The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 242

ELIJAH’S POV: 

“People,” she said, in the tone of someone who had no intention of being more specific than that. “People who have known this family for a very long time and who understand that a story appearing in the press is not the same as a story being true and who have platforms of their own from which they can say so.” 

“You are not doing anything that could come back and complicate things,” I said carefully. 

“I am doing nothing improper,” she said, with such tremendous dignity that I believed her immediately. “I am simply having conversations with old friends about what they think of a particular piece of journalism and whether they consider the sourcing credible. Which is a thing people do all the time.” Another pause. “I am also personally offended on behalf of this family and I am choosing to express that through my existing social relationships. Is that allowed?” 

I thought about it. “Yes,” I said. “That is allowed.” 

“Good,” she said. “I will be at the house this evening. I am bringing food because that is what I do when things are difficult and I will not hear any arguments about it.” 

“I would not dream of arguing about it.” 

“Smart boy,” she said, and hung up. 

I stood in the hallway for a moment. 

Then I went back into the office and rejoined the call with my communications team and told them we were issuing a statement by end of day that was going to be transparent and accountable and was not going to be defensive, and I wanted it written in a way that sounded like a human being and not a legal department, and they said yes, absolutely, and got to work. 

The joint press statement was Hannah’s idea. 

Not a solo statement from me or a carefully managed separation of our public profiles to protect the collection from association with the scandal. A joint statement, together woth both of us on record. 

I told her it was not necessary and that I did not want the collection’s momentum to be affected. 

The second version was better but too long and the middle section had a paragraph that said the same thing twice in different words which Hannah caught on the first read. The third was close but had one sentence that my lawyer said created an implication we did not want and that Hannah said sounded like someone working very hard not to say something specific. We cut the sentence. 

The fourth version was right. 

It took three hours in total. The final version was clear and honest and owned what needed to be owned about Kelloway without overstating anything or performing remorse in a way that felt manufactured. It also, at Hannah’s specific insistence, included a sentence that was simple and direct: we are aware of the motivation behind the timing of this story and we are not concerned by it. 

My communications lead had looked at that sentence and then at Hannah and said, “That is quite direct.” 

“Yes,” Hannah said pleasantly. “That is the point.” 

The statement went out at four in the afternoon. By five thirty I was standing on the steps of the Martinez Holdings building with Hannah beside me and three cameras in front of us and I was reading the statement out loud while she stood exactly where she had decided to stand, right next to me, her shoulder against mine, holding my hand in full view of everyone present.