All Chapters of The Underestimated Ex-husband: Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
82 chapters
Daring Mr. Cortez
Adrian Hart’s boots clicked against the marble floor echoing unnervingly through the sleek and almost sterile lobby of Cortez’s tower while the lights above reflected off the polished surfaces making the building feel impossibly cold and impossibly sharp like it was daring him to step inside.Two men stepped forward immediately as he approached the inner elevators blocking his path while their faces were stoic, unreadable and professional “Sir” one of them said with voice firm, “We need your name and purpose before you proceed.”Adrian’s eyes didn’t leave them “Adrian Hart… and tell Cortez he’s been expecting me” he said calm but deliberate with a voice carrying a weight that made the men glance at each other.The taller one’s brow furrowed “Adrian Hart?” he repeated, “You do realize…”“That I’m not here for pleasantries?” Adrian interrupted with his tone ice-cold, “I’m here for Seraphina. Nothing else matters.”The men exchanged a brief and tense look while one reached for a radio bu
A Big Mistake
Cortez’s penthouse office stretched high above the city with sleek marble floors, a wall of glass overlooking the dark skyline and a lingering chill that never quite left the room, and the atmosphere changed the moment Adrian stormed out.Cortez remained perfectly still for several seconds after Adrian’s footsteps disappeared down the hallway, not a blink and not a breath but only the faint twitch of his jaw and rage simmering, boiling, and tightening under his skin.His men exchanged confused looks and only a fool missed the shift in the room and then finally Cortez spoke “Repeat what he said.”One of his guards swallowed “Sir, he… he said if he finds out you have her… he’ll come back and kill you.”A slow sinister smile crawled across Cortez’s face; feral, amused, and dangerous “And which her, exactly?” he murmured tapping a finger against the arm of his leather chair, “Which woman does Adrian Drake believe I have?”Then another guard shifted nervously “We assumed he meant that… tha
A Terrifying Choice
Seraphina didn’t sleep and the night stretched endlessly while Mara’s words kept circling her mind like shadows that she couldn’t chase away and her thoughts dragged her back to the same tormenting question every time she closed her eyes ‘What am I doing?’She was sitting outside Mara’s small house by dawn with her arms wrapped around herself with the early light washing softly over the village and her palms resting over her stomach and in a voice barely above a whisper she murmured “I don’t even know where to go anymore”She listened to the stillness, the birds beginning to call and the distant sound of someone chopping wood while the peace around her was gentle which made the storm inside her feel louder.Mara’s door creaked behind her but the older woman didn’t speak yet and Seraphina didn’t turn but just kept staring at the horizon rubbing her thumb slowly over her belly.Mara finally said softly “You didn’t rest.”Seraphina gave a small, tired laugh “How could I?”Mara didn’t pus
Elena's Gamble
Elena had been pacing for so long that the carpet beneath her feet felt warm while her apartment was silent, expensive, and suffocating with the kind of silence that pressed into the bones making every thought louder and every breath heavier.She dragged her fingers through her hair while staring at the wide windows overlooking the city lights but none of it calmed her because something was wrong which were not the obvious things that she already knew.Adrian’s silence haunted her the most, his cold eyes the last time they met and the way he looked at her as if she was a ghost from a life he no longer wanted.She rubbed her arms trying to shake off the guilt that clung like smoke ‘I made my mistakes. I pushed him away. I destroyed what we had… and now… now he cares about someone else - Seraphina.’The name had been echoing in her mind since the day she witnessed Adrian’s expression whenever that woman’s name came up ‘Seraphina mattered to him… deeply’Elena didn’t know the full detail
Ready to Move
Elena’s hands shook as the phone vibrated against the polished surface of her desk as she had been pacing the apartment for hours with her mind spinning in endless loops ‘what if Marcus never called back? What if this chance slipped through her fingers like sand leaving Adrian lost to her forever?’She pressed her palm to her forehead exhaling a shaky breath and then snatched the phone up the moment it rang.“Marcus Hale” the voice was calm deliberate and cold like he had measured every word before speaking.“Detective Hale” Elena said with her voice barely containing the trembling urgency, “thank you… thank you for calling me back.”“I’m not calling for you, Elena” Marcus said immediately cutting through her relief, “I’m calling for Adrian. That’s why I agreed to this… Make no mistake.”Elena blinked swallowing hard “I… I understand. I just… I need your help to find Seraphina. I…”“You’ll get your chance,” Marcus interrupted, firm but not cruel. “But this is about Adrian. You’re coll
