Dear Ex Wife, Please take me back novel Chapter 125

ALEX

Shit! I curse under my breath.

I catch her before she hits the floor, her weight folding into my arms like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Athena!” I shout, lowering her gently, cradling her head as panic claws up my throat.

“I need a doctor right now!”

Isabelle is instantly beside me, checking Athena’s pulse, her expression calm, but I can see her resolve cracking.

It's her best friend, after all.

“We need a stretcher!”

A nurse rushes in with one, and I lift Athena onto it carefully, my hand refusing to let go of hers even as Isabelle moves to wheel her away.

“Let us take it from here, Alex,” Isabelle says gently.

But I hesitate.

For a second, I think if I just hold on tighter, maybe I can keep her from slipping further away and from shutting me out completely.

But I nod and step back.

She disappears down the hall, and I’m left standing in the silence that follows.

Noah drops into a chair, his hands buried in his hair while his shoulders shake with quiet despair.

Ian stands like stone, but I see it, how his jaw tightens, how his eyes turn glassy before he blinks it away.

He looks so out of it. I don't think he's even aware of what's happening.

I didn't think Ian would fall for any woman. He looked so engrossed in his work and proving to his father that he was capable of taking over Quins Foundation.

Mum clutches Dad as though he’s the only thing anchoring her to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

“Now Athena too? What is going on?” She cries.

Unable to move,

I remain standing.

Because if I sit, I won’t get back up.

Because the truth is staring me right in the face.

Athena passed out from the weight of it all.

Sloane is alive… but barely.

And I’m the reason they both ended up here.

Because I let a snake into our lives.

Luca stands but I shake my head telling him to stand down.

“You don’t speak to your aunt like that. I don’t care if you’re my brother’s son or the damn President,” he growls, pressing Noah harder into the wall. “This family protects each other. We fall, we bleed, but we do it with dignity. What you just did? That was cowardly.”

Noah’s eyes snap with fury, an empty laugh bouncing off the hospital walls.

“Oh, so now we care about respect?” he spits. “Where was all this righteous anger when Alex was destroying Athena day by day? When he accused her of every sick thing Leah planted in his head?”

“Noah-” Mum starts, but he cuts her off with a harsh laugh.

“No. Don’t ‘Noah’ me. You all let it happen. You watched her get humiliated. You watched him engage Leah. You watched him tear her apart and no one said a damn thing because it's Alexander King. The golden boy. The heir to the throne. The one who never gets blamed.”

“Noah, that's enough.” I growl. “Dad let him go. This is a hospital dammit!”

Noah turns to me with a scoff, “You’ve always been shielded. Coddled. Protected. You get to screw up lives and still be forgiven. Everyone bends over backwards to make excuses for you. But I’m done pretending.”

“I know I fucked up,” I say, my voice low. I'm a man who owns up to my fucking mistakes. “And I’ll carry that for the rest of my life.”

“No, you’ll walk away like always,” he snaps. “Sloane might never walk again because she protected your Athena. Athena collapsed because of your mess. And somehow, everyone still treats you like you're the fucking victim.”

I grind my jaw and run a frustrated hand through my hair. But I don't respond.

Dad releases him as Noah turns toward me. “If roles were reversed, if I had done even half of what you did, Dad would have buried me because of his fear for uncle Eli. But you? You still get sympathy. You get grace. And I'm fucking sick of it!”

"Noah. I know you're angry-"

"I don't need your damn apology! I'm just glad Athena sees you for who you fucking are and hates your guts. But don’t worry, since you're the father of her son, she might just invite you to our wedding. Because I will marry her and heal every fucking thing you broke inside her!"