All Chapters of His Ex-wife Betrayal: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
92 chapters
CHAPTER 71
Emma sat at the kitchen table picking at her cereal. She had barely eaten in two days and Damien was starting to worry."Princess, you need to eat something.""I am not hungry." Her voice was small and flat.Damien sat beside her and touched her hand gently. "I know things have been scary lately but you are safe now. I promise."Emma looked up at him with those big brown eyes that saw too much for a seven-year-old. "You said I was safe before but Claire's mom was watching me."The words hit like a punch to the gut. She was right and Damien had no good answer for that.Dr. Brennan had called two days earlier suggesting an emergency session. Just Damien and Emma without Simone or anyone else."She needs space to process what happened with Jennifer," Dr. Brennan had explained. "And she needs to feel safe expressing her fears about adults."They sat in Dr. Brennan's office on the familiar blue couch. Emma clutched her stuffed rabbit and stared at the floor."Emma, do you understand why we
CHAPTER 72
The courtroom was packed on the day of Jennifer's sentencing. Damien sat in the gallery with Simone on one side and Richard on the other.Jennifer stood at the defense table looking nothing like the woman who had stalked them for months. Her hair was clean and pulled back. Her clothes were simple and neat.The medication had brought clarity to her eyes but also a deep sadness that had not been there before.The prosecutor read the charges aloud. "Harassment, stalking, conspiracy to commit fraud, and endangering a child. The evidence includes surveillance photos, purchased stolen credit cards, witness testimony, and fabricated text messages."Jennifer's attorney stood. "Your Honor, my client wishes to enter a plea of guilty to reduced charges in exchange for accepting mandatory long-term psychiatric treatment at a residential facility."Judge Morrison looked over her reading glasses. The same judge who had presided over Damien's custody case months earlier."Ms. Reeves, do you understa
CHAPTER 73
The church community event became a turning point in ways Damien had not expected. Emma stayed close at first but gradually ventured further from his side.Simone moved through the crowd with easy grace. She helped serve food at the buffet line and laughed with children who tugged at her skirt.She talked with the church elders about their week and hugged elderly women who called her baby girl. This was Simone in her element and it was beautiful to watch.What struck Damien most was how Simone did not hover over Emma or try too hard. She simply included her naturally in whatever she was doing.When Emma wandered near the dessert table, Simone asked if she wanted to help arrange the cookies. Emma nodded and they worked side by side in silence.At one point, a little boy came running up crying. He had scraped his knee on the pavement outside and blood trickled down his shin."Marcus, let me see," Simone said gently as she knelt.Damien felt a jolt at the name. Marcus. Like his brother.
CHAPTER 74
Damien and Simone continued their conversation. "I am sorry for dumping all that on you.""Do not apologize. Talk to me."They talked for two hours. The longest and most vulnerable conversation they had ever had.Simone broke down talking about Aisha. The words came out in broken sentences between tears and Damien just listened."I raised her from age fourteen after our parents died. I was nineteen, working full time and taking night classes, trying to give my siblings a chance at normal life.""That is a lot to carry at nineteen.""My two brothers turned out okay. Marcus is an electrician and Jerome is in the military. But Aisha has always been difficult."Simone's voice cracked. "She resented my authority from the start. She said it was not her mother and had no right to tell her what to do."Simone was repeating that, it must have hurt her so much. "Kids say things they do not mean when they are hurting.""Maybe. But she kept pushing boundaries. Sneaking out, lying about grades,
CHAPTER 75
Damien and Simone sat in his living room the night before they planned to tell Emma. The air felt heavy with anticipation."What if she says no?" Simone asked quietly."Then we take it slow and give her time to adjust. But we need to tell her before she overhears something or gets confused."The next afternoon, Emma sat on the couch between them. Her stuffed rabbit was clutched in her lap and her eyes moved between the two adults.Damien took a breath and let it out slowly. "Princess, you know Simone and I have been spending time together."Emma nodded."We like each other a lot and we have decided to officially be boyfriend and girlfriend. How do you feel about that?"Emma was quiet. Her small fingers twisted the rabbit's ear while she thought."Does this mean Simone is going to live here?""No, she has her own place. This just means we will probably see her more often."Emma's brow furrowed. "Does Mommy know?""I will tell Mommy, yes. But this does not change anything between you an
