Chapter 40
Ex-Husband’s Regret
Avenging angel
âHow dare you?â the anger in Avaâs voice was palpable.
Brenda sneers as if she had more important things to do. âItâs not my fault that the she canât look
where sheâs going. This is a limited edition Luis Vuitton dress and the brat almost ruined it by
splashing juice on itâ
Brenda and Ava have never gotten along. I knew she was bullied at school and that Brenda was
her biggest tormentor.
The girl I they were talking about was cowaring behind Ava. She couldnât have been more than
five years old. She was cute, with a pretty pink dress, a heart shaped face, round lips and long
black hair cascading down her back.
I can imagine having a little girl with my grey eyes and Avaâs shinny brown hair.
I freeze in my seat. What the hell? Where the fuck did that thought come from? Shaking my head.
and banishing those thoughts, I focus on Ava. Looks like Ava was finally putting her in her place.
âAre you kidding me? Thatâs a really stupid reason to hurt a child especially given weâre here
because of themâ Ava admonishes, a frown marring her beautiful face.
âItâs not a stupid reasonâ Brenda stomps her foot like a petulant child. âIâm not going to allow an
orphan child who doesnât know the meaning of what it is to be rich ruin a dress that costs more
than sheâll ever see in her lifeâ
Shocked gasps fill the room. Brenda turns and realizes that she had an audience and that they
arenât happy with her.
âThatâs not what I meantâ¦â she rushes to save face after noticing the angry gazes that were
directed at her.
âYou know what? Leave. Given your attitude towards these children, I donât see the need for your
presence hereâ Ava says then motions for one of the many bodyguards stationed around the
entrances
âWhat? Youâre kicking me out?â Brenda stammers.
Ava just rolls her eyes, âObviouslyâ
âYou canât do that, Iâve donated lots of money to this stupid foundation, you canât just kick me out
+15 BONUS
Ava smiles. A wicked smile. She then calls for Mary who rushes to her.
*Check how much sheâs donated to the foundationâ she instructs and Mary begins tapping on her
tablet.
âOne million dollarsâ Mary answers after a while.
Ava turns to Brenda, looking at her coolly. âYou see, what we donât need in this foundation is
someone like you. Someone arrogant enough to think that we canât do without their money.â She
then turns back to Mary. âTransfer the exact amount back to her accountâ
Everyone watches in surprise. No one says anything and no one moves.
âItâs done bossâ Mary says smiling.
âNow that you have your money back, get the hell out of my banquet and from now on you are
banned from any event I or my foundation hostsâ There was steel in her voice, a tone I have never
heard Ava use.
Brenda starts cursing at Ava and the foundation. Ava nods at the bodyguard and he drags her out
kicking and scream. After sheâs out, Ava turns to the room.
Just like with Christine, this was going to affect Brendaâs social standing alot. This was the best
fucking revenge Ava could take on her.
âAnyone else share in the same opinion as Brenda? Like I said, we are here because of these kids
and Iâll go through anyone who thinks they can mistreat themâ her voice rings across the room,
steady and strong even without a microphone.
Right then she looked like a damn avenging angel. Ready to strike down anyone who even so
much as looks at the children wrong
When no one says anything, she smiles. âWell then, sorry for the interruption and I do hope you
have a lovely timeâ
My eyes zone in on her as she turs around and walks away. She disappears outside, to the balcony
Emma says something to me but I ignore her. My eyes fully focused on my exâwife.
I stand up and push my chair back, then leave. Emma calls my name but I donât turn back. I take
long strides in Avaâs direction, Soon Iâm outside the room.
She stands at the balcony. Her face facing the now darkening sky, her hair blowing in the wind
+15 BONUS
Now, that I was here I didnât know what to fucking say. I havenât spoken to Ava since that day at
her house. All my text and calls for the past two weeks have gone answered.
I step forward. My steps probably alerted her because she turns slightly. When she sees itâs just
me, she tenses.
âWhat do you want Rowan?â she asks in a sigh.
I step further forward until Iâm standing beside her.
âWhy didnât you tell me?â I was puzzled. She was my wife and she never said a thing.
âTell you what?â
âEverything⦠The Hope Foundation and the fact that you arenât hurting for money. Why did you let all
of us look down on you?â
She snorts before turning to fully face me. âAnd when was I supposed to tell you? You barely wanted to
be around me and you would even go to great lengths to make sure we arenât together for long.â
I stare at her. Looking deep in her brown eyes. There was something new in them. Something that
wasnât there before. There was also something missing.
She continues as she looks outside towards the garden. âBesides would you even have been
interested? As far as I can remember, you didnât particularly care about anything that concerned
meâ
My eyes drift as I watch people walking in and outside of the garden. She was right. I had been a cold
bastard. I rationalized at that time that I didnât need to care about what the woman who had destroyed
my life was doing.
I resented Ava and it showed in the way I fucking treated her for years. I always prided myself in being
a good person, but looking back I have to admit that I had been prick. So much so that my wife kept a
whole part of her life a secret to me.
âAbout Emmaâ¦â I go to apologize for the words I carelessly threw at her but she cuts me off.
âDonât worry about it, Iâm not after you Rowan and I donât plan to come between you and Emma, you
can rest assured that all the love I had for you is dead. You managed to kill it She takes a steadying
breath âLoving you was the biggest mistake I have ever made and I donât plan on continuing with that
mistakeâ
+15 BONUS
Fuck, why the hell did it feel like someone took a fucking sledge hammer to my heard at those
words?!
âI will always be thankful because you gave me Noah. Heâs the only good thing youâve given me
since Iâve known you. I regret falling in love with you but I will never regret our son.â
She turns around and faces the door to the room. She smiles and I swivel around to look at what
sheâs staring at. Her eyes were on Ethan.
âIâm sorry for the trouble I caused youâ she says her eyes still on the fucking bastard. âIâm sorry that my
mistake tore you from Emma, I know no one believes me especially you, but I was drunk that night.
Anyway, I wish you the best with your new relationshipâ
As if feeling eyes on him, Ethan turns and fucking smiles at Ava.
âI plan to stay away from your life and I ask you do the same. Donât come to my house, donât hire
bodyguards for me, donât call me unless it concerns Noah and even then I prefer you pass any
messages to your lawyer then he can forward it to mineâ Her eyes were still fixed on Ethan
The way she looked at him let me know that something was going on between them. I didnât like the
uncomfortable feeling I was having inside me.
She finally faces me. âI think Iâve said all there is to sayâ¦goodbye, Rowanâ she then begins walking
towards the door.
My heart is screaming for her to stop and I clench my fist against the unknown need to pull her to
me.
She stops and then turns around. âOne more thing, please assure Emma that I donât want anything to
do with you and on that note, you might want to get the truth from her. If you want your relationship to
work, then it canât be built on lies she told just to get me into troubleâ
With that she walks away.
âAvaâ¦â her names leaves my lips in a fucking plea.
I watch as Ethan meets her half way. He then takes her hand and leads her outside. I face forward just
in time to see them making their way into the garden
It takes everything in me to stop myself from losing control when I see Ethan kissing her I quickly turn
around to avoid seeing them. My fucking heart drumming in my chest.
+15 BONUS
This is what I wanted. That she would move on and leave me and Emma the hell alone. I got what I
wanted
She was stepping aside. She had a new man. So why the hell did it feel like it was one big fucking
mistake? Why did it feel like something inside me was dying?
She was supposed to be the wrong woman. Yet now that she walked away, I canât help but feel lost.