All Chapters of The Underestimated Ex-husband: Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
81 chapters
Seraphina’s Defiance
The room smelled like a mixture of rust and damp air and it felt like a place that was not designed to hold people but only ghosts. Seraphina sat tied to a chair with aching wrists and her eyes were burning from the dim light that flickered from a single bulb which was hanging in the room. Several Hours had passed and it seemed it was changing into something shapeless and quite unexplainable. But surprisingly, she did not cry, not even once.Cortez felt afraid and this made him to be silent. At worst, he felt defiant.When he walked in, his expression carried that smooth calm of a man who was immersed in the thoughts of victory as he had a feeling that he had already won “You have been quiet” he said, circling her slowly with a warm hug and he further remarked “Most people would scream by now.”Seraphina tilted her head slightly and with a low but sharp voice she replied “Most people are not me. I am different. ”That reply made him to laugh from him in a short and disbelieving tone “
The Breaking Point
The sound of gun fire came first in a sharp and relentless manner, echoing through the concrete halls like thunder which was trapped underground and It sounded very close.Seraphina froze and her blood pressure and pulse were spiking. She knew that sound and that rhythm was familiar too. It was not random chaos but It was precisie, controlled and deliberate. It was an “Adrian’s kind of chaos”.“Adrian!” she screamed in a jittery and hopeful voice after some hours of silence.For a moment, she did not hear anything nor saw anyone but just the pounding of her heart and the flickering bulb. Then she heard footsteps approaching closer in a fast and purposeful manner.Then the door crashed open.Adrian stood there with his chest heaving and his shirt was stained with blood while his eyes quickly scanned through the room with his gun raised to counter any opposition. He froze when he saw her.“Seraphina” he breathed with his voice breaking around her name.She let out a trembling sound which
The Safehouse after the Blast
The world returned slowly like light bleeding through smoke.Seraphina opened her eyes to muted sunlight filtering through thick curtains while her body ached and her throat burned and it took her a moment to understand where she was.The room was quiet simple while the concrete walls softened the faint hum of machinery somewhere in the distance. It was a safehouse.Then she saw him.Adrian sat in a chair by the window with one arm bandaged from wrist to elbow while his shirt undone and stained with dried blood and his eyes were hollow haunted but when he realized she was awake, the mask cracked just enough for relief to flicker through.Seraphina’s voice came out rough “You look like hell.”He gave a faint dry smile “You should see the other guy.”The silence that followed wasn’t empty but was heavy and full of everything they hadn’t said and everything they had almost lost. She tried to push herself upright wincing as the bruises on her ribs protested but he was beside her in an inst
Sick Beyond the Wounds
The morning light barely made it through the half-drawn blinds when Adrian stepped out of the safehouse.He told her he’d only be gone an hour to “clear a few traces” whatever that meant.Seraphina nodded pretending to understand while also pretending she wasn’t scared every time he walked away.When the door shut behind him and silence rushed in loud, heavy, and uncomfortable she tried to breathe normally but her chest tightened.She gripped the edge of the counter while her reflection in the darkened window looked pale.She whispered “It’s just exhaustion.”Her stomach twisted with a wave of nausea hitting so suddenly she had to lean against the wall though not from fear or from any wound but she couldn’t explain so she slid down the wall until she sat on the floor hugging her knees while her mind raced back to the fire, the chaos, and the running.“Maybe it’s shock” she murmured but the tremor in her hands told another story.The knock on the door made her flinch and her heart leap
The Growing seed
The safehouse was silent except for the hum of rain outside while Seraphina sat on the couch staring at the faint line of light beneath the door. Adrian had barely spoken since morning but carried on with just routine words: eat, rest, stay inside, and nothing moreHis tone was calm but detached when he finally looked her way “You’re pale. I should call Dr. Wills…”“No” her voice came out sharper than she meant.Adrian paused “Seraphina, you were unconscious for hours. You need to be checked.”“I said no” She forced her breath steady, “it’s not safe, you can’t trust anyone yet.”He studied her face for a long second with his eyes narrowing “You think Cortez has someone inside?”“I think we’ve seen enough to stop pretending we’re safe” she said.He didn’t argue but just nodded once with the soldier in him agreeing even when the man didn’t “Alright. I’ll go myself. Get what we need. You don’t open the door for anyone. Understood?”“Understood”He hesitated before leaving, that half-sec
