HIS REGRET (Ex-Husband wants Me Back) novel Chapter 174

**Shadows of the Past – By Emma Clarke**
**Chapter 174**

In an instant, the atmosphere in the room shifted dramatically. Every camera lens and microphone pivoted toward the screen, as if drawn by an invisible force. Reporters surged forward, their urgency palpable, each one desperate to capture every fleeting frame, every word that could potentially reshape the narrative. This was a moment that could change everything—a story that simply didn’t come around twice.

Meanwhile, Theo and Vanessa were caught in a whirlwind of panic as they scrambled to discredit the unfolding broadcast. Their frantic denials and protests felt like whispers against a roaring tide, weak and ineffectual in the face of the undeniable evidence that flickered ominously on the screen before them.

“I know many of you believe I’m nothing more than a homewrecker,” Althea’s voice quivered with raw emotion, yet her words held a steady resolve that resonated in the charged atmosphere. “But the truth is far more complex. Eight years ago, I legally married Daven Callister. Our wedding wasn’t a spectacle for the cameras or the media—it was a sacred moment shared between us, private yet profoundly real.”

The screen transitioned, revealing a stark legal document—an official marriage certificate, adorned with seals and signatures that bore witness to their union.

“No… no… this can’t be true!” Vanessa’s body lurched forward, her trembling hand seizing the microphone as if it were her last lifeline. “That’s fake! All of it—” Her voice cracked, spiraling into a shrill cry that echoed through the hall.

But her words faltered and choked in her throat as the image shifted once more. Now, simple, unembellished wedding photographs filled the screen. Daven stood rigidly beside Althea, his expression icy, while she wore a modest white gown. It lacked grandeur, yet its authenticity was inescapable.

Gasps and whispers rippled through the crowd, a wave of disbelief washing over the reporters as cameras flashed in a frenzy, capturing every damning detail that illuminated the screen.

“After that wedding, I lived in the shadows,” Althea continued, her voice unwavering despite the weight of years etched into her gaze. “From the very beginning, Vanessa Blake relentlessly pursued my husband. I bore it for a year, but eventually, I reached my breaking point. We divorced. And not long after… Daven married Vanessa.”

The broadcast shifted again, this time displaying the official marriage certificate of Daven and Vanessa. The date stood out starkly—only a few months had passed since Althea’s divorce.

“Members of the press, you can see it for yourselves,” Althea pressed on, her expression inscrutable. “The date of my divorce from Daven and the date of his marriage to Vanessa. Doesn’t this evidence clarify who was truly luring whom? Isn’t it painfully obvious who seduced my ex-husband first?”

A male reporter let out a sharp breath, as if the truth had struck him with a physical force. “Then… it was Vanessa who stole another woman’s husband—”

“No! That’s a lie!” Vanessa screamed, her voice a panicked shriek as she lunged toward the technicians, yanking cables and kicking at the equipment in a desperate bid to halt the broadcast. “Stop this broadcast right now!”

“Didn’t Miss Vanessa just claim she didn’t even know Miss Althea?” a journalist pressed, his tone dripping with incredulity. “Well, Miss Vanessa, you certainly played your part well, didn’t you?”

“Watch your mouth!” Vanessa snapped back, her composure fracturing under the pressure. “When have I ever known that wretched woman, huh?!”

But even his fury couldn’t divert the reporters’ attention from the screen. They were transfixed, hanging on every word that flowed from Althea’s lips.

“My encounter with Daven in SunCity was nothing more than a coincidence,” Althea stated calmly, her demeanor resolute. “It happened once, in the hotel lobby. And I wasn’t alone. I was with Chase Miller, my partner, and my son, Josh.”

The screen transitioned to grainy yet unmistakable CCTV footage from the hotel lobby. There it was—Daven stepping into frame, crossing paths with Althea, who walked alongside Chase and a small boy. A fleeting exchange of polite greetings, nothing more, before they parted ways.

A hush fell over the room, the quiet intensity palpable as reporters whispered to one another, some already typing furiously into their devices. The verdict spread like wildfire: the footage was authentic, with no signs of tampering.

“What the media circulated before,” Althea continued, her voice steady, “was confirmed to have been edited—fabricated to appear real. I’ve enlisted an expert to prove those photos were never genuine. They were manufactured.”

Onstage, Vanessa stood frozen, the color draining from her face as the sympathetic smile she had meticulously crafted crumbled into raw panic. She reached for the microphone again, but it was futile. The cameras had already abandoned her, every lens and every eye now fixated solely on Althea.

“I never stole anyone’s husband,” Althea asserted, her voice unwavering and strong. “All I want is to defend my name, my life, and—more than anything else—to protect my child, who has been unjustly dragged into this by Miss Vanessa’s reckless lies.”