Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

Chapter 2218

Athena-though everyone called her Anna now-sat quietly on the sofa, her composure so placid it was almost infuriating.

Tyler lost his patience, pushing her down onto the cushions. "The only time you ever listen is in bed," he muttered bitterly.

Athena didn't struggle. Instead, the faintest trace of a mocking smile touched her lips, as if to say: Is this all you've got?

Wounded, Tyler's pride cracked. He pulled away abruptly, standing up as if to say something, but the words caught in his throat.

The delicate pastries he'd brought crashed to the floor, crumbling into a mess of broken crumbs and icing. The coffee table was knocked sideways, and Tyler's frustration boiled over. Ian had told him this bakery made the best desserts in town-he'd thought maybe, just maybe, he could win her over with them. But why was it so impossible to please her?

Athena's heart, he realized in a flash, was made of stone.

Without another word, Tyler strode out the door. The heavy sound of his shoes on the hardwood made it clear: he wouldn't be coming home tonight.

Only after he'd gone did the housekeeper finally dare to emerge from the shadows, tiptoeing in to tidy up the chaos. As she swept up the ruined pastries and righted the coffee table, she spoke gently to Athena.

"Ms. Zade, Tyler really does care about you. Maybe... if you tried to meet him halfway, things wouldn't hurt so much. For you, I mean."

Faint bruises were already blooming on Athena's jaw-clear proof of how tightly Tyler had gripped her.

But Athena seemed unconcerned, merely thanking the housekeeper before heading out. She had somewhere else to be-her old high school, far on the other side of Greenfield. She drove herself.

When she stood at Lindsay's front door, Athena felt oddly detached, as if the shadows of old memories had sharpened instead of faded.

drew a long

on her thigh-a cluster of tiny red spots, like a spray of petals. Athena remembered seeing it years ago, the night she'd stayed over by accident. Lindsay had called it a birthmark. It was such a peculiar thing that

to knock several times before

before her looked haggard, with streaks of white already threading her hair by her temples. Athena's eyes

"Lindsay?"

up at her, as if it took a moment to process who was standing there. Then, a tired smile. "Athena. It's been years. You're still

worn sofa. Most of them were cute enough, but the youngest seemed

she

of old sweatpants, oblivious

ago. She'd had five children with

tiny, the threadbare sofa barely big enough for the man and all the kids. There was

was the lost daughter of the Keller family, a princess

are you

disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a mug of tea, but there wasn't a clean cup to be found-Athena's was ringed with a yellowish stain

but couldn't bring herself to

her skin sagged, her cheeks hollowed out by constant

intellectually disabled, useless around the house. But

about your mom and

darted away.

"My dad fell from a scaffold last year, broke his neck and died. Mom went to fight for compensation

robotic, her gaze empty. "Athena, those five kids are mine. I called