The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 552

552 A Broken Heart

Midway through his presentation, Weston’s phone buzzed with alarming news: Claudia was causing a scene at Azure Technologies. Without hesitation, he abandoned the conference room, leaving important contracts scattered across the polished table, and rushed out with a growing sense of dread tightening in his chest.

He had played through countless scenarios in his mind, yet none had prepared him for the cold, blunt words that greeted him the moment he arrived. Laura’s voice rang out clearly, declaring with finality that their connection was severed—there was nothing left between them.

Claudia caught sight of Weston and called out sharply, “Weston, did you hear what she said? That woman just told me she doesn’t care about you—that you mean absolutely nothing to her. Is she really worth the revenge you’re planning against my family?”

Laura whirled around at Claudia’s sudden outburst. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes locked onto Weston, standing just a few steps behind her. When had he arrived? She had spoken those harsh words moments earlier, her chin lifted defiantly as if challenging fate itself. If she’d been brave enough to say them aloud, surely she hadn’t expected Weston to hear.

But the color draining from his face unsettled her. An unexplainable feeling stirred deep inside her chest—was it embarrassment, unease, or something far more complex, quietly emerging from the shadows of their shared past?

Weston took a slow, deliberate step forward, his eyes flashing like a blade freshly drawn from cold water. “Who told you,” he asked, voice low and steady, “that my revenge on the Rowe family was for her sake?”

Claudia blinked in surprise, the single word slipping out before she could mask her shock. “What?”

“It was for me,” Weston said, voice roughening with the weight of memory. “Claudia, you know exactly what you did that year. You—” His words caught in his throat, swallowed by a silence more cutting than any accusation.

The look he fixed on Claudia was sharp enough to cut through steel.

If Claudia hadn’t spun that lie, if he’d known that Laura had once dared to seek him out at the villa, perhaps everything would have unfolded differently. Maybe, as Laura believed, his pride back then would have still kept him from opening the door; he had worn arrogance like armor, unable to bear the thought of being the one left behind.

Yet, somewhere deep inside, a tiny flicker of hope remained—a fragile chance that he might have said yes, that he might have opened the door and stood by her side.

And if he had seen her then, if he had truly been there for her, could she have chosen him again?

Their future might have taken a completely different path, free from the wreckage that now lay between them like a chasm.

In time, when the reckless fire of youth cooled, he would have discovered the truth blossoming quietly within—that he had long ago fallen for Laura Wentworth.

All those bright possibilities vanished the moment Claudia chose deception.

“There’s one thing you need to understand about me, Claudia,” Weston said, each word striking like a hammer. “I never forgive those who hurt me. This time, the Rowe name will be wiped clean from Jexburgh.”

A chill ran through Claudia’s body, colder than the pain in her broken wrist. Her bones trembled with a fear she couldn’t shake.

Weston was truly enraged—deeply, viscerally enraged.

Over the years, he had learned to control his storms; few things could still provoke such anger in him.

But lately, his fury flared with alarming ease, each spark traced back to Laura without fail.

Now, Claudia’s careless remark ripped open the scab over his most painful memories. In that raw moment, he saw with brutal clarity just how much of a fool he had once been.

Laura’s cool, unadorned hand gently covered Weston’s clenched fist. “Enough. You are not going to spill blood in my office,” she said softly but with undeniable authority.

Her calm command shattered the tension like glass breaking.

Weston turned to meet Laura’s gaze. His lips pressed into a thin line before he released Claudia’s throat, letting his arm fall to his side.

Claudia doubled over, gasping for air, retreating several uneven steps. “Why are you pretending to be a saint, Laura?” she spat, voice shaking with bitter accusation. “You broke up with Weston, then crawled back only because your stepbrother tried to force himself on you and you needed a lawyer, right?”