From His Wife to His Uncle's Wife novel Chapter 8

Once she stepped outside, she finally let herself breathe. That man... there was something oddly familiar about him.

Linden had caught the whole scene, his eyes full of amusement. He watched as the tall, sharp-looking guy sat down across from him and couldn’t help teasing, “Max, I thought you never got involved with women. So, what was that back there?”

Max’s easy smile faded, replaced by his usual cool indifference. “Just helping someone out. Is that so strange?”

Linden chuckled, not pushing any further. “So, how did things go?”

“The divorce papers are signed. Now it’s just a matter of when they’ll actually file. But Max, I have to say, your nephew is really something. He’s so petty it’s almost impressive.” Linden sipped his coffee, shaking his head. “He even tried to claim his wife’s patent rights for himself.”

Max’s eyes turned icy. “Patent rights?”

“Yeah. Eleanor’s personal patent.”

Max picked up his coffee, noticing the faint trace of lipstick on the rim. “And you’re confident you’ll win?”

“Come on, Max. Are you doubting me now?” Linden grinned.

Max took a sip right where the lipstick mark was. “I’ll wait for your good news.”

“Oh, and by the way, you should probably start calling her his ex-wife soon,” Max added.

Linden just stared at him for a moment, speechless.

...

At the Clarkson Estate, Olga came home from preschool and spotted her aunt Jessie. Her face lit up and she dashed over, wrapping her arms around Jessie’s waist.

She whispered, “Mommie Jessie, you’re home! I missed you so much.”

Jessie tapped her gently on the nose and said softly, “Olga, remember, you have to call me Aunt Jessie when we’re at the villa.”

Daddy, look! We have a family photo now!

I hope we’ll always be together.

She added a bunch of starry-eyed emoji stickers for extra luck.

Somewhere far away, Eleanor sat at her laptop, shivering. She stared at the screen, realizing her daughter had forgotten to log out of her own messaging app. New notifications kept popping up from the pinned group chat: “My Mommy and Daddy.”

It felt like she’d fallen into an ice-cold cave, the chill seeping all the way to her bones. She was like someone drowning, reaching for the only floating log in sight, only for it to break in half as soon as she touched it.

Eleanor took a shaky breath, her fingers trembling as she opened the app. Without a second thought, she left the family group chat.

If she didn’t have a family anymore, what was the point of staying in a family chat?