Ever since Bethany Zavala found out her husband, Terrence McConnell, was cheating on her, she\u2019d been quietly planning a divorce. Strangely enough, today Terrence suddenly asked her to attend their son\u2019s school event. There was a time when she longed to go to these parent-child activities, dreaming of the three of them spending a joyful day together. But every time, Terrence wouldn\u2019t let her go. And she couldn\u2019t explain the reason to their son, leaving the boy disappointed every single time. At 2 p.m., Bethany arrived at the school. She pulled out a small notepad from her bag, wrote a polite message in neat handwriting, and handed it to the guard. \u201cI\u2019m the mother of Emery McConnell from Class 1, Grade 3. I\u2019m here for the parent-child event. Please let me in.\u201d She had made a point of wearing a brand-new outfit. She knew kids liked it when their moms looked nice at school events. The guard glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. \u201cCan\u2019t you speak?\u201d Bethany nodded with a smile. She wasn\u2019t born mute. Years ago, a traumatic event had left her with selective mutism. Over the years, she had grown used to questions like this. The guard pulled out the sign-in sheet, scanned it thoroughly, and then sized her up. \u201cShe\u2019s elegant and beautiful-what a shame she can\u2019t speak,\u201d he thought. His tone turned less friendly. \u201cThe boy\u2019s parents have already signed in. How could you pretend to be someone else\u2019s mother?\u201d Bethany frowned and quickly wrote something on the paper. \u201cEmery really is my son. Why would I pretend?\u201d The guard got annoyed. He held up the sign-in sheet again and pointed to Emery\u2019s name. \u201cTake a good look for yourself!\u201d Bethany\u2019s gaze landed on the two names in the parent signature spot, and her heart ached. She had endured years of mockery and snide remarks ever since that trauma stole her voice. She thought she had gotten used to it. But this time, she could hardly breathe, not because of the guard\u2019s words, but because of the name written there in Terrence\u2019s sharp handwriting-Krista Gilbert. Krista was the woman he was having an affair with. Just then, a WhatsApp message came in. It was from Terrence: \u201cYou don\u2019t need to come to the event.\u201d Bethany froze, rooted to the spot. She put down the sign-in sheet and walked forward in a daze. Behind her, the guard sneered, \u201cOf all the children, you chose to pretend to be Emery\u2019s mom? He already has one.\u201d The laughter of children echoed from the schoolyard. Thinking of Emery, Bethany couldn\u2019t help but glance toward the sound. Through the white fence, she saw the eye-catching father and son in the crowd. But a graceful woman was standing next to them. That must be Krista. Red ribbons were tied around Emery\u2019s ankles, linking him to both Terrence and Krista for the three-legged race. Emery was beaming with joy. And Terrence, typically stern and serious, now wore a faint smile, his eyes shimmering with warmth. He stood tall and striking, with a chiseled face and sharp features. His thick hair framed his deep eyes, and every move he made radiated effortless charm. Bethany had seen how confident, decisive, and commanding he was when handling business. She\u2019d been drawn to him from the moment they met, and before she knew it, she\u2019d fallen hard. But he had never given her that gentle, loving look. Snapping out of it, Bethany turned to Krista. In a white dress that showed off her perfect skin, Krista looked graceful and refined, the image of understated sophistication.<\/p>\n
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby\u2019s writing style is bold and irresistible\u2014perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.<\/p>\n
Ex-Husband, Begone! by Mark Twain 1 Ever since Bethany Zavala found out her husband, Terrence McConnell, was cheating on her, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-call-me-back-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}