A Divorce He Regrets (Alissa Nexus) novel Chapter 40

40

ALEXANDER

I lied. I had to.

There was no way I was bringing Liam back to the house where he got hurt, I wasn’t stupid enough to do that, not when I still didn’t know exactly who was responsible and for how long. How could I risk traumatizing him further by making him wake up to the same room where he’d probably cried himself to sleep?

The guilt gnawed at me, making my chest ache. My son deserved better. I felt like a failure, a deadbeat who didn’t deserve the title of “father.” He probably hated me, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him.

But I was determined to make things right. Liam was in a safe place now, and until I could uncover who had hur keep him there. I just had to figure out how to reunite him with Raina–on my terms.

, I would

Yesterday, as I’d watched Raina walk away with Nathan, the man glued to her side, I knew I couldn’t sit back anymore. I picked up my phone and called my private investigator.

“Find everything you can on Nathan,” I told him.

Now, sitting at my desk, I couldn’t get her words out of my head. She has a boyfriend.

The phrase echoed in my mind, each repetition sharper and more painful than the last. My fists clenched involuntarily, the anger simmering just beneath the surface.

How could she move on so easily? How could she let someone else into her life, her heart, when she was still my wife?

Yes, I knew it was selfish. Hell, I’d spent years hiding the fact that we were still married. She had every right to move forward, to find happiness again.

But knowing it didn’t make it easier to accept.

Just because she didn’t know we were still married didn’t mean she should be with another man.

I exhaled sharply, leaning back in my chair and running a hand through my hair. The bitterness in my chest felt suffocating, but

I couldn’t stop it. Nathan was everywhere now, always hovering, always close to her. The way he looked at her, the way she trusted him–it made my stomach churn.

The sound of a knock at the door pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts.

“Come in,” I said, straightening slightly, though the frustration still lingered in my voice.

The door creaked open, and my assistant peeked her head in.

“Mr. Sullivan,” she began hesitantly, sensing my mood. “Someone’s here to see you.”

“Let them in.‘

The door swung open, and Dominic strode inside, his movements deliberate, his expression hard and unreadable.

I stood, my guard already up. “If you’re here to threaten me again, don’t bother,” I said, my tone cold. “If anything, we should be working together on this.”

He didn’t respond, didn’t rise to my bait. Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope, placing it on my desk with a level of calm that set me even more on edge.

1 frowned, taking the envelope. “What’s this?”

Dominic didn’t answer. He turned on lils heel and walked out without another word, his silence uncharacteristic and, frankly, unsettling.

Curiosity prickled at me, but annoyance bubbled just beneath the surface. I tore the envelope open and scanned the contents.

A court summons.

My jaw tightened as the realization hit. They were taking me to court.

My irritation sharpened as I noticed the jurisdiction—it wasn’t local. Of course, it wasn’t. I’d mentioned once, in passing, that the state attorney was a friend of mine, and now Raina had deliberately chosen a different state.

The move was calculated, smart, and infuriating.

I let the papers drop to my desk as I paced the room, my thoughts racing.

Before I could stew any longer, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I grabbed it, seeing my private investigator’s name on the

screen.

“Check your email,” he said without preamble.

The line went dead before I could respond.

I sat back at my desk, opened my laptop, and clicked on the new message sitting in my inbox.

The subject line was simple but ominous: Nathan Carter – Background Check.

I clicked on it, and as I read through the details, my irritation transformed into something darker, more suspicious.

Nathan Graham had been an orphan, just like Dominic and Raina. He had grown up in the same orphanage as them.

What were the odds?

I dialed the investigator’s number again, “Is this all you found about Nathan’s Childhood?”

He hesitated before answering. “No, there’s more. No one knows exactly where Nathan went after the orphanage. But what I did find was that he studied law at the same school as you and Raina.”

My heart skipped a beat. The same law school? How was that even possible? Nathan had disappeared right after Raina was kidnapped, and now he suddenly shows up, right under my nose, and not only that–he was in the same law school as us?

Coincidence? Not a chance.

Upon hearing this, I quickly scrolled further, my eyes narrowing when I came across a scanned yearbook photo. There he was, Nathan Graham, sitting in the same group I had been part of, just a few faces away.

I didn’t remember him, but there he was. A ghost hiding in plain sight.

Why hadn’t Raina mentioned him before? Did she even know he had been at the same college?

The questions piled up in my mind, one after another, as suspicion dug its claws deeper into me.

I wanted to believe this was just a coincidence, but something about it felt off. First, the orphanage. Now, the same college. I had no idea where Raina had been all these years, but the fact that Nathan had been nearby, that close to her life without me knowing–it didn’t sit right with me.

I realized I needed to talk to Raina. I had to warn her. But what would I even say if I saw her? If she agreed to meet me?

She hated me. I knew that. She’d made it clear. Would she even listen to me, or would she shut me out completely? My mind screamed no, but my heart, twisted and desperate, wanted to see her again. To make her understand.

I opened my email and typed a quick response to my investigator:

Dig deeper. I want to know where Nathan was during the years Rama disappeared. Find out if there’s a connection between them during that time. I don’t care how long it takes–just get me answers.

I hit send, my jaw clenched.

This wasn’t a coincidence.

I didn’t believe in coincidences anymore.

Just as I was about to leave my office, Vanessa appeared.

I was already teetering on the edge of frustration. Her dramatic whining about Raina firing her only made it worse.

“Can you imagine the nerve of her?” Vanessa huffed, trailing behind me as I grabbed my suit jacket. “After I worked so hard to get a job at Graham Industries! And then she hires some random woman to pretend to be Dominic’s wife–how absurd is that?”

I stopped mid–stride, turning slowly to face her. “You got a job at the Grahams‘ company?” My voice was cold, my patience wearing thin.

Vanessa crossed her arms, pouting like a child. “Yes. And it was going fine until Raina decided to sabotage me!”

“Sabotage?” I barked, incredulous. “Are you listening to yourself? You’re the one who caused a scene! What thinking, Vanessa?”

ell were you

Her defiance faltered, and for a split second, guilt flickered across her face before she masked it with indignation.

“It’s Raina’s fault!” she snapped.

I took a step closer, my voice dropping to a dangerous calm. “No, Vanessa. It’s yours. Your obsession with Dominic has gone too far, and now you’ve made things worse for me.”

She blinked, genuinely startled by my tone.

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