HIS REGRET (Ex-Husband wants Me Back) novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A soft murmur escaped Althea’s lips as she stirred awake. “Mm… why does everything feel so soft?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open, allowing the gentle morning light to seep through the curtains and gently coax her vision into focus.

Reaching out instinctively, she expected to find the familiar comfort of her usual belongings—her beloved stuffed bunny, the phone she always kept close to check the time the moment she woke. But her fingers met with unfamiliar textures instead.

Something wasn’t right.

Her heart quickened. “This isn’t my room…” she breathed, eyes blinking rapidly as confusion clouded her mind. Was she still dreaming? Her senses scrambled to piece together the strange surroundings—the smoothness of the comforter beneath her, the plushness of the mattress, and then… that subtle, unmistakably masculine scent lingering in the air.

Warm. Familiar. Clean.

Daven Callister.

A sudden wave of panic tightened her chest. How had she ended up here? And more pressingly—where was he?

“You’re awake?”

The sound of his voice sent an unexpected shiver down her spine.

She turned sharply toward the voice and saw him sitting casually on a sofa just a few feet from the bed. Daven removed his glasses, set down his work tablet, and rose, walking toward her with calm purpose.

Althea remained still, her mind racing to catch up, struggling to process the reality of waking up in a bed that wasn’t hers.

His bed.

“What time is it?” she asked, her voice tense and uncertain.

Daven, now slipping on his blazer, glanced at the Rolex on his wrist. “Just past seven.”

“Oh my God!” she gasped, panic flaring again. “I overslept!”

He raised a single eyebrow. “So? Is that a problem?”

Frantically, Althea threw the covers aside, searching for something—anything. Daven watched her with a curious expression. Was this really how she always woke up?

“Wait… why am I even here?” she finally demanded, her attention snapping back to the more urgent question.

“You fell asleep in the dining room,” Daven answered evenly. “I couldn’t bring myself to wake you. Your bedroom door was locked, and I didn’t want to go around asking for the key… so I brought you here.”

Althea exhaled slowly, the reality settling in. She had fallen asleep… in the dining room?

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, her gaze dropping in embarrassment. “I shouldn’t have made such a mess of things. And thank you for… letting me stay here. About dinner—”

“DAVEN?!”

Vanessa’s voice cut through the quiet like a whip. Her eyes widened in shock at the scene before her: Althea, sitting in her fiancé’s bedroom, looking disheveled and completely out of place. Without a moment’s hesitation, Vanessa stormed inside—and then—

Slap!

The sharp crack of her hand striking Althea’s cheek reverberated through the room.

“You shameless woman!” Vanessa spat, her fury boiling over. “What the hell are you doing in my fiancé’s room?”

She had felt uneasy when Althea wasn’t in the kitchen, but this? This was beyond humiliating.

So this was where she’d been. In Daven’s room.

Unforgivable.

“You think you can steal Daven from me with some cheap little trick like this?!” Vanessa’s voice was venomous, far from finished. She wasn’t about to let Althea walk away unscathed.

If she could humiliate her enough, hurt her enough, maybe—just maybe—Althea would finally leave this house for good. As she should have done from the very beginning.