A Divorce He Regrets (Alissa Nexus) novel Chapter 5

RAINA

I couldn’t believe the nerve—the audacity he had to corner me like this. The moment I saw Alexander’s cold, piercing gaze, I knew nothing good could come from whatever words he had ready for me. I tried to slip away unnoticed, to avoid this exact situation, but his grip on my arm was unyielding, almost painful.

I clenched my jaw, meeting his gaze with defiance. “What I do is none of your business, Alexander.”

He scoffed, his eyes narrowing. “Oh, but it is. Everything you do seems to be about flaunting yourself, doesn’t it?”

The sting of his words was sharper than I’d anticipated, but I refused to let him see it. “And here I thought you’d moved on,” I replied, keeping my tone steady. “Or is that just what you want people to believe?”

For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something else in his expression, something like hurt. But it vanished just as quickly, replaced by a hardened mask.

“Don’t mistake my tolerance for forgiveness,” he said, his tone biting. “I haven’t forgotten what you did.”

I scoffed.

“Where the hell have you been hiding?” His voice was low and icy. The sneer on his face only made it worse, as if he were talking to something filthy on the bottom of his shoe. I almost laughed—almost. He was here, the man who once vowed to protect me, now treating me like a stranger or worse, an enemy.

My pulse quickened, and I felt a rush of defiance surge through me. Don’t let him get to you, Raina. I steadied myself, pulling my arm back, but his grip tightened.

“You’re still here? Still...doing this?” he sneered. His gaze flicked over me like I was something cheap, something worthless. “Whoring your way up to the top—sleeping with the right men. Is that the kind of example you want to set for Ava?”

The shock of it—the brutal, effortless way he lashed out. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The idea that this was the man who was once everything to me, who had once whispered words of love in my ear, felt like a cruel joke.

“Let me go,” I whispered, barely able to contain the sharp anger simmering underneath. “I don’t have time for whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish here, Alexander.”

But his expression didn’t change, and the coldness in his eyes deepened. He leaned in, his breath warm against my skin, the proximity making my skin crawl.

“Maybe you’ve been watching me,” he continued, his voice dripping with disdain. “Waiting for the right moment to ruin things for me with the Grahams.”

His accusation stung. And yet, a dark sense of satisfaction bubbled under my anger—he wasn’t completely wrong. I had watched him over the years, watched and waited for the moment when I’d finally get my say, my piece of retribution. But this, his wild assumptions, the smug righteousness on his face...he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Get over yourself,” I spat back, twisting my arm free, though the spot where he’d held me throbbed. “You’re not even close to being worth that much of my time.”

I turned, my heart racing, hoping to escape his hateful stare, but then I heard her.

“Oh, isn’t this perfect?” Eliza’s voice, sharp and loud, sliced through the moment. I turned to see her flanked by Vanessa and his mother, all three of them staring daggers. It was as though they’d been waiting just outside, biding their time. She glared at me, jealousy and disgust written across her face.

“Eliza, not now,” Alexander muttered, though his grip still lingered on my arm, barely loosened, like he was reluctant to let go even with his precious wife glaring in our direction.

“Get your filthy hands off of him,” Eliza snapped, stepping forward and pulling at my shoulder as if I were some cheap prop that didn’t belong in the scene.

I wanted to laugh. Alexander had been the one holding onto me, yet here she was, blinded by possessiveness. “Maybe you should learn who you’re talking to before you start with the accusations,” I retorted, feeling my heart rate steady, my composure returning as I slipped my arm free from Alexander’s grip at last.

Alexander finally looked away, annoyed, as though the entire exchange were beneath him.

His mother, always cold and unflinching, only offered me a sharp, appraising look. Vanessa, predictably, sneered.

“Alexander, dear,” Vanessa cooed, that same sickly-sweet tone she’d used even before, back when I was his wife and she hated it. “Surely you don’t mean to entertain...her here.”

I could practically feel the disgust dripping from her words, the venom hiding just under the surface.

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