Hello, Ex! I Finally Found My Worth! - Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Alex’s Child
Emma’s arms tightened around Alex, her body trembling with relief. She buried her face in his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent of him—warm, steady, and… home.

For the past few minutes, she had been terrified of losing him, of walking into a nightmare at the hospital. But here he was, standing strong, holding her just as tightly. It wasn’t a dream. It was real and he was fine.

She pulled back, blinking up at him through blurry eyes. “I hate you,” she choked out, though the shaky smile on her face said otherwise.

Alex chuckled, brushing away a stray tear from her cheek. “I love you too and happy birthday, baby.”

Emma huffed, smacking his chest lightly before turning to Ivy, her eyes narrowing.

“You!” she accused, crossing her arms. “You lied to me! How could you?”

Ivy winced, knowing what was coming. “I—”

Emma pointed a finger at her. “How could you lie about something like that? You used Alex’s health to trick me into coming here! Do you have any idea what I just went through? I was about to lose my mind, Ivy!”

Ivy let out a small guilty laugh, raising both hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I may have taken it a little too far…”

“A little?!” Emma shot her an incredulous look.

Ivy sighed. “Alright, I’m sorry, Em. I just… we really wanted this to be a surprise. And honestly, it was Alex’s idea.”

Emma whirled back to Alex. “Excuse me?”

Alex smirked, clearly enjoying this too much. “You weren’t going to come willingly if we just said, ‘Hey, Emma, come check this out.’ We had to make sure you actually got here and to be honest? I was skeptical about your reaction. I wanted you to feel what I felt that day so you don’t ever dream of leaving me,” he said and then winked at her.

“But I already promised—”

“Well, I needed to be sure,” he said with a sweet smile.

Emma groaned, running a hand through her hair, then turned to Claire and Chris—who were both looking far too pleased with themselves.

“Don’t tell me you two were in on this too?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Claire gave a graceful shrug. “Of course. And I don’t regret it.”

Chris nodded, grinning. “Yeah, neither do I. This was too good to pass up.”

Emma scoffed, throwing her hands in the air. “Unbelievable! All of you kept this from me?”

Chris smirked. “Not just kept it from you. We all worked together to make it happen.”

Emma turned back to Alex, about to argue more, but he suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

She frowned, her frustration forgotten. “What’s this?”

Alex placed the keys in her palm, curling her fingers around them. “Open the doors, love.”

Confused but curious, Emma turned toward the massive glass doors at the center of the gallery. She pushed them open—and the moment she stepped inside, her breath caught.

Everywhere she looked… were her designs.

Her eyes went wide as she took in the elegant display of her dresses, each one showcased beautifully on mannequins under the warm lighting. Her sketches—the very ones she had thought weren’t good enough—were framed and hung on the walls like art pieces.

She took a shaky step forward, disbelief flooding her.

“This… this is…” she whispered, her voice breaking.

She turned back to Alex, her heart hammering. “Alex… how?”

Alex smiled softly. “I promised you, didn’t I? That I’d help you rebuild your dreams and your life?” He gestured around them. “So, I made them real.”

Emma’s lips parted, but no words came out. She shook her head, overwhelmed. “But… I never thought they were good enough. Some of these… I never even showed anyone.”

Alex cupped her cheek gently. “But I saw them. And I knew how much they meant to you—even when you didn’t believe in them yourself.”

Tears spilled from Emma’s eyes. This was too much. Too beautiful. Too perfect.

She threw herself into his arms again, gripping him tightly, her body shaking with silent sobs.

“You idiot,” she whispered against his chest, her voice cracking. “How did you even pull this off without me knowing?”

Alex chuckled, rubbing slow circles on her back. “With a lot of help.”

Emma sniffled, looking up at him. “From who?”

Alex grinned. “Claire, Ivy, and Chris.”

Emma turned to them, fresh tears in her eyes. “You all helped with this?”

Chris smirked. “Of course.”

Ivy smiled. “Every step of the way.”

Claire gave a small nod. “You deserve it.”

Emma let out a watery laugh. “You guys… I don’t even know what to say.”

“‘Thank you’ is a good place to start,” Chris teased.

Emma wiped her cheeks, laughing. “Thank you. All of you.”

As she stood there, surrounded by the people she loved, looking at the dream she had never thought possible, she felt something she hadn’t in a long time.

Pure, overwhelming happiness.

“C’mon, let’s go entertain our first customers who’d come here to get your dresses,” Alex said and they all went out to the people there as they all started talking about the dresses and which one they wanted.

But just as the moment settled, the doors opened again. But Emma was too concentrated with speaking to people to notice.

Because it was a happy occasion, neither Ivy nor Claire stopped Jake as he stepped in and approached Emma with a woman beside him.

They all thought he had probably brought her there to get a dress or something.

Emma turned in time to see Jake almost about to tap her and the smile that had been in her lips a while ago freezed.

Beside him stood a woman Emma had never seen before. And holding the woman’s hand was a small child.

Jake’s expression was serious as he looked at Emma.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said.

Emma’s heart skipped a beat.

Something about his tone made her stomach twist.

And just like that, the warm glow of the surprise started to flicker… replaced by a new sense of dread.

“What do you want?” she asked, scanning the space for Alex.

“Meet Natalie, Alex’s nightstand and Dawn, Alex’s daughter,” Jake said just as Alex joined them.

Hearing that, Emma’s heart skipped a beat and she turned to look at Alex whose eyes were on the five years old girl.