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

Chapter 83

Richard's

pov.

I couldn't help but feel that gnawing feeling at the back of my mind, like I was constantly being watched.

Every step I took, every meeting I attended, I kept noticing these little things, small signs that didn't feel right.

Employees looked away too quickly when I walked by, whispers that died down just as I entered the room, the way certain people held back in conversations.

And it wasn't just paranoia, was it? I'd found myself caught between James and Susan, with Sarah now looking at me like I was a stranger.

Those business deals-they'd all happened years ago, a lifetime ago, or so I'd thought. But seeing Sarah's hurt, that pain I'd caused just by hiding the truth, it all came rushing back to me.

And I couldn't help wondering: if Susan and James had dragged Sarah into this, who else in my life might be working with them?

In the beginning, I'd brushed it off. Told myself I was just stressed, that I was seeing patterns where there were none. But as the days went on, I started to notice things I couldn't ignore. Take Frank, for instance-one of my longest-serving managers. He'd been with the company through thick and thin, through all the ups and downs.

Lately, though, he seemed... off. Always leaving meetings early, his phone buzzing constantly with "urgent" messages he never explained.

He used to be the one I trusted most, but now? Every time he walked away from me, I wondered: was he hiding something?

One evening, after a particularly tense day at the office, I sat alone in my study. Papers were scattered across my desk, a messy reminder of the day's work.

But my mind wasn't on business. It was on Frank, on the way he'd avoided my questions about the latest contract. How he'd dodged the specifics when I'd asked him about some of the delays.

myself I was being ridiculous. Frank

a hand through my

racing, going through a mental list of every person I'd worked with, every business partner who might have a reason to turn against me. Then there was Carla-one of my newer hires. Smart, quick on her feet,

trying to understand the process," she'd say with a smile that seemed just a little too wide. I shook my head again, trying to clear my thoughts. This wasn't me. I wasn't

everyone around me. I leaned back in my chair,

almost as if on cue, my phone buzzed on the desk beside

Sarah.

hesitated, feeling that familiar ache in my chest. I hadn't told her everything. Couldn't bring myself to admit just how deep this paranoia was going, how I'd started to see shadows in places

soft but tense. "Just... checking

trying to find the right words. "I'm... alright. Busy. Just working through some

and I could hear the unspoken words between us. "Are you sure?" she asked,

should have.

word sounding hollow even to my own ears. "Just dealing with some... challenges

again, and I could almost hear her frowning on the other end of the line. "If there's something going on, Richard, you can tell

tell her. Wanted to explain everything, to let her in on the mess my mind had become.

just... work stuff. Nothing for you

growing. "Alright," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "If

in my hand, feeling a strange mix of relief and

I was just driving myself mad. I called Frank into my office,

but did as

wanted to go over that new contract with you. The one you were

I caught it. "Of course," he said, smiling in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes.

wanted to make sure everything's in

Was he

before. If anything, I was