My Ex-Husband Begged Me to Take Him Back - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Who fed you this nonsense?

Ava’s pulse pounded as she tried once again to wrench her hands free, but his hold was unyielding. The feeling of helplessness fed her anger. “We can’t do this,” she snapped. “We’re divorcing, Dylan. Have you forgotten?”

But her words didn’t seem to penetrate his resolve. He had made up his mind to do anything to work on this failing marriage. “Let’s not talk about that right now,” he whispered as if coaxing her. “Just focus on us, on this. Let go of everything else. Just be here with me.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then to her cheek, slowly trailing his lips closer until he was just a breath away from hers.

Ava’s stomach twisted, and she turned her face sharply to the side. “I don’t want this,” she choked out. “Please, stop.”

The room filled with a heavy silence, and for a moment, he froze, her words hanging between them like a final line.

Dylan’s expression darkened as he held her gaze, his once fiery passion now replaced by a cold, simmering disappointment. Her resistance turned his mood sour.

“You were practically clinging to me last night, hardly able to control yourself,” he grumbled with frustration. “I could have taken advantage of that, but I didn’t. And now you act like this—like you don’t want me at all.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” she countered. “I wasn’t in control.” Taking a breather, she added, “I was drugged.”

Dylan fell silent again, but he still positioned himself on top of her. “I know,” he said, a gentleness surfacing on his face as he finally shifted to her side, releasing her hands. “And I know who did it.”

Ava’s eyes widened, her body tensing as she absorbed his words. “You know!” Her voice rose with a mixture of disbelief and rising anger. “Who was it?”

Dylan watched her raging expression for a moment. He then picked up his phone, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screen as if he were distracted.

Watching his seemingly casual movements, Ava felt her patience snap. She gripped his arm and demanded sharply, “Are you even listening to me? I am asking you something. Can you answer me?”

Just then, her phone chimed, but Ava barely noticed, her entire focus on the man beside her. At last, Dylan set his phone down, looking at her with a blank, unreadable expression.

“That spiked drink was not meant for you,” he eventually replied flatly. “It was for me.”

Ava’s hand instinctively pressed to her chest. Her initial anger turned into a mix of confusion and shock. Her heart twisted at the thought that someone had been scheming to sleep with Dylan. The idea filled her with both fury and disgust. She wondered who could have stooped so low.

It was a reunion party, old friends catching up with each other and relishing the past. Everyone had been only focused on how to enjoy themselves. In those fun moments, who could have had such twisted thoughts?

One name surfaced in her mind—Gianna.

Yes…She was the only one who was able to pull such tricks. She had openly hinted that she planned to propose to Dylan on her birthday.

‘So, it was her,’ Ava muttered inwardly. ‘She planned to sleep with Dylan to force him to marry her!’ The very thought made Ava feel sick.

“I have sent you the surveillance footage.” Dylan’s voice interrupted Ava’s thoughts, jolting her back to the present.

Ava quickly opened her phone, her fingers trembling slightly as she tapped the message. The footage captured Gianna in conversation with the waitress.

Ava watched with a sinking heart as the waitress prepared the drink, slipping something into the wine before approaching Dylan. Her stomach twisted when she saw herself take that very glass, meant for Dylan.

A wave of regret washed over her. She had been so blinded by her frustration with him that she hadn’t even noticed which glass she had picked up. But her mistake had saved Dylan from falling into Gianna’s trap, which relieved her a bit.

Dylan’s voice broke her train of thought. “You have the footage now. Whatever you decide to do with Gianna is up to you.”

Instead of easing her frustration, his words stoked it into a fierce blaze. She tightened her grip on her phone and glared at him,

“Why?” she barked. “Why aren’t you taking action against her? She plotted to drug you, to take advantage of you! Shouldn’t you be the one dealing with her betrayal?” Her voice grew stronger and louder with each word she uttered. “Why give me the responsibility? Is it because you’re loyal to her? Is that why you want me to handle it, to save yourself from having to face her?”

Loyalty?

Dylan felt as if Ava’s words had shattered something deep inside him, her accusations cutting into him with raw precision. “I have nothing to do with Gianna; I told you that,” he snapped back. “But you still keep thinking I am with her!”

“Aren’t you?” Ava retorted, her expression taut with both pain and defiance. “You trust her over me. You defend her, but you brush me aside. You’re distant and cold, like I’m just some stranger forced into your life. You never care about me.” Her voice cracked, tears brimming in her eyes.

“I can clearly see you hate me. You hate my father and hold him accountable for the death of your parents. You want him dead. I know everything about your plan to hurt my father, to ruin my family and everything my father has built.”

Those words came out in a rush, her emotions overwhelming her. Ava’s shoulders shook as she let her emotions pour out.

Her outburst caught him off guard. Her words were sharper than any blades. Dylan’s composure faltered, his gut twisting in anxiety. He had never said any of this to her – never mentioned to her that he hated her father and that he blamed Thomas for the death of his parents. He had never let her suspect that he had his plan to teach Thomas a lesson.

How did she know all this? Her piercing insight left him stunned, his guarded thoughts and hidden resentment exposed in the harshest light.

“What are you talking about? Who told you all this?” Dylan’s curiosity morphed into suspicion as he thought there was a mole in his close circle.

Ava suddenly realized she had been too emotional just now. She shouldn’t have said all this.

The implications of her words rattled Dylan. Could the mysterious woman from his nightmares be manipulating her? The thought sent a shiver down his spine, and his suspicion deepened.

“I’m asking you something,” he pressed, clasping her shoulders. “Who fed you this nonsense?”