Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband? novel Chapter 528

In a daze, Mila seemed to hear a thousand voices and flashes of memory ricocheting through her mind, each one making her hand tremble harder around the knife.

—Mom, I’m sorry.

—Mom, I’ll be good.

—Mom, you smell so nice. Did you make something delicious for me?

—I understand, Mom.

—I love your spicy chicken the most, Mom!

—Wow!

...

—Mila! Stay calm, be careful!

—Mila!

At the end of it all, she saw Jade’s face, eyes fierce with authority, a sharp command slicing through the cold, endless dark—snapping her awake.

What had she done?

The knife slipped from her grasp and clattered away. Her hands, still shaking, reached for Sophia’s damp, sticky neck. Maybe she’d been out of her mind, because the cut was shallow, just a thin line of blood seeping slowly out. Realizing Sophia’s life wasn’t in danger, Mila collapsed, drained, and sank to her knees on top of her, arms falling limp to her sides.

She gasped for breath, lungs burning.

Her thoughts were still muddled, children’s voices echoing in her ears: laughter and tears—baby talk in a cradle, a soft bundle giggling, that first wailing cry at birth—each memory rattling her chest.

Her child might make mistakes, be imperfect, stubborn, and difficult, but he would never be cruel enough to treat life as nothing. He’d promised her that much.

“It’s not like that.” As her senses finally began to return, Mila spoke, her voice hoarse and raw in the darkness. “It’s not your word I care about. I want to hear it from my son.”

She honestly couldn’t say whether she believed any of it, because she knew Lysander—and using their child as a pawn was exactly the kind of thing he’d do. So she couldn’t be wholly sure Adrian was innocent, either.

But she had to hear it from Adrian himself.

If he really had taken part, then he should bear the responsibility, and she would stand beside him to face it. But whether he was involved or not, before any judgment was passed, she owed it to him—to herself as a mother—to be the last one to decide, even if the rest of the world had already condemned him.

She needed to hear Adrian say it.

Clarity dawned, and she became aware of the violent coughing beneath her. Reality pressed in hard, and shame swept over her.

What had she done?

She’d nearly—

She’d nearly made a terrible mistake.

She’d almost ruined her whole life.