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

Chapters 43

Richard's

pov.

You want Sarah back, Richard, but it's not going to be easy. This is what I keep telling myself.

I should be used to challenges-my life has been full of them-but Sarah? She's different.

A different kind of challenge, one that leaves me feeling like I'm walking on eggshells around her.

But maybe that's my punishment. After all, I did mess things up pretty royally the first time around.

It all started with coffee. Simple, harmless coffee. I don't even drink the stuff, but there I was, meeting Sarah every week, pretending to care about things like her preferred roast or how many sugars she liked. "Black, no sugar, right?" I asked one morning, sliding her cup across the table like I had memorized the most crucial detail of our entire history.

She gave me a look, the kind that says, 'Really, Richard? You think that's going to win me points?' And, well, she was probably right.

"Yes, black," she replied, but there was a hint of a smile. Small victories. I'd take what I could get.

"So, how's the expansion going?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from awkward territory.

Her eyes lit up, and suddenly, she was talking about numbers and growth projections, stuff I didn't fully understand, but I nodded along, throwing in the occasional "That's great!" like I was actually keeping up. Truth be told, half of me was just marveling at how confident she had become.

"I'm really proud of you, you know," I said when she paused to take a breath.

There it was again, that look. But this time, there was a flicker of something else in her eyes-surprise, maybe? Or disbelief? I wasn't sure.

"Proud?" She raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you care about what I'm doing?"

Sarah," I said, leaning forward slightly. "I just didn't show it. I know that now.

believe me. And honestly, I couldn't blame her

***

Coffee, small talk, a little business here

up high. I could see that. She wasn't about

nowhere, she opened the

a little cafe near her office, talking about one of her upcoming projects. She was explaining something about market reach when she paused, her eyes drifting off toward the window. "You know," she started, "when we were married, I never thought

off guard. "Saw you? What do

focused on your career, on Susan, on what you were doing. I felt like I was just... there. An

to protest, but

past it. But I'm realizing now, looking back, how much I let myself be sidelined. I won't do

to the gut. The worst part? She wasn't

feel that way," I said quietly. "I was an idiot. I didn't know how to balance

looked at me, for what felt like the first time in a long time. "Yeah, well, I'm glad you realize it now. But it doesn't change

did my best to

not really, but I was willing to try if it meant I could

sandwiches at this little deli-and she laughed at something I

one of those polite, "I'm laughing because I

work. We could get back to this. But then,

wasn't giving up, though.

Ones I can't even begin to justify. But

I was awful. Cold. Distant. I

stupid cup of coffee and apologize for everything I did to her. But I know that's not how

her eyes, those eyes, they'd always been too sharp. She was testing me, and

I shook my head. "We haven't

like she didn't quite believe me. Fair enough. I wouldn't

buying it. "Well, that's