down the block from Jeff’s condo unit—the one with the crooked benches and a fountain that hadn’t worked since spring. I sat there, my coat tight around me, watching the early evening swallow the sky whole.I didn’t cry. Not really.I was too tired for tears. Too wrung out from constantly stitching together the pieces of us, only to watch them come loose again.I pulled my phone out, stared at the blank screen. No texts. No calls. And maybe that was the point. Jeff had said he wouldn’t stop trying, but he hadn’t come after me. Not this time.Maybe he was learning to give me space. Or maybe he was just as exhausted as I was.A gust of wind tore through the branches above, scattering brittle leaves across my boots.Why does love feel like this sometimes?Not soft and soothing, but raw. Like walking barefoot on broken glass, hoping every step doesn’t cut too deep. Hoping the bleeding stops before the next fight.But despite everything, I didn’t wan
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 99
Around noon, I found a note taped to my computer monitor. Simple, clean handwriting. I didn’t need to ask who it was from."Dinner. Your place. 7PM. You don’t have to say anything. Just let me try. –J"I stared at it for a long time.It wasn’t a plea. It wasn’t a demand.It was... a hope.A quiet one. One I hadn’t earned yet. One I wasn’t sure I could accept.But when seven o’clock rolled around, I was home. I had lit candles. Put on soft music. Worn something that wasn’t just lounge clothes.And I waited.At 7:02, there was a knock.I opened the door, and there he was—holding a bag of takeout from my favorite Thai place, rain in his hair, uncertainty in his eyes.“Hi,” he said softly.“Hi,” I replied.He stepped inside, and we moved through the motions like a dance we hadn’t forgotten. Plates. Chopsticks. Steam curling from cartons. But the real heat in the room wasn’t from the food.It was the tension.I finally broke it.“Who was that message from?” I asked, voice even but my heart
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 98
By Monday, we were back in the city.Jeff dropped me off at my place, and though we kissed goodbye with a promise to see each other soon, something lingered between us—something unspoken and tense, like a storm hovering just beyond the horizon.I tried to shake it off as I stepped into my apartment. I unpacked slowly, letting the quiet settle around me. But my thoughts refused to sit still.Why now? Why was Stella suddenly trying to reappear? And why did Jeff hesitate before telling me?It wasn’t fair—he’d done so much to regain my trust. He’d been showing up, loving me in all the right ways. But one whisper from the past, and the walls I’d slowly let fall started climbing back up.I turned on some music, something soft, just to quiet the noise inside my head. And that’s when my phone buzzed.It was a message. From an unknown number.Unknown: "You can believe him if you want. But you should know he came back to me once before. Right after the first time you left."I stared at the scre
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 97
There’s something strangely intimate about folding laundry with someone you love. Not the kind of love that’s still wrapped in red ribbons and candlelit dinners, but the kind that shows up in the quiet domesticity of Sunday afternoons—barefoot, soft music in the background, mismatched socks everywhere.Jeff held up one of my oversized sweaters, the sleeves drooping like tired arms. “This still smells like that coconut shampoo you use.”I glanced up from the pile of towels. “I haven’t used that shampoo in months.”“Must be haunted,” he smirked, then tossed it gently to my side of the bed.I laughed, but it came with a soft ache. This was good. Easy. Comfortable. Almost too comfortable.Maybe that’s why it blindsided me when the tension returned—sharp and unexpected like stepping on glass in a room you thought was safe.It happened that evening.We were cleaning out the hallway closet when Jeff’s phone buzzed on the console table. Once. Twice. Three times.He didn’t reach for it.I woul
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 96
Demi's POVI stared at the message long after Jeff disappeared down the stairs, heading toward the beach. The wind outside had picked up, brushing against the glass like a warning. I hated that this had happened—now, of all times. Things were just starting to feel steady again.I didn’t even know how he’d gotten my number. I’d deleted it all—his texts, his name, his presence from my life the moment I realized he was a distraction from what I really wanted.From Jeff.And now he comes crawling back, like the past didn’t already do enough damage.I grabbed my phone and typed a response, my fingers moving fast and sharp.“Do not contact me again. This is inappropriate and unwanted. I’m with someone I love—don’t ruin what little decency you have left.”Send.Block.Delete.My chest heaved as I placed the phone face down on the railing of the porch. The waves crashed in the distance, but I couldn’t hear them over the thud of my heart. This wasn’t fair—not to Jeff, not to me, not to what we
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 95
Chelsea popped her head into my office later that day.“You look like someone ran over your optimism.”“Not now, Chels.”She walked in anyway, plopping down on the chair across from me. “Okay. Spill.”I told her.Everything.From the breakfast to the journal to the half-confession that landed like a gut-punch instead of a step forward.Chelsea didn’t say anything right away. Then: “Do you regret telling him?”“No. But I hate that it hurt him.”“Demi, listen.” She leaned forward. “You did what most people wouldn’t have the guts to do. You gave him the full picture. He asked for proof you were in this for real, and you gave it. He needs to sit with it, sure—but that doesn’t mean he’s leaving.”“I know,” I said quietly. “But I can’t help feeling like I poked a hole in something just as it was starting to feel whole again.”“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe that hole is where the light gets in.”I groaned. “Did you just quote Leonard Cohen at me?”She grinned. “Absolutely.”I managed a smile,
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 94
Demi's POVIt wasn’t the phone call that broke me.Not really.It was the pause. That flicker of hesitation in Jeff’s eyes. The microsecond where I saw him debate whether to tell me the truth. It was the weight of everything we were trying to rebuild pressing on one fragile moment.And I hated that it felt familiar.That split-second uncertainty—the one that made me question whether I was still the girl who could be forgotten. Set aside. Replaced.But I didn’t spiral. Not this time.Because I’d promised myself something too: that I wouldn’t run anymore. That I would stay. That I would speak instead of shut down.Even if it hurt.The morning after he blocked Stella, we went through the motions like nothing had happened.Coffee. Shower. Quiet music playing from my phone as I tied my hair up.But my stomach still twisted when I caught him staring at me—like he was trying to read between the lines of my silence.“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, gently.I thought about lying. I re
RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE EX-HUSBAND CHASED ME BACK CHAPTER 93
Trying is one thing.But staying?That’s the real test.And for the next week, Jeff and I tried.Not in grand, sweeping gestures. Not in dramatic confessions under the rain or fairy tale moments. But in the quiet decisions—the daily check-ins, the shared silences, the soft compromises that slowly stitched us back together.I started trusting him again. Not all at once, but in fragments. Like handing him pieces of a puzzle that used to be whole, asking him to rebuild without the picture on the box.And Jeff?He never once complained.He didn’t push when I asked for space. He didn’t flinch when I brought up Ethan, or Stella, or the silence that had almost swallowed us whole. He listened. He showed up. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was walking alone.Until Thursday.We were supposed to meet at the gallery.My newest commission piece had just been installed, and Jeff offered to help me with the lighting setup before the weekend preview. It was a simple ask—sh
