All Chapters of After Forgetting Me, My CEO Ex-husband Regrets: Chapter 281 - Chapter 290

(Lydia)When I got home, the first thing I saw was Thomas in the garden with the kids. Thomas, Mabel, and Miles were all huddled together, hands deep in the soil, their faces full of concentration. They were planting something and when I asked, the gardener who was standing to the side and watching them create a mess in the dirt, I got to know that they were planting sunflowers. I guess it was a little project Thomas had come up with for them. The idea was that we’d plant something new every year, a symbol of what we’d done together, and watch it grow. He had said something about it yesterday but I hadn’t paid too much attention. It was a beautiful plan, really, but at this moment, it was mostly messy. They were all covered in dirt, head to toe, and I couldn’t help but laugh. They looked like little garden gnomes, including Thomas. Mabel had a streak of mud across her cheek, and Miles was gleefully patting dirt down around the plant as though it was the most important job in the wo

(Ruby)I had just gotten into a rhythm, sketching out the soft lines of a dress I’d been imagining for days, when Adam came into the room. The look on his face immediately told me something was wrong. His eyes were wide, lips slightly parted as if he'd seen something that shocked him. He didn’t say anything at first, just walked over and handed me his phone.“Ruby, you need to see this,” he said quietly.I hesitated, not wanting to be pulled out of the world I’d just managed to retreat into, but curiosity and a familiar sinking feeling in my gut pushed me to take the phone from him. There, on the screen, was Jack, standing at a podium, the bright flashes of cameras surrounding him. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what this was.I hit play.“I’ve called you here today to address the confusion regarding my relationship with Amanda,” Jack’s voice rang out through the room, the image of him so clear on the small screen that it felt like he was standing right in front of me. Hi

(Lydia)The room was dark, save for the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains. Thomas was asleep beside me, his breathing soft and steady. I watched him for a moment, the calmness of his face in sleep offering me no comfort tonight. I slipped out of bed quietly, careful not to wake him, and padded down the hall to check on the kids. I pushed open the door to Mabel and Miles’ room and peeked in. They were fast asleep, their small bodies curled up in their blankets, peaceful and unaware of the storm swirling in my mind.I lingered there for a moment, watching their tiny chests rise and fall. They always looked so innocent when they slept, and in those quiet moments, it was easy to forget the chaos waiting just outside our bubble. But I couldn’t sleep. The unease that had settled in my chest after Jack’s visit earlier still hadn’t left me. I closed the door gently and made my way back down the hall, my feet instinctively carrying me toward the balcony.Jack’s face had been etc

(Thomas)After we finished explaining the plan to Ruby and Jack, Lydia and I left the mansion, heading back to her house. The conversation had gone as well as I could have expected, but there was still tension in the air. Jack’s protectiveness was a force to be reckoned with, and Ruby’s concern wasn’t far behind. It had taken everything in me to convince them that using Lydia as bait was the best course of action. The anger simmering beneath their words was obvious, but they’d agreed. We didn’t have much of a choice if we wanted to catch Nathan.As we pulled up to Lydia’s house, I could feel Lydia tense. This was the first time we had come back here after everything went down. It felt like it happened a long time ago but barely two weeks had passed since then. The house stood in stark contrast to the madness we were about to unleash. It was a place that should have felt like a sanctuary, but with Nathan lurking in the shadows, nowhere felt truly safe. I knew Lydia could feel it too

(Lydia)Ruby returned to the house just before noon, her car packed with boxes of clothes, books, and everything else she had collected during her time with Jack. The sight of her, standing there on the doorstep with her things, tugged at my heart. She looked tired. No, not just tired. There was a kind of weariness that went beyond exhaustion. It was the weight of too many emotions, too much disappointment. I could see it in the way her shoulders slumped as she carried her things inside, in the way she avoided meeting my eyes.“Let me help you with those,” I said, walking over to grab a box from her hands. She didn’t protest, which was unusual for Ruby. Normally, she would insist on doing it herself, on handling her own problems. But today, she seemed too drained to fight me on it.We carried her things up to her room. As we placed the boxes down, I could feel the silence growing heavier between us, pressing down on both of us. I knew she was thinking about Jack and about everything