The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 122

Chapter 122

OLIVIA

I put my papers aside and stood up, crossing the room to scoop her into my arms. Her small body felt warm against mine as I planted a

kiss on her cheek.

“What happened to your hair?” I asked, trying to smooth down the tangled strands. It looked like she’d been caught in a windstorm, or

worse.

Aurora squirmed in my arms. “This is uncle’s doing. He rubbed my head.”

“Uncle?” I set her down immediately, my body tensing. “What uncle? Aurora, did someone touch you?”

Ivy, our nanny, stepped into the living room from the kitchen. “Miss Olivia, I’m sorry. Aurora ran off while we were at the bakery. When I found her, she was talking to a man who’d helped her pick up her cake after she dropped it.”

I knelt to Aurora’s eye level, holding her shoulders firmly. “Aurora, listen to me. This is serious. You cannot talk to strangers, especially

men who want to touch you or your hair.”

“But he was nice! He didn’t even get mad when I dropped cake on his shoes!”

“Aurora.” My voice came out sharper than I meant. “You’re young, but you need to get this – not everyone who acts nice actually is nice.”

6)

Her lip started trembling. I hated being tough on her, but with Aria in London for that business conference, Aurora was my responsibility.

I couldn’t mess this up.

“Miss Olivia’s right,” Ivy said, though she looked uncomfortable. ‘But that man seemed harmless…”

“That’s exactly the problem,’ I snapped. “Aurora trusts everyone. People see how sweet she is and they all want to touch her, pick her up, give her stuff. That’s what makes her a target.”

Aurora’s eyes went straight to the papers on the coffee table. “Godmommy, are those about your bad ex-husband?”

I froze. ‘What do you know about that?’

She fidgeted with her hands. “I heard you on the phone with Mommy. You said something about a bad man getting out of jail.

Damn. Kids always heard everything.

“Aurora, that’s adult stuff,” I said, trying to stay calm.

“Is that why you came back? Because of him?”

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14:04 Mon, Jun 15

Chapter 122

I pulled her onto the couch. No point lying now.

Yeah. My ex-husband David’s getting out early.”

“What’d he do? Rob a bank?”

I almost smiled despite everything. “No. He just did some really bad things. Hurt people. That’s why he went to prison.”

I didn’t tell her the whole truth-how David had been obsessed with Bella, how he’d grown increasingly unstable, how I’d feared for my

safety. How the fire wasn’t entirely “accidental.”

“David has connections to people who don’t like my family,” I continued, simplifying the complex web of business rivalries and personal vendettas that had allowed him early release. “I came back to make sure he can’t hurt us anymore-me or Ethan.

Aurora’s small face grew serious. “Is he coming after you?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I need to be prepared.”

She reached out and patted my hand with her tiny one. “Don’t worry, godmommy. I won’t tell Ethan. It’ll be our secret.”

I squeezed her hand gratefully. “Thank you, sweetheart. But I don’t want you to lie-

“It’s not lying if I just don’t bring it up,” she said with surprising wisdom. “Mommy says that’s called… disc-re-tion.”

I had to bite back a laugh. Aurora might look like a doll, but she had her mother’s sharp mind.

“You know what?” she added, “I’ll protect you and Ethan! I may be small, but I’m brave. Nobody will hurt my family!”

The fierce determination in her tiny face made my throat tighten. I pulled her into a hug, burying my face in her messy hair to hide the

sudden tears in my eyes.

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