The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 46

I Outgrew Their Cruelty 

HANNAH’S POV: 

Janet laughed under her breath, though there was no humor in it. “God, you really have no shame, do you?” 

My stomach twisted and I frowned deeply at her words. “Excuse me?” 

“You disappear for years, after wrecking everything, and now you show up acting like nothing happened. Elijah has been-” She spoke and walked closer to me as if trying to intimidate me. 

“Enough,” my mother interrupted softly but firmly. Her tone wasn’t for me; it was a warning to Janet, though her gaze stayed pinned to me. “You’ve… made quite the name for yourself, haven’t you?” 

There was a faint bitterness in her tone, one she probably didn’t even mean to reveal. 

I set the milkshake cup down and with a huge sense of pride I answered,. “I’ve worked hard for everything I have yes.” 

“Through divorce?” Janet scoffed, her jaw tightening. “Elijah told me you haven’t even signed the papers. He’s still tied to you legally while you parade around as if you’re free.” 

My lips parted in disbelief. “What?” 

“You heard me,” she said, eyes flashing. “He said you’re stalling, Hannah. He’s miserable, waiting on you to let go. You always have to make everything about you.” 

I stared at her, the weight of the words hitting hard but not for the reason she thought. “I signed those papers,” I answered. 

She blinked, frowning. 

“I signed them a while ago,” I continued, my voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe your Elijah hasn’t told you that. Maybe he’s the one who doesn’t want to let me go, have you thought about that?” 

Janet’s mouth opened, then closed. The silence between us thickened, uncomfortable and hot. Even my mother looked startled for a moment, her hand tightening around the strap of her handbag. 

They weren’t loud or dramatic. Just quiet, steady streams running down my cheeks as I gripped the steering wheel. 

After all these years, after everything I’d built, everything I’d survived, I still didn’t have a family in them. Not in the mother who only ever saw me as a disappointment. Not in the sister who envied me so much she forgot how to love me. I don’t even want to think about my father, because his hate for me always felt thick and overwhelming. 

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, staring at my reflection in the rearview mirror. 

“You’re fine,” I whispered to myself. “You’ve always been fine. You’ve made it so far without them and you’re only going to keep being better.” 

But my voice cracked. Because the truth was 8 wasn’t fine. I was tired of pretending that I didn’t want their approval, their warmth, their acknowledgment that I was more than a mistake they regretted. 

A soft knock startled me. It was a mall attendant, motioning that I was blocking the lane. I nodded quickly, started the car, and drove off with a heart heavy but strangely… free. 

And I was so proud of myself, and all I needed right now was Elijah’s signature on those divorce papers in order to be free once and for all.