The Ex-Wife's Triumph novel Chapter 121

Remembering the man he had caught a glimpse of two days prior, Jules raised an eyebrow and countered, "Isn't your brother staying at your place? Can't you ask him to look after the child?"

She paused for a half a second, hummed noncommittally, then shut her folder and got up. “OK. Was that everything?”

"No, that's all."

Jules leaned back in his office chair, a smile playing on his lips that didn't quite reach his eyes. Just as Lucy was about to step out, he added, his tone deliberately casual, "By the way, your ex-husband asked me last night if you had any plans to return to the country. It felt like he was fishing for information."

Lucy didn't stop walking. Her grip on the file tightened slightly, her voice drifting back from the doorway, cold as ice. "I don't care to know. In the future, there's no need to report such things to me."

The door clicked shut softly behind her, leaving Jules alone in the chair. He stared at the closed wooden panel, the corner of his mouth hooking up in a thoughtful smirk.

***

That evening, Lucy followed Jules into the restaurant. The moment she pushed open the door to the private dining room and saw who was inside, she suppressed a curse under her breath.

Jules seemed momentarily surprised as well, but his face quickly smoothed into a harmless, charming smile. He led Lucy forward, greeting the Smiths warmly before turning to the man sitting to the side. His tone was familiar, almost too friendly. "Mr. Sherwood."

Kingsley glanced up, his expression unreadable. "Mr. Holt."

His gaze swept over Lucy standing beside Jules, then immediately retracted, as if she were a stranger. Jules, maintaining his gentlemanly facade, pulled out a chair for Lucy—strategically placing her on the far side, so he could sit between her and Kingsley.

Once seated, Mrs. Smith immediately struck up a conversation with Lucy. Perhaps due to the shared bond of womanhood, they hit it off instantly. When the topic turned to children, Mrs. Smith's face softened with maternal pride. She asked curiously, "Miss Lynwood, are you married? Do you have children?"

Dinner was a Western-style course. Lucy generally disliked Western cuisine and ate very little. As she sawed at her steak, her movements were slightly stiff, the knife slipping against the meat. She was still struggling with a particularly tough piece when Jules, who had already deftly sliced his own steak into perfect, bite-sized cubes, made his move.

Without a word, he switched his plate with hers, taking her uncut steak and placing the prepared one in front of her.

"Thanks," Lucy said naturally, glancing at him before picking up her fork and eating without hesitation.

The intimacy of the gesture shifted the atmosphere in the room. Kingsley, in particular, stared fixatedly at the exchanged plate. A storm of displeasure brewed in his eyes, the veins on the back of his hand bulging as he gripped his own silverware.

But a second later, reality hit him—they were divorced. They had nothing to do with each other anymore.

The realization only added a layer of jagged irritation to his mood.