Ex-Husband's Regret (Ava and Rowan) novel Chapter 90

“And this has been going on for more than five years?” he asks quietly.

“Yes…when I made my first million, I was so excited to tell you, I wanted you to be proud of me. To see that I wasn’t just a loser” my mind goes back to that day. “I remember I waited for you to come home, but you didn’t so I kept the news till morning, still excited to tell you. When I saw you in the kitchen the next day I sat down next to you and told you that I had something to tell you”

I pause to swallow and take a deep breath. The memory was burned into my brain.

“Instead of listening you turned and looked at me coldly and told me that you didn’t care what I had to say. That you didn’t care about my life or what I was doing. You cruelly then told me that I could drop dead right then and there and even then you wouldn’t care, so instead of wasting your time and ruining your morning why don’t I just go and pester someone else”

The silence that settles over the car is heavy. I see his Adam apple bobble as he swallows.

“Ava…” he begins gruffly but I cut him off.

“So, I never said anything after that morning and since you made it clear you weren’t interested in anything I did, I kept quiet about anything and everything that concerned my life”

The memory still hurts, but just like with everything that happened with Rowan, I’m learning to live with it. One day I know it won’t hurt so badly.

We fall into silence again. When I couldn’t take it anymore I move to put on the radio just as his phone rings. He picks it up.

“Yes, I’m with her right now” he says.

He listens before answering. “Sure, we’ll be right there”

He then hangs up the phone and turns to me. “The chief wants to see you at the police station”

“Why?”

“Because of the fire…he wanted to see us before he leaves for an important meeting, so you’ll have to reschedule viewing of the house”

I don’t even think when I turn my car around and head in the direction of the station.

“There’s no way to say this, but we are treating the fire as arson”

I could hear him, but for some reason my mind wasn’t processing anything.

“What do you mean?” I ask slowly, my voice coming out shaky.

“I mean that someone deliberately set you house on fire” he pauses. “We believe that whoever it is thought you were inside and burned your house with the intention of killing”

My mind goes completely blank after that. His answer sending chills down my spine.

Deep down I know. I know that if it wasn’t for the early morning meeting I had with Mary, I would have been burned alive. If it wasn’t for that meeting, I would probably be dead right now.

I was able to escape death yet again, but how long can I outrun it before it catches up to me?