Dear Ex Wife, Please take me back novel Chapter 56

ATHENA

I’m eleven weeks pregnant, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Alex accepted the baby so easily.

Well… accepted is an understatement. The man is thrilled.

In the four-plus years I’ve known him, Alex has always been a wall of steel, cold, distant, and unreadable. But the moment he found out about the baby, something changed.

He never misses a single appointment, insists on carrying my vitamins everywhere, and watches me like I might break at any moment. It’s almost funny. Almost.

But beneath my quiet amusement, there’s guilt.

Because no matter how much I want to enjoy this, no matter how much I am enjoying it, one thought keeps gnawing at me.

Is this really happiness? Or is it just another illusion?

I can’t shake the feeling that he’s only here because of the baby. Without this child, he would have already left.

Left to be with her.

I know better than to fool myself. Time doesn’t change everything.

I’ve been married to Alex for three years, and in all that time, I’ve never once seen his gaze soften for me the way it does for Leah. It doesn’t matter that he sleeps in our home, that he shares my bed. His heart has always been with someone else.

And maybe… maybe that’s something I can’t live with.

A deep voice pulls me from my thoughts.

"I can see something is troubling you. Is it the food?"

I shiver slightly at the sound of Alex’s voice. It’s so deep and rough. I feel it grazing my skin every time he speaks, and it makes my legs weak.

Now I see why I'm pregnant. I can never resist this man.

I blink up at him and force a small smile. “The food is fine, thank you.”

Before he can say anything else, a throat clears from across the table.

Ariana beams at us, her eyes twinkling with delight, while Giana practically vibrates with excitement.

"I never thought I’d live to see the day you two were this in love!" Ariana gushes, reaching for Eli’s hand and pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles. "I love to see this. Don’t you, honey?"

Eli smiles down at her, eyes warm. "Yes, my beautiful flower. I do."

I watch them, my heart twisting.

This.

This is love, the kind of love that’s effortless, that doesn’t need to be questioned.

And it makes me wonder… what happened to Alex to make him the way he is?

He comes from a loving home. His parents are happy, his granny is an angel. So why is he so distant? So cold?

"She just needs a glass of wine. Don’t you, Athena?"

Noah’s teasing voice cuts through the moment as he pushes a wine glass toward me.

The word hangs in the air, suspended between us and everyone else in the room.

I knew we were going to announce it today. That was the whole point of this luncheon.

And yet, hearing him say it outloud does something to me.

“Oh my God! My sweet child!” Ariana rushes towards me when Alex lets out a growl.

“Mum, careful. Don't squeeze her too hard.”

“Oh we squeezed Ariana, and you came out just fine!” Giana rolls her eyes as she stretches her arms for me to take.

I smile as I pull away from Ariana and throw myself into Nana's arms.

“See that, babe!” Eli laughs proudly as he taps Alex's back, “My son just became a real fucking man!”

“Eli! Language!” Giana glares at him.

“Oh With this news, cursing can be overlooked!”

Alex keeps his hand on my back, his touch warm and protective as I pull away from Giana.

Noah, however, hasn’t moved. he’s still sitting at the table, his expression unreadable.

"Well," he finally says, his voice full of emotion like he's still unable to believe the news. "This is certainly unexpected."

"Unexpected, but not unwelcome," Alex corrects him, his eyes find mine as he pulls me to him and shocks me by placing a kiss on my forehead.