The Friend from the Past
Adrian Hart sat in the dim light of his study as the city outside the window was beginning to hum its early evening rhythm but he didn’t notice the scattered files, the open laptop or even the maps splayed across the table since all that existed for him in that moment was the tight knot in his chest, the gnawing worry about Seraphina and the voice that he wasn’t expecting to hear soon.Adrian’s phone rand and he frowned while swiping the screen to see the name- Marcus Hale.Adrian hadn’t spoken to Marcus in months, not since the events spiraled out of control and since prison.“Adrian” Marcus’ voice came through calm and measured but carrying a weight Adrian hadn’t heard in a long time.“Marcus” Adrian said with his voice low and neutral as he leaned back in his chair masking the tension coiling through him, “It’s… unusual hearing from you.”“I’ll admit that” Marcus replied, “But I heard about what’s happening. Elena reached out to me and told me about Seraphina, the situation, and Ad
Lila's Help
Clara adjusted the collar of her coat as she parked outside a quaint townhouse nestled between flowering hedges and cobblestone walkways and then she took a deep breath trying to steady the nervous flutter in her chest though every step felt heavy but she reminded herself why she was here that Seraphina was out there somewhere alone and every minute counted and this friend someone Seraphina had trusted could be the key to finding her.The door swung open before Clara could knock. “Please, can we talk? It’s… it’s important… and private” Clara said quickly while forcing a smile.The friend whose name was Lila stepped aside gesturing for Clara to enter while her eyes held concern even before Clara spoke seeing Clara’s tense expression.Clara shook her head subtly lowering her voice “I can’t say everything right now but Seraphina is in danger. She’s safe at the moment but we don’t know for how long. I need your help to understand where she might go if she wants to be alone… somewhere she
Finally Found!
Marcus Hale had been staring at the screen so long that the numbers began to blur into each other while blue light washed over his face highlighting the growing tension in his jaw since it was close to 2 a.m and everyone else had left the office hours ago but Marcus stayed hunched over three monitors and two laptops rerunning the same surveillance data across different time stamps.He wasn’t the type to obsess but Adrian’s hollow voice these past day, Elena’s restless pacing, Clara’s silent fear and Seraphina’s complete disappearance couldn’t let this be the ending.He ran the footage again slowing the frames down and the first pass returned nothing and then the second pass yet still nothing but on the third “There” Marcus whispered.There was a woman stepping into a tiny pharmacy in a quiet little town with her head bowed, her hair tied back, and wearing a hoodie three sizes too big.Marcus zoomed in until pixel grain began to break the image apart and he adjusted the lighting, enhan
A Sudden Disappearance
The drive felt endless while Adrian barely blinked the entire way with his hands clenching so tightly around the steering wheel that the veins in his arms rose like cords under his ski and Marcus kept checking his phone and maps cross-referencing the location Seraphina had been traced to while Clara typed reports to Elena as though the speed of her fingers could rewrite reality.“She’s really alive” Adrian murmured for the fifteenth time but it wasn’t reassurance, it was panic fighting for dominance.Marcus answered without looking up “Yes… and we’ll meet her today if she’s where the tracker last pinged.”Clara added “Madam Elena says we should approach calmly since Seraphina may be overwhelmed.”Adrian shot her a look sharp enough to cut “Elena doesn’t get a say in how I approach my personal matters.”Clara swallowed and then lowered her gaze and texted quietly.The roads grew narrower as the village approached with dust rising beneath the tires like small clouds while Adrian leaned
The Edge of Rage
The road stretched out ahead of them in a blur of gray asphalt and fading sunlight while Adrian’s hands were tight on the steering wheel with his knuckles white and the tension radiating through the car as if it were a living thing. Rhea sat beside him with her eyes flicking constantly to his face trying to gauge what part of him she could reach before the storm consumed everything.“I’m going straight to Cortez” Adrian muttered with his voice low and rigid with barely restrained fury.Rhea swallowed hard “Adrian… stop. Just stop.”He didn’t even glance at her “Stop? Stop what? Sitting here like a coward while she’s out there… taken? No, Rhea. I’m done waiting. I’m going to him, now.”“You’re not thinking!” she snapped leaning closer, “You want to save Seraphina, yes? But if you go at Cortez like a bull in a china shop, do you really think you’ll come back with her alive?”He slammed his palm against the steering wheel and the car jarring slightly with the impact “I don’t care! I will