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

Chapter 42

Sarah's

pov.

I didn't think much of it when Richard first started sending those messages. At first, it was a simple "Congrats on the deal!" or "Hope the expansion's going well!"

I'd glance at my phone, roll my eyes, and go back to my emails, telling myself that it was nothing. But slowly, those little check-ins started to pile up, and I couldn't ignore them. "Why is he doing this?" I muttered to myself one evening, staring at another message from Richard that read,

"Heard about your new office space! Sounds exciting!" My thumb hovered over the reply button for longer than I'd care to admit, but I put the phone down instead.

I wasn't about to start up a casual text relationship with my ex-husband like we were long-lost friends.

Emma's voice played in my head. "You're not a robot, Sarah." Right, not a robot. But still, I was trying to move on, and Richard's friendly little notes weren't helping. Days passed, and it didn't stop. It was always something small, nothing intrusive, but it was consistent.

No requests to meet up, no pressure. Just... support. Was this the same Richard?

One afternoon, I was in the middle of reviewing some financial reports when my phone buzzed again.

I glanced at it, fully expecting another Richard message, and wasn't wrong. This one was short: "Just saw the feature in the magazine. Proud of you."

I let out a groan. "Proud of me?" I muttered under my breath. Since when was Richard, Mr. Emotionally Constipated, proud of anything I did? The man barely noticed when we were married, and now he's a cheerleader?

Shaking my head, I fired off a quick reply without thinking: "Thanks." The moment I hit send, I regretted it. I didn't want to encourage him.

But then again, was it so bad that someone cared enough to check in? I sighed, feeling a strange mix of irritation and something else.

***

been on my calendar for weeks. I was in no mood to go, but it was one of those things you couldn't skip without

the usual rounds of polite conversation

bar with a glass of wine

and made a beeline for the door, but it was too late-he saw

approach me, like a kid testing the waters before jumping into the deep end. "I didn't think you'd be here." I gave him a tight smile. "It's for charity. I'm

that the sound of his laughter still got to me.

a moment, and I mentally kicked myself for not finding an excuse to leave sooner.

been doing well, Sarah. I've been keeping up with your business... and, well, I'm proud of

my eyes, but the words did something. I could

second time he'd said he was proud of me, and for some stupid reason, it felt... nice. Even though I

keep my voice neutral.

you had it in you. I just wish

wouldn't have admitted something like that. I didn't know what

was something sad in his eyes. "Yeah, I

two people just standing there, not exes with a tangled past, not a woman and

you're doing well, though," he added.

looked at him, trying to see if there was some angle, some

the first time

"I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do. But we can't go back. I've worked hard to get to this point, and I'm not going to let anyone-especially you-get in the way of that." He nodded, but there was something hopeful in his expression. "I'm not asking for that. I just... I want to be a part of your life, even

really be friends? I wasn't sure, but I didn't have the energy to fight

him a small smile. "But for now, let's just... keep

with a smile. "I can do

longer, nothing deep-just small talk about business, the event, and

my guard up. I wasn't about to let him

stop thinking about our conversation. For all the hurt Richard had caused, I couldn't deny that there had