Rejected by my Husband novel Chapter 23

KARLINE'S POINT OF VIEW

The bell stopped ringing, as the karline opened the door.

Her fingers trembled a bit on the doorknob as the wooden door creaked open. The air froze between them.

because the front of her was..

Reid Carter.

He stood tall, rigid, the same way he had in the courtroom two years ago. His dark suit was immaculate, his expression sharp, but his eyes… his eyes betrayed something else. Something heavy. Something haunted.

For a second, Karline couldn’t breathe. She expected the ache in her chest, but not the way her knees nearly buckled at the sight of him.

“Karline,” he said, his voice low, rough, as though her name itself hurt his throat. “I came… I just wanted to see if everything’s fine.”

Her lips parted, then pressed shut again. Fine? After two years of silence? After two years of raising Ethan alone?

She should have closed the door. She should have slammed it in his face. But she didn’t.

Instead, her voice broke sharp against him. “It’s none of your business, Reid.”

Ethan peeked from behind her legs, clutching his stuffed bunny. His curious little eyes blinked up at the tall stranger in the doorway. Reid’s gaze flickered down...lingered a moment too long, before darting back to Karline.

She started to push the door shut, but his hand shot out, steady on the frame.

“Karline, wait.” His tone was firmer now, but not cruel. A command, yet laced with something softer. “I thought… I thought you might reconcile with the dad of_”

Her scream cut him off. “Enough! It’s none of your business with whom I reconcile with or not, Reid!” Her voice cracked, raw, spilling the anger she had bottled for years.

The silence after her words was deafening. Ethan flinched at her raised tone, hiding his face in her skirt. Karline instantly regretted letting her voice rise, but her fury burned too deep to swallow.

Reid inhaled slowly, dragging a hand through his hair. When he spoke again, his words were measured, deliberate.

“I’m ready,” he said.

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