Dear Ex Wife Please take me back

ATHENA

A thick, suffocating darkness surrounds me.

Cold. Wet. Heavy.

I can't breathe.

Water clings to my skin, soaking through my clothes, and weighing me down. My legs kick, my arms thrash, but there's no solid ground beneath me. Only the endless, inky abyss swallowing me whole.

I try to scream, but the moment I open my mouth, water rushes in. It burns. It fills my lungs, dragging me deeper, deeper until all I can hear is the muffled roar of my heartbeat and the distant echoes of my own cries.

Then suddenly,noveldrama

A hand.

It grips my shoulder, fingers digging in painfully. Not to save me. Not to pull me up. To push me further down.

“No,” I choke, bubbles escaping my lips. I claw at the hand, at the unseen force keeping me trapped in this nightmare, but it's too strong.

The water is cold, but my chest burns, and my body convulses, desperate for air.

I see shadows above me. A towering figure watching. Laughing.

And then I'm falling...

Not through water, but through darkness.

An endless void.

Wind rushes past me, howling in my ears, but the ground never comes. I fall and fall and fall....

Until a sharp jolt rips through me.

I wake up gasping, my body drenched in sweat, my fingers clawing at the sheets like they're the only thing keeping me tethered to reality.

My throat aches, and my breaths come in ragged, uneven gulps. The weight in my chest is still there, pressing down like I never truly escaped.

The room is dark, but a dim glow filters through the curtains.

I'm not in the water. I'm not falling.

I'm in Sloane's apartment.

Before I can get my thoughts together, the door bursts open and an angry-looking Alex storms in.

My pulse is still racing, my body still trembling from the nightmare, but now there's another storm standing before me and this one comes in six feet two form with jade green eyes and blonde hair.

"Where the hell is Sloane?" he asks, scanning the room.

I swallow hard, my voice is still hoarse from my nightmare. "I don't know. I just woke up."

His jaw ticks, "She left you alone with the door open?"

"She's not my babysitter, Alex. Stop making her sound like my nanny." I bite.

His eyes narrow slightly, taking in my tone, my expression. "You look upset," he says, stepping closer.

"I'm not," I lie, gripping the blanket tighter around me.

His jaw tightens. He doesn't believe me.

"Did something happen?"

He takes another step forward, but I hold up a hand.

"Stay away from me."

His jaw ticks, his entire body going rigid. He hates being told what to do.

But that's too damn bad.

Because I know a few words I'd like to use and I doubt he'll like any of them. His nostrils flare as he glares at me.

"Why didn't you at least text before you fell asleep? So I didn't have to worry about you and the baby?"

A scoff escapes my lips before I can stop it. I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head.

Men and their audacity.

"I was giving you time to check on your other baby."

His frown deepens, a muscle in his jaw jumping. "What?"

"Nothing," I mutter, looking away.

That was the wrong thing to say.

His anger shifts, turning deadly. "Don't do that, Athena." His voice is low, deep,

and calm and I hate how it makes my center throb.

Alex may be an asshole but he has a voice that can do things to you believe me.

"Tell me what the hell you mean by that."

"I met Leah." I begin, ignoring the look he gives me but I don't give him a chance

to respond as I continue. "She has a baby bump. She looked beautiful."

I search his eyes but he doesn't look shocked nor does he give away any type of emotion. His face is a hard mask I want to rip off.

"Get to the point."

"You haven't seen her in a while so I thought you'd want to know how she's doing." I cower and say instead of saying what I really want to say.

That I know you're having a baby with her. That I'm not so special after all. That you'll probably be a father of two at once.

"It hasn't been long. I saw her a few minutes ago." He says and it feels like a punch in the gut.

"Oh." Is all I can manage to blurt out.

"She came to say goodbye. She is going abroad for a while. So I dropped her off

at the airport." He explains and honestly the more he talks the angrier I become.

But wait....

Leah is going abroad?

For some reason, that throws me off more than it should.

"You dropped her off?" My voice is flat, but the emotions bubbling inside me are anything but.

Alex nods once, his eyes never leaving mine. "Yeah. She wanted to get away for a while."

I don't know what I was expecting him to say, but that wasn't it.

"Is that why you came here? Because you met Leah?" He asks.

"No."

"Then you're good now?" he asks, his tone clipped.

I scoff, shaking my head. "At what point wasn't I?”

He tilts his head slightly. "You've been looking like you want to throw something at

me?"

"Because I do," I snap, rubbing my temples. "You drop a bomb like that and expect me to just... what? Smile and move on?"

His brows pull together. "What bomb? That Leah left?"

"That you were with her," I correct, my voice rising.

"You brought her up. I merely answered your question."

"How generous of you." I retort and this time, I see the flicker of frustration in his

eyes.

He stares at me for a long moment before shaking his head. "You're impossible."

"And you're a liar." The words slip out before I can stop them.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I lift my chin, refusing to back down. "You keep acting like this pregnancy changes things like you suddenly care, but you're still the same Alex. You're still a stuck-up cheating bastard."

His jaw clenches as he steps closer and my breath catches. "You are carrying my child and I don't want to stress you but that doesn't mean you will speak to me like that. Do you understand?"

I swallow.

"Do you fucking understand me, Athena?" He repeats with a growl.

"Yes," I mumble.

His eyes don't relax, they harden even more as he places his hands in his pockets before taking a few steps back, "I'll have Ryan bring you a chef so you can eat. I'll pick you up later."

With that, he turns on his heel and walks out, shutting the door behind him.