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

Chapter 49

Richard's pov.

That kiss. I hadn't planned it. God, I didn't even think it would happen.

One minute, we were standing there, exchanging words that were half full of hope and half full of caution, and the next... Well, she kissed me back, didn't she?

It wasn't the kiss on our wedding day-that cold, brief peck I now regretted. This kiss, though, meant something.

I could feel it in the way she hesitated, the way her lips stayed on mine just a second longer than they should have.

But then she pulled away. And I could see it in her eyes-the confusion, the fear, and that ever-present wall she'd built between us. I'd done that.

I was the reason she couldn't trust me easily anymore.

"Richard, I can't do this. Not yet."

Those words echoed in my head the whole night. I watched her drive away, wanting to stop her, to say something, but I didn't.

She needed space, and for the first time in my life, I understood that giving her what she needed was more important than what I wanted.

But damn it, I wanted her back. I wanted her more than I'd ever allowed myself to admit before.

Seeing her every day, laughing with her over dinners, watching her light up when she talked about her business, her passions... It was like I was meeting the real Sarah for the first time. And now, I couldn't imagine going back to the way things were.

The next morning, I couldn't focus. My thoughts kept going back to that kiss, her words, the look in her eyes.

she'd been thinking about it too or if she was just finding reasons to convince herself it didn't

phone, half-expecting a message from her, but of course, nothing. She wasn't the type to reach out

I could lose this fragile connection we were

I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to see her. Not to push her, but to let her know I was still

I made up some excuses about needing to discuss a business proposal. It wasn't entirely a lie; I'd been working on something that could

she looked up, surprised to see me, and for a split second, I thought

she said, her voice a bit tight, like she was expecting me to bring up the

handed her the proposal, watching as her fingers

again-something electric, something I couldn't

the paperwork, but I could tell she wasn't really reading it. Her mind was somewhere else,

she mumbled after a few minutes, her eyes not

was only for her, "we don't have to talk about it right now, but... I just want you to know, I'm not going anywhere.

at me, her expression unreadable for a moment, and then she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not that easy, Richard.

I'm willing to be patient. I've waited this

looked down at the papers in front of her like they suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world. I let out a quiet sigh and stood up to leave,

I reached the door, I heard

"Why now?"

turned back, confused. "What

searching for something.

of me for a second. It was a fair question, one I hadn't fully answered

it was because I hadn't realized what

what was right in front of me. But none of that felt like

into the room. "Back then, I was... I don't know, lost. Angry, maybe. At

on you. I couldn't see what I was doing, how much I was hurting you. But losing you... that was the wake-up call I needed. And now that I've got this second chance to even be in your life, I'm not wasting