Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Seraphina’s POV

Mortimer’s chest was heaving, his face a mask of barely contained fury.

He probably thought bringing in the Greens would earn him some kind of “husband of the year” award.

In his head, he was the hero. In mine? He was just a lead actor in a play he’d staged to save face after letting Vivian run wild for too long.

His handsome face was turning a shade of bruised purple, and he looked like he wanted to bite through my indifference.

Then, he let out a sharp, jagged laugh. “Seraphina, I never realized you were so good at psychological torture.”

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I looked him dead in the eye. I wanted to tell him: I used to be soft because I loved you. Now? You’re just background noise.

But my upbringing won out. I wasn’t going to pull a “Vivian” and start a scene in front of Edwin.

I just took a breath and turned to Grandfather, keeping my voice level.

“Grandfather, it’s lunchtime. If you’re up for it, I’d love to take you out for a meal.”

The tension in Edwin’s face vanished. He nodded, beaming. “Good. Good.”

Then he swung his gaze back to Mortimer, his eyes turning back into flint. “What are you standing there for? Go get the car.”

Mortimer rubbed his nose, looking like a teenager caught breaking curfew. “Yes, Grandfather.”

As I helped Grandfather out of the room, he leaned in.

“The Winter Solstice is in ten days. The whole pack gathers at the manor then. Why don’t you and Mortimer move back to the main estate for a while?”

My heart did a slow, leaden sink. I started digging for an exit. Grandfather, the main estate is too far from Shadowfang. I’ve got high-risk surgeries scheduled through the end of the year. As a Silver Moon descendant, I can’t afford a single slip-up. Living out there… it’s just not practical.”

“Ah. Right,” Edwin sighed.

He was a traditionalist, but he respected the craft of a healer too much to push.

“I get it. You and Mortimer… it’s been a mess because of that Davis girl, hasn’t it?”

I didn’t stop walking. I just shook my head. “No, Grandfather. We’re both just fulfilling our roles in the contract. Don’t worry

about it.”

“Mortimer… everyone calls him a genius. A visionary. But he’s a damn fool when it comes to that female. Even an old man like me can see through Vivian’s act. How does an Alpha miss it?”

I didn’t answer.

Maybe he didn’t miss it. Maybe he just didn’t want to see it.

When a man’s wolf is obsessed with one person, he filters out the truth. And I was just the “noise” he’d been filtering out for three years.

In our world, tears only work if your mate actually cares. Otherwise, you’re just a wolf howling at a moon that isn’t listening.

“Sera, listen. The only reason he’s so tied to Vivian is because—”

“Grandfather, the car’s here,” I said, cutting him off with a polite smile.

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Chapte

+15 Bonus

I knew what he was doing. He wanted to patch the hole with a flimsy excuse.

I didn’t need to hear about their “soul-shattering history” or whatever debt he was paying. It didn’t change the fact that this bond was a corpse waiting for a burial

Edwin saw the wall I’d put up. He let out a long, heavy sigh and climbed into the back seat.

He didn’t forget to cut Mortimer a lethal look as the window rolled down.

Mortimer looked confused.

I didn’t explain. I helped Grandfather in and sat next to him in the back.

Mortimer adjusted the rearview mirror, his brow furrowed, his eyes burning with a dark, suppressed irritation. “Seraphina,” he said, his voice a low rasp. “Get in the front.”

I looked out the window. “I’m fine here. It’s all the same.”

“Do I look like a professional chauffeur to you?” His voice dropped an octave, that Alpha need for control flaring up. He sounded genuinely offended.

I didn’t bite. I just kept watching the city lights.

Then Edwin barked from beside me. “If you’re the one holding the wheel, you’re the driver! What else would you be? You want your Luna-the woman you’ve already put through hell-sitting up there acting as a windshield for all the gossip you caused?

Drive the damn car!”

“GRANDFATHER!” Mortimer growled. Having his Alpha dignity stripped in public-being talked to like a low-rank omega- clearly made his skin crawl. I could see the vein in his neck throbbing.

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