Chapter 118
Ex-Husband’s Regret
Chapter 118
I feel as ay anger starts rising to the surface. I know what Brian said, but I still havenât ruled out Reaper
from my list of suspects.
I mean, come the fuck on, he had Ava kidnapped. You just donât do that unless you have an ulterior
motive. Plus, what Brian says just doesnât make sense. Why would he kidnap her and then force me to
make a decision if he really didnât want her to get hurt?
âWhat the fuck are you doing here?â I snarl at him.
His eyes sweep over me to the rest. Theyâve all stood up in guard, but that doesnât seem to faze him at
all.
One thing that makes Reaper really dangerous is the fact that he was maniac. Sure, I am cold, but
Reaper
takes that to a whole new level. He is a sociopath and a psychopath, all wrapped in a pretty ugly and
deadly bow.
âIâm here to see, Ava. Why else do you think I would be here? To see your sorry ass?â he asks with a
devious smirk.
I grind my teeth, willing myself not to start a fightin
kicked out, and I couldnât have that.
a fucking hospital. It would be the sure way to get
âAnd you honestly think we believe that? Gabe asks him. âYou kidnapped her a few months ago.â
He turns those deadly eyes towards my brother. Iâm not easily fazed, but Reapers eyes radiate a kind of
coldness that had you feeling chills down your spine.
His eyes were dead and cold. Almost like the man didnât have a fucking soul. Maybe he didnât. Who the
fuck knows anyway?
âI personally donât care what the fuck you think because I am not here for any of you.â he doesnât lose his
composure at all. âNow are you going to tell me how she is or should I find her doctor myself?â
His condescending tone, not to mention his attitude was grating on my nerves. I donât even understand
what he is doing here in the first place.
âWhy would we tell you that? For all we know, youâre the bastard that put a hit on herâ I tell him through
clenched.
He stares at me with wide eyes, before throwing his head back and laughing. It rings off the walls of the
waiting room, leaving goosebumps all over my skin.
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He suddenly stops and his gaze fixes on me.
âTrust me, if I wanted Ava dead, sheâd be deadâ he says in that same icy tone.
âThen if youâre not the one responsible, then why are you here? I donât really see how her health is any
of your concernâ Nora speaks.
His gaze leaves mine before it sweeps over the rest. They finally rest on someone behind me. I slowly
turn to check who he was looking at. Itâs Corrine.
He lingers there for a while. He looks enraptured while Corrine looked like she couldnât keep her eyes of
him. He finally pulls his gaze away with what I am damn sure is great difficulty.
Interesting.
He focuses on Nora. âWell sheâs carrying my niece, of course I will be concerned about herâ
He delivers the line smoothly, but leaves us shocked.
The man must be delusional or something. There is no way I just heard him right. How the fuck could he
be the babyâs uncle. I donât think he is related to Ava in anyway. Unless heâs a long lost brother of hers.
âThâthatâs impossibleâ Letty stammers.
By Nora and Theoâs reaction, Reaper couldnât be their son, so if he was telling the truth then he is related
to the baby some other way.
I study him and thatâs when it clicks.
âYouâre Ethanâs brotherâ I announce as the similarities ring in my head.
âBingoâ
âBut how?â Nora whispers. âWhen we adopted Ethan we were told that he had no family leftâ
âI was in juvie then, word got back to me from one of my fatherâs men that Ethan was in foster care. I told
them to mess with his records so that it seemed like our dad was the only family he had.â He pauses.
Like I told Ava, I wanted him to have a chance at a normal life. So thatâs what I gave him. I didnât want
him to turn out a criminalâ
âAnd yet he still ended up in prison,â I tell him sarcastically.
He laughs, but this time it isnât chilly. Itâs sort of warm. If you can even call it that.
âAva said the same damn thingâ
â
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We are quiet for a while until Theo speaks.
âFrom your tone of voice, it seems youâve been around my daughterâ
âI canât say roundâ¦weâve been communicating.â He begins.
He then tells us everything. His plan when he kidnapped Ava and how he went to her afterwards and
asked her if he could be in the babyâs life. Ava, bless her kind soul which will one day probably get her in
trouble, accepted.
âYou do realize that if the police ever find out you were in contact with her, sheâll be in trouble?â Corrine
asks.
âDonât worry about that. Iâve got to a plan in the worksâ he gives her a mischievous smile, but doesnât say
anything more.
âSince you were in communication with her, did she ever mention anything to you? Maybe she felt
unsafe
or threatened? Anything at allâ I plead with him. We needed something to give us a start on where to
look.
Reaper tells us about when Ava first got the note and proceeds to tell us about the two more that came
after. She got the last note yesterday. The same day she was short.
I get this ugly feeling when I think of her going to Reaper instead of me. Before it can consume me, I
push
it away. Right now that didnât matter. Not when she was lying in a coma.
âI hate that I wasnât able to protect her. I should have dug deeper, maybe I could have prevented all thisâ
I recognize an emotion that I never thought I would see reflected in his eyes. He was struggling with it
because he has never had to feel guilty about anything.
No one says anything because we are all struggling with something. We all think we could have
prevented
this somehow.
I sit down and sigh just as Emma walks into the waiting room.
The moment Reaper sees her, all traces of warmth and guilt disappear. Before any of us can do
anything,
he storms over to her, wraps his hand around her neck and shoves her against the wall.
âWhat the hell are you doing?â Travis shouts at him, but he doesnât stop.
Emma releases a strangled cry. Fear masking her entire face.
I look to the ceiling and sigh. âLet her go, Reaperâ
He doesnât listen. In fact he squeezes her neck.
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Travis tries to get him off his sister, while the rest stand frozen, but he doesnât budge.
âIf I find out that you had anything to do with hurting Ava, I swear I will gut you. I will make the serial killer
documentaries you like watch seem like a fucking fairytale as compared to what I will do to you, am i
understors?â
I donât know how the hell he even knows she likes watching serial killer documentaries. Then again, this
is Reaper weâre talking about. Nothing he does or knows surprises me.
She nods with wide eyes and tear stained cheeks.
Reaper gives her one more squeeze before letting go.
âYou bastardâ Travis snarls and swings at Reaper, but he sidesteps him.
âTry to hit me again and youâll be buried next to your father within a weekâ he warns him. 2
That seems to sober Travis up pretty quickly. He back away from Reaper. He knows that itâs not an
empty threat. If reaper says heâll do it then thatâs exactly what heâll do.
A nurse comes out and cuts the tense atmosphere.
âHi, Iâm Mary the head nurse in NICUâ¦â
Before she can finish, I cut her off.
âIs the baby okay?â
She gives me a small smile. âSheâs in an incubator which you already know, but so far sheâs doing okay.
Weâll have to keep a special eye on her within the next few days to make sure what happened to her
mother didnât leave any permanent damages, but weâre confident that sheâll surviveâ
I breathe a sigh of relief and I feel the same from Reaper whoâs standing next to me. 1
âIâm here because we need to name her. Do you know what name her mother chose for her?â
No one speaks. For a while until a small voice behind answers
âIrisâ
I turn and find Noah. He was with my parents.
He immediately leaves their hand, takes a few strides and takes mine before looking up at the nurse.
âShe didnât know if the baby was going to be boy or girl, but she told me that if itâs a boy, weâll name him
Kaden and if itâs a girl then sheâll be called Iris.â
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Mary gives him a small smile. âAnd whatâs her last name?â
Noah answers confidently.
âHowell.â He pauses. âSheâs called Iris Renee Howel