CHAPTER 76
The article went live at ten in the morning. Damien watched the notification appear on his phone with a sense of dread.By noon, LedgerEase's website had crashed from traffic. The server could not handle the sudden influx of visitors.Marcus was on the phone with their hosting provider trying to get more bandwidth. "I know it is an emergency. That is why I am calling."Damien refreshed the article page and watched the view count climb. Ten thousand, twenty thousand then fifty thousand.The story was compelling even he could admit that. Two brothers building a successful company while navigating personal chaos sounded like a movie plot.But this was his life. His daughter's life and it was all laid out for strangers to consume.The article was mostly fair. It painted him as resilient and Marcus as redeemed but it included details Damien would rather keep private.Derek's suicide and the inheritance, Emma's medical condition during the custody battle, Jennifer's stalking even Lisa's aff
CHAPTER 77
Marcus stared at his computer screen like it had personally betrayed him. His hands were shaking and his face was pale."Kyle and Amanda built half of our core features. Without them, development will slow by sixty percent at least."Damien rubbed his temples. The headache that had started three days ago had not gone away."Can we replace them?""Not quickly. Good developers are expensive and hard to find. And anyone we hire will need months to learn our codebase."Damien pulled up Kyle and Amanda's employment contracts. He scanned through the legal language looking for something they could use."They signed non-compete agreements. Can we enforce those?"Marcus shook his head. "Enforcement is tricky and expensive. We would have to sue them and TechFlow. That costs money we do not have.""So we just let them walk?""What choice do we have?"Damien's phone rang. Susan Bailey. Their VC investor."We need to meet," she said without exchanging greetings. "Today if possible."They met at a
CHAPTER 78
The argument started over coffee the next morning. Marcus slammed his mug down hard enough that liquid sloshed over the rim."We need to at least hear buyout offers from competitors. That is just smart business."Damien shook his head. "We are finally creating something meaningful on our own terms. I do not want to sell to the first company that waves money at us.""Easy for you to say." Marcus's voice was sharp. "You have Derek's trust fund as a safety net. I have nothing. If LedgerEase fails, I am back to zero."The comment cut deep. Damien had been trying not to touch Emma's trust fund and he viewed it as blood money from a man who tried to destroy him.But Marcus was right. Knowing it existed provided security that Marcus did not have."That is not fair," Damien said quietly."Isn’t it? You can take risks because you have a fallback plan. I cannot. This company is everything I have.""It is everything I have too.""No, it is not. You have Emma. You have Simone. You have options."
CHAPTER 79
Damien sat across from Simone unable to move or speak. The restaurant noise faded into background static.No one had said I love you to him since Lisa and that felt like a lifetime ago. Those words had come with conditions and manipulation.Simone's declaration was different. Clear, honest, no expectations attached."You don't have to say it back," Simone added quickly. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I just needed you to know."Damien reached across the table and took both her hands in his. "I love you too."Simone's breath caught. "You do?""I have been afraid to admit it because everything I love gets complicated or taken away. But I love you, Simone."The words felt like freedom. Like exhaling after holding his breath for too long."You are kind and strong and you make me want to be better. You see me for who I am and you still choose to be here."Simone laughed and cried at the same time.
CHAPTER 80
CloudTech Systems flew Damien and Marcus to their Silicon Valley headquarters first class. It was Damien's first time in California.The campus was impressive beyond anything he had imagined. Glass buildings surrounded by manicured gardens and sleek modern sculptures.Everything LedgerEase was not. Professional, polished, scaled to perfection.They were greeted by Patricia Wong herself. The CEO was in her fifties with sharp eyes and a firm handshake."Welcome to CloudTech. I have been following your work closely and I am very impressed."She led them through the campus pointing out features. "We started in a garage twenty years ago. Now we serve clients in forty countries."The conference room had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the valley. A team of executives waited inside.Patricia got straight to business. "LedgerEase solves a real problem beautifully. You have elegant code and strong user growth.""Tha