Hello, Ex! I Finally Found My Worth! - Chapter 211

Chapter 211: One More Time
Alex shot up in bed, his breathing ragged, sweat clinging to his skin. His heart pounded so violently it felt like it might burst from his chest. He ran a shaky hand through his damp hair, his mind still trapped in the remnants of the nightmare.

Or was it really a nightmare? Or something more?

His chest tightened as the realization hit him—this wasn’t just some random bad dream. It felt too real, too vivid. The car, the woman’s voice, the crying baby, the impact—he had been there. He had lived it. It felt as though it was a distant memory of his. A part of him he had perhaps buried for so long.

He thought and then Claire’s words echoed in his head.

“You used to have nightmares, Alex. Terrible ones. That was why you slept in my room a lot. But with time, they just stopped, and you never talked about them again.”

Was this the nightmare Claire meant? The one that had haunted him as a child? Was this why he had no memories of his parents—because his mind had buried them under the trauma of that night?

Why was he having them again? Was it because he had seen that locket and the part of him he had buried had been risen with it?

Was that how he had the nightmare for two years before the Sterlings adopted him?

His breathing grew unsteady as he struggled to piece everything together. The baby… was that his sister? The accident… had that been the moment he lost everything?

Beside him, Emma stirred, feeling the sudden movement and the heat radiating from his body. Blinking away sleep, she turned to him, immediately noticing the distress etched on his face, the damp strands of hair sticking to his forehead.

“Baby?” Her voice was soft yet filled with concern as she sat up, reaching out to touch his arm.

He didn’t respond at first, just exhaled shakily, his hands trembling. Emma’s heart clenched at the sight of him so vulnerable, so lost in whatever torment had taken hold of him. Without hesitation, she shifted closer, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into her embrace.

“I’m here,” she whispered, her voice a soothing melody against the chaos in his mind. “Breathe, my love. Just breathe.”

Alex closed his eyes at the warmth of her touch, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat pressing against his chest. His tense muscles slowly began to relax as he leaned into her, resting his forehead against her shoulder. Emma ran her fingers through his hair, her touch featherlight yet grounding.

“Did you have a nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?” she asked gently, her lips brushing against his temple.

Alex swallowed hard. “It wasn’t just a nightmare,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “I think… it was real. I think it’s a memory. My memory.”

Emma tightened her hold on him, pressing a tender kiss against his damp forehead. “Then we’ll face it together,” she promised, her voice unwavering. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Her words, her presence—everything about her wrapped around him like a safety net, catching him before he could fall too deep into the abyss of his past.

He exhaled, his hands finding her waist, holding onto her like she was the only thing keeping him tethered to the present. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered, his voice raw.

Emma pulled back just enough to cup his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her eyes, full of love and understanding, held his own as she whispered, “You deserve every bit of love in this world, Alex. And I will spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”

Emotion surged in his chest, overwhelming yet comforting. He leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling in the stillness of the night.

“Sleep,” she murmured, stroking his cheek. “I’m right here. I’ll always be here. You can tell me about it when you’re less tense, okay?”

With Emma holding him so close, whispering words of love and reassurance, the weight on his chest lifted. And as she lulled him back to sleep, her warmth surrounding him, Alex finally let himself believe—he wasn’t alone even though he already knew that.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight seeped through the curtains, Alex sat on the edge of the bed, his mind still reeling from the nightmare—no, the memory—of the previous night. Emma was still asleep, curled up peacefully beside him, her presence a reminder that he wasn’t alone in this.

With a deep breath, he grabbed his phone and dialed Harry’s number. The call was answered almost immediately.

“Alex,” Harry greeted, his tone sharp yet professional. “I was just about to call you. I looked into the woman you asked about.”

Alex sat up straighter, his grip tightening on the phone. “And?”

Though he had wanted to get this over with for since three weeks ago before Jake died, he had asked Harry to hold off on the information since he didn’t want to add his troubles to Margaret’s pain.

“Her name is Fiona Howells like you said,” Harry revealed. “She doesn’t live in Zeden. She’s from Florittle. From what I found, she’s a well-known philanthropist and one of the biggest sponsors of an orphanage there. I found out that she recently became their sponsor after she tried looking for someone there. She’s in her late thirties and has a ten year old boy.”

Alex’s heart skipped a beat. An orphanage? The connection made his chest tighten. Was she helping children because she, too, had been left behind? Was this her way of giving back after everything she had been through?

Late thirties? A ten years old son?

He exhaled slowly. “Harry, I need you to contact her.”

“Under what pretense?” Harry asked.

“Tell her…” Alex hesitated, running a hand through his hair. This wasn’t easy. He didn’t even know if she remembered him, if she would believe him. “Tell her that her brother is looking for her. That I’d like to meet with her—but only if she’s comfortable with it. She can choose the time and place.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment before Harry finally said, “Alright. I’ll reach out and see how she responds. But Alex, be prepared. She might not want to meet you or worst case, she might not be the one.”

Alex nodded, though Harry couldn’t see him. “I know. But I have to try.”

“Got it. I’ll keep you updated.”

As the call ended, Alex lowered the phone, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. If this woman—Fiona—was truly his sister, then this was a chance to reunite with the only blood relative he had left. A chance to finally uncover the missing pieces of his past.

But was she ready to face him? And more importantly… was he ready to face her? What if it wasn’t her?

Away from there, Ivy sat in her office, staring at the files on her desk, but her mind was far from work.

No matter how much she tried to push the thoughts away, they kept circling back to Hunter—his words, his expressions, the way his voice had trembled with sincerity. It was over three weeks already but she just couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She exhaled, leaning back in her chair as her fingers absently traced the edge of the desk. She had been trying so hard to keep the walls around her heart intact, to convince herself that walking away was the best choice. But was it really?

Her thoughts drifted back to that day—to the way he had stood before her, pleading for just a few moments of her time. The pain in his eyes had been raw, real, unfiltered. He hadn’t just been apologizing; he had been laying himself bare, giving her a glimpse of the turmoil he carried.

He had admitted to everything—his mistakes, his initial intentions, his regrets. But beyond all of that, he had also confessed something else. That somewhere along the way, he had fallen for her. That his emotions had been real. And wasn’t that what had scared her the most? The possibility that he wasn’t lying?

Ivy closed her eyes, remembering the happiness she had felt with him. The effortless conversations, the stolen smiles, the way his presence had made her feel lighter, freer—something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She thought about how he had protected her, how he had been willing to take a step back simply because she had asked him to.

And then there was his pain. She had seen it. She had felt it. The betrayal he carried from the very people he had trusted—his own sister and best friend.

That kind of wound didn’t heal easily, and yet, he had still found the strength to come to her, to acknowledge his wrongs, to ask for nothing but a chance to be heard.

Ivy swallowed hard, gripping the armrest of her chair. Maybe… maybe it was time to stop punishing him.

Maybe it was time to stop punishing herself.

He had said every emotion he had shown was real. And despite everything, a part of her wanted to believe him.

No—she did believe him.

She inhaled deeply, letting the realization settle in. She wanted another chance with him.

She wanted to trust him… one more time.