Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 13

Richard's

POV.

I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the collar of my shirt. The room felt different these days. It was colder.

Susan had changed everything, from the curtains to the furniture. Even the staff moved differently around the house.

They used to smile more, chat a bit while they worked. Now, they were quieter, always with their eyes down, moving quickly and carefully.

Susan was stricter, and honestly, I didn't mind. I liked the order. I liked the discipline.

We had an event tonight-another one of those high-profile gatherings. Susan was going all out as usual.

She was already dressed, standing in front of the mirror in her silver gown, checking her reflection every few minutes.

"How do I look?" she asked again, turning slightly to see the back of her dress.

"You look stunning," I said, barely glancing at her. My focus was on finding my tie. It should've been right here in the closet, on the top shelf where it always was.

But it was gone. I frowned, digging through the shelves, and pushing aside shirts and scarves.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Susan's voice cut through the room. "We need to leave in ten minutes."

"I can't find my tie," I muttered, digging through the drawer. I could feel my patience wearing thin.

She sighed loudly and sat back down in front of the vanity, adjusting her hair. "Well, if you didn't keep things so haphazardly..."

Haphazardly? I stared at the neatly organized shelves. Susan had reorganized everything when she moved in.

She said it was for the best, that everything needed to be in its proper place. I didn't argue at the time.

She liked things a certain way, and I was fine with that. But now, here I was, standing in front of a wardrobe full of clothes and no tie.

I yanked open another drawer. Nothing. I glanced at the top shelf, then hesitated.

The ties used to be up there, in a small compartment, before Susan had moved things around.

automatically, only

even bothering to look up.

off. They used to be a system, a way of knowing exactly where things

find a simple tie without

memory hit me. Once, I was in the same situation, searching frantically

mess, calm as ever. She

this. She used to do things like that all the time. But back then, I never really noticed or cared. I grabbed a random tie, wrapping it around my neck quickly. I didn't care

last look in the mirror. "Let's go. We're already

tugging at the tie knot, which felt too

followed Susan out of the room, I glanced back at the wardrobe, the sense of something being off nagging

was just a tie. Why was this bothering

ahead, heels clicking on the floor.

for little things. No room for stuff like organizing ties or making sure things were

was just a tie, I kept telling

and pulled the door shut, I felt that tightness again, not just around my

about the event, going over who we'd see, and

wasn't quite right, even though I couldn't

***

our way through the crowd, greeting people as

and the clinking

into the main hall, and the noise hit

by my side, her hand wrapped around my arm. The way she fit me like a cloth made my heart swell.

A voice called out. We turned to see Ben, an old colleague, walking toward us with a grin on his face. "It's been a while. How's life treating you?" "It's been good, Ben," I said with a smile. "Busy,

too casually, added, "I heard about the divorce, that must be hard

felt Susan's grip on my arm tighten. She forced a smile, but I could tell it was strained. "Everything's

nodded, glancing at Susan.

really moved on fast, huh? There's been some talk... you

"What do you

divorce. You know how rumors start." Susan's face flushed red, and I could see she was on the edge of snapping. I gave her hand a quick squeeze, trying to calm

a tight smile.

of course," Ben said, holding up his hands. "Didn't

Susan said, her

himself, and we moved on, weaving through the crowd. I could feel Susan's anger simmering

us. It was Mr. Johnson, one of the senior

greeted me warmly, shaking my hand. "It's been too long. And