Rejected by my Husband novel Chapter 25

Reid’s POV

(FOUR YEARS LATER.)

Four years since everything fell apart.

Four years since I first felt the void in my chest...the silence, the emptiness, the ache that refuses to leave.

Four years since Karline… cheated on me.

I don’t know how to describe it anymore. I don’t even know if I still believe it. Some days I do, some days I don’t. But the pain doesn’t change. The doubt never fades.

I tried to move on. I dated, I entertained, I smiled at dinners, I let women hold my hand. But every time, I stopped. Something inside me wouldn’t let me take the next step. Because no matter what I did, no matter who stood in front of me, my heart always went back to her.

Karline.

Who was once mine.

The only woman I ever loved. The only one I still… can’t let go.

Even when I approached her years ago, calm, ready to forgive, she looked me in the eye and confessed… confessed that she had betrayed me.

Those words haunt me.

And so, my heart burns with two things, love and anger. So tangled I can’t tell which one owns me anymore.

“Good morning, Reid.”

Natalie’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She walked into my office with her usual brightness, a smile painted on her lips. She always greeted me the same way, as if her cheer could push away the storm inside me.

I looked up briefly. “Morning, Nat.”

She lingered by the desk, her hands resting lightly against the edge. “Next week’s your birthday,” she said, her eyes glowing with anticipation. “I planned something very special. You’ll like it.”

I closed the file in front of me, sighing softly. “You know I don’t celebrate birthdays.”

Her lips pressed together, but she tilted her head. “You stopped after… after she...”

“Nat.” My voice was calm, not sharp. I wasn’t angry with her. I just didn’t want to hear Karline’s name.

Natalie looked away for a moment, then gave me a smaller smile. “Alright. No birthdays.”

I rubbed the side of my temple, leaning back in my chair. My voice was quieter when I spoke again. “I’m transferring to Italy. I bought a company there. I’ll be gone by the end of the month.”

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