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

Chapter 52

Richard's POV

I think the first sign something was wrong was when Sarah stopped giving me hell about the coffee machine.

It's been her favorite thing to complain about for weeks, saying it's possessed because it always spills over whenever she tries to make a cup.

But this morning, she just looked at it, sighed, and made her coffee in silence. No snarky comments, no rolling of the eyes-just silence. That's when I knew.

We'd had the kiss.

That kiss that should have set us on the right path. I could feel it was something for both of us, a step toward fixing the mess I made.

But since then, she's been pulling away. Slower at first, then all at once. The warmth between us, the ease, all of it was slipping through my fingers like sand. "Are you mad at the coffee again?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

She barely smiled, more of a twitch at the corner of her lips. "It's just a coffee machine, Richard. I'm fine."

Fine. The word people use when everything is definitely not fine.

I watched her walk away, her shoulders stiff and her eyes focused on something far away-definitely not the machine, definitely not me.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure it out. What was I doing wrong? We had kissed. I thought it meant something, that she was ready to move forward.

Was I moving too fast? Was I being pushy? I tried to back off, give her space, but the more I did that, the more distant she became.

The doubt started creeping in. What if she couldn't forgive me? What if the scars I'd left were too deep?

I didn't blame her for hesitating. I had been a complete mess, selfish, wrapped up in my own world when we were together.

I had walked out on her. I had chosen someone else-Susan, of all people. The guilt was like an old coat I couldn't shrug off, no matter how hard I tried. But I had changed. I *was* changing. Wasn't I?

Sarah's POV

talking to him?" Emma's voice crackled through the phone. "Richard is not the man you want to pin your

pressing my phone closer to my ear. Emma had always been my voice of reason, the one who reminded me that love wasn't all about

hand through the divorce, through the whole ugly affair

about him, Em," I finally said, hating how weak my voice

did we sit here talking about how badly he broke you?" She

house. It was like a nightmare

"But he

"People like Richard don't change. They just get better

***

Richard in the office, it was like

hopeful, like he was still holding onto something between us. I couldn't smile back. Instead, I sat down and buried myself in paperwork, avoiding eye contact. He

alright? You've been

There it was

me, concern etched into his face. "Is this about the

looking at him. "I just... I don't know, Richard. I don't know what

you mean? I thought we

clean, too hopeful for something that still hurt

I blurted, finally meeting

like I'd slapped him. "Sarah... I'm trying.

What if... what if you

see the pain in his eyes, but I didn't back down. Emma's voice was still in my head, reminding me

***

Richard's POV

admit. She couldn't trust me. And maybe she was right. Maybe she

and walked out when she needed me most. But I had come back. I am here now. Didn't

"You have every reason not

in front of her, like they held answers she couldn't find in

hurt you," I continued, the guilt twisting in my chest. "I

whisper. "Or are you just trying to feel better about

about my guilt? Maybe it was. Maybe part of me wanted redemption, to feel like I wasn't a complete failure. But that wasn't all of