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.

my head, telling myself I was being ridiculous. Frank had

could it be?" I muttered to myself, running a hand

worked with, every business partner who might have a reason to

poking into things that didn't concern her. "Just trying to understand the process," she'd say with a smile that seemed just a little too wide. I shook my

me. I leaned back in my

buzzed on the desk beside me. I picked it up, glancing

Sarah.

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 where maybe there were none. I picked up, trying to keep

soft but tense. "Just... checking

to find the right words. "I'm... alright. Busy. Just

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

harder than it should have. Was I

sounding hollow even to my

the line. "If there's something going on, Richard, you can tell me. You

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

finally. "But it's just... work stuff. Nothing for you to worry

stretched between us, and I could feel the distance growing. "Alright," she said, her

feeling a strange mix of relief

next day, I went to the office with a renewed determination. I needed answers, needed to know if my suspicions were real or if I was

but did as I asked. "Is something wrong,

to go over that new contract with you. The one

but I caught it. "Of course," he said, smiling in a way that didn't

feigning indifference. "Just wanted to make sure everything's

on every little gesture, every pause. Was he nervous? Was he hiding something? Or was I just seeing

before. If anything, I was more unsettled. I didn't know if I could trust my own