Dear Ex-wife Marry Me novel (Maja) novel Chapter 2201

Maja Pennyfeather found herself suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, but for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

The atmosphere at the dinner table still carried a hint of awkwardness, until Carol Miller started chatting with Athena Zade about the TV shows she’d filmed. That’s when Maja realized Carol had actually watched Athena’s series. The tension in Athena’s posture visibly eased, her features softening as she opened up to Carol.

Carol shot Maja a quick wink, and Maja couldn’t help but smile back.

Sometimes, there’s just an unspoken understanding between women.

When the dinner finally wound down, Carol reached for Athena’s hand before they left the restaurant.

“Athena, in that last show you did—why did your character only appear for a few episodes? I remember thinking she shouldn’t have been killed off so soon. It felt so abrupt.”

You can always tell when someone’s being genuine—their eyes give it away.

Athena realized Carol truly loved her work. She remembered every plot twist, every detail.

Athena had only ever had one friend—Doris—but after seeing Doris kiss Tyler Bennitt, she’d cut off all contact. It still stung; she knew things could never go back to how they were.

So Athena was alone. But now, with Carol reaching out, she felt a rare sense of comfort.

“There were some things going on at the time,” Athena explained quietly. “My agency froze my contract, so I couldn’t keep filming. That’s why my character had to leave the show early.”

“That’s such a shame! That character was such a fan favorite. If you’d finished the role, I bet your followers would’ve doubled.”

Athena laughed, her eyes crinkling with genuine joy.

While the women stood together, chatting and laughing, Tyler slipped away to pay the bill.

When he came back out, he caught a glimpse of Athena’s relaxed, carefree smile—and his heart melted.

Ian Raymond and Felix Brown were waiting for him outside. Tyler paused, not moving toward them right away.

The two men, eager to get to their wives, shot him a puzzled look as he lingered.

Tyler lit a cigarette, hesitated, and said quietly, almost to himself, “Let her enjoy her laughter a little longer.”

She rarely smiled like that when she was with him.

Ian stopped in his tracks, memories of his own past with Maja flickering through his mind. Love was always the thing that hurt the most.

He exchanged a look with Felix and suggested, “Why don’t we all head back to your place tonight? It’s been ages since we’ve all hung out together. Let’s have some fun.”

Tyler visibly relaxed. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

“So, I heard on that show you worked on, the director and the producer got together. Weren’t they both guys?”

In their world, some people were open-minded, but flaunting something like that publicly was still taboo.

Athena had heard the rumors. She nodded slowly. “Yeah. The producer was actually married at the time. His wife caught them in the act. Poor woman—she only found out her husband was gay because of that. Turned out, he’d only married her because he wanted a child.”

Carol cursed under her breath, then moved on to ask about other scandals.

Athena might not have followed gossip herself, but Carol’s questions happened to be about the biggest stories—the ones everyone had heard.

By the time Athena and Carol stepped out of the car, Athena was still smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a lighthearted conversation.

Ever since she’d made the decision to get close to Tyler, every day had felt like a mission, with no room for simple pleasures.

Only now did she realize just how good it felt to let go and just talk with a friend.

At the front door, as Carol traded her shoes for slippers, she heard Tyler’s quiet voice behind her.

“Thank you.”