The Sneak Out
The quiet inside the safehouse wasn’t peaceful but was heavy like the air before a storm.Seraphina sat by the window staring out at the line of trees that surrounded the property while the world looked endless but everything felt closed in her chest.She pressed her palm against her stomach again. Just a faint flutter.She closed her eyes ‘No... don’t start crying now.’A knock came at the door“Seraphina?” Adrian’s voice was calm but sharp at the edges like he’d been thinking too much again.She swallowed and cleared her throat “Yeah?”The door opened and Adrian stepped in still wearing his holster though he’d been off patrol for hours while his shirt sleeves were rolled up, veins showing on his forearms and he looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days.“You didn’t eat” he said quietly.She forced a smile “I wasn’t hungry.”“You need strength to recover.”“I said I’m fine, Adrian.”He exhaled studying her face like he was trying to read every lie she’d ever told him “You’re pale ag
I Should’ve Never Left Adrian
Elena sat in the middle of Victor’s living room with her fingers tracing the rim of her wine glass while the night outside was calm but her mind wasn’t because the air between her and Victor had turned suffocating and the silence felt heavier than any argument they could have had.Victor stood by the window with his shirt unbuttoned halfway and his tie hanging loose while making a call; he was always on a call recently and always someone else needing his attention or another excuse.Elena spoke without looking at him when he hung up “Who was that this time?”Victor glanced over his shoulder “No one important… just business.”“You have been saying that recently”He sighed “Elena, what do you want me to say? That I’m out saving the world?”“I’d settle for the truth” she said while standing, “You’re not the same person anymore.”He chuckled dryly “That’s rich, coming from you.”She folded her arms “What’s that supposed to mean?”Victor turned fully, his expression between irritation and
Safe in a Distance
The road was silent except for the soft hum of the night wind brushing against the car’s frame while Seraphina’s fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly and every mile that passed pulled her further from Adrian yet closer to a loneliness she didn’t know how to name and she drove until the city lights faded into nothing but distant glimmers in the rearview mirror even while her body ached and her mind screamed but her heart just whispered ‘Keep going.’Dawn had begun to bleed into the horizon by the time she reached the small village two towns away while mist curled around the roofs of old brick houses and the smell of wet earth mixed with smoke from morning fires although it was quiet too quiet but that was what she needed.Seraphina parked beside an old inn with a peeling blue sign that read “Willow Resthouse” and inside was a gray-haired woman who sat behind the counter squinted up at her.“Long way from home, miss?”Seraphina forced a small smile “Something like that... Do yo
Rhea's Hunt
Rhea had been gone for four days while Adrian barely slept for two because every creak in the safehouse and every whisper of the night breeze against the old shutters made him look up, half-expecting Rhea to return with news.When the door finally opened, he was standing already, jaw tight and eyes tired “Tell me you found something,” he said the second she stepped in.Rhea removed her black jacket slowly, dusted off the dry leaves clinging to it and sighed “You should sit down first.”“Don’t start with that” Adrian muttered, “found her?”“She’s hiding,” Rhea said quietly, “And she’s good at it.”Adrian leaned back “Why would she hide from me, Rhea? I didn’t hurt her. I…” His voice broke for a moment before he caught himself, “If this is Cortez’s doing, I’ll…”“Stop”Rhea’s tone cut through the air “This doesn’t reflect Cortez.”He looked up sharply “You don’t know that.”“Yes, I do” she replied, stepping closer, “Cortez doesn’t operate quietly. If he wanted her gone, you’d have known
Elena’s Reflection
The apartment was too quiet and Elena could actually hear the silence for the first time in weeks with no phone calls and no Victor pacing around shouting about failed deals or no hollow laughter to cover her exhaustion but just heavy silence.She sat on the couch with a glass of wine in one hand and a box of old photographs spread out on the coffee table with her hair which fell loosely over her shoulders and the curls undone like her thoughts while the dim evening light made everything feel softer and sadder.Elena picked up the photos of her and Adrian at the old villa with his arm around her waist and his smile quiet and genuine. She remembered that moment so clearly the smell of sea salt, the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs and the way she had been already dreaming about wealth even as he talked about simple happiness.Back then, she thought simplicity was for weak people.She ran her fingers over his face in the photo “You really did love me, didn’t you?” she whispere