Ch. 161..170

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 161-Today I wasn’t in the best of moods. Mainly because Noah was still mad at me for kicking Rowan out. I thought I had covered things up well. It turns out that he could see past my bullshit.

At times like this, I wish that we hadn’t pretended in front of Noah. I know that we thought we were he has it in protecting him. That we were giving him a happy childhood. All we did was deceive him. Now his head that we were once in love and that we can be again.

I don’t know how to tell him the truth without breaking his little heart. I don’t know how to tell him that everything he believes about me and Rowan is a lie.

My biggest fear is that he’ll hate us for lying to him if the truth comes out. Then again we can’t continue like this. We can’t continue with him believing that there is a chance for me and Rowan.

I sigh and get out of bed. I had gone back to sleep after Noah left for school. As the days progress, the bigger I get and the more tired I feel.

Dragging my feet, I head to the bathroom and take a shower. It still doesn’t take away the fatigue from my bones. Deciding on a dress, I put on a white spaghetti strap dress with blue flowers on it. It reached just above my knees and showed my belly. Since my parents now knew the truth about my pregnancy, it was time to stop hiding it.1 Not in the mood to do my makeup, I opt for just concealer to cover up my dark under eyes. 1 I leave my room and get downstairs just as my doorbell rings.

I was really not in the mood to see or talk to anyone. Not when I was feeling like shit. 1 I open my front door and wish that I hadn’t. Travis was standing on my door step looking disheveled.

I go to close the door, but he stops it before I can slam it on his face.

“Please Ava” he begs tiredly.

“What do you want?” I ask, my voice cold even to my own ears.

It was really funny how much my voice automatically changes nowadays. I don’t even put any effort in it.

It just grows cold and unattached. As if I was speaking to a total stranger.

“Can I come in?” he asks.

“Fuck No! Speak what you came here to say and leave” would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about why he was here. The last time I saw Travis was when I see him hesitate and my curiosity gets stronger. Travis has always been arrogant and assured. To see him this nervous in front of me was intriguing.

“Get it out already! I don’t have all day” I snap after a few minutes of him being quiet.

I was starting to question why I even gave him a chance to speak. I should have called the police on his rv ass. sorry ass.

“I was wondering if you could talk to Nora and Theo” he finally speaks, but it was so low I had to straining to hear him.

“About what?” “Sharp Corp. They’ve gone after us. Making almost all investors who are in their contact to drop our company” he says brokenly. The company is sinking, Ava. We are losing investors, customers and funds” I sigh. If I were being honest, I thought mom and dad’s threat was just that, a threat. I didn’t really think that they would actually go after the Sharps for what they did to me.

If there is anything that Travis loves more than anything, it’s that company. It was and is his pride and joy. To have him here, basically begging me to help him means he has reached the end of the road. It means he has tried everything and talking to me is the last and only resort.

“You have to know I don’t really care if that company sinks or not” I state, folding my hands across my ches. 1 He looked tired and worn out. Like he has been burning both ends of the candle.

Letty hasn’t mentioned anything about this to me. Then again, I told her never to speak about Travis in my presence.

“Please, Ava. I beg you. We’re family” Hearing that word has my hackles up. Bringing the familiar angry burn.

“Family?” I scoff. “How are we family, Travis? If I remember correctly you cut me off. You said I was dead to you and renounced me as your sister years ago. Then you went and proved just how little I matter to you for the next nine years, tell me, were you my family then?”

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 162-Ava…” I cut him off. I don’t want to hear a thing from his damn mouth.

“Every time you took Emma’s side, every time you treated me like trash. Every F***ing time you laughed when Rowan tore my heart to pieces because I hurt you precious sister, did you consider me you family? What about the times you said I deserved the pain I was going through? Or when father and mother ignored me like I didn’t matter? What about all the time you all shunned me?

Was I still your family?”

He doesn’t say anything. But what is there to say anyway? He knows the truth.

He didn’t consider me family back then. To him and the rest I was nothing but an unwanted nuisance. One they would do anything to get rid of.

“So tell me, if you didn’t consider me your family back then, what makes you think I’ll consider you my family now? Whatever you are trying to do by playing the family card with me won’t work My eyes pierce his. I used to note the difference between us. Travis and Emma didn’t look alike, but by just seeing them you could guess that they’re related. I on the other hand looked nothing like any of them. That s should have been the first clue that I wasn’t one of them.

“Let’s be honest, you’ve never cared about me. The only reason you’re here is because you think you can use me, but I won’t let you. Go home, Travis and don’t ever darken my doorstep again.” With that, I push him away and slam the door hard. I lean against it breathing hard. Its quiet for a few minutes before I hear his car start up and speed off.

Feeling the need to escape the house, I take my car keys. I was just leaving when I notice the clothes Rowan bought. I take them. Planning to pass by a shelter to give them away.

Within minutes, I’m on the road. My mind was all over the place. First with Rowan and now Travis. The audacity they had to think that they could just walk into my life and demand things. The thought that everything can be easily forgotten was completely delusional, If Rowan wasn’t Noah’s dad, I would have demanded he stay out of my life completely. Everything that I do. I do with Noah’s interest at heart. I’ve been tempted so many times to take Noah far away, but the love he has for his father stops me every time.

I’ve wanted to move far away from here, but I know that the move will hurt Noah. Rowan thinks Noah loves me more. He just doesn’t realize that he loves him just as much.

Sporting an ice cream shop, I decide to stop. The front was packed so I park at the back instead:

A little comfort is what I need right now. I’ll eat some ice cream while I try to clear my head.

I get into the dainty and cozy shop and order myself a big bowl of ice cream. I usually can eat any flavor of ice cream, just as long as it’s ice cream, but on the days I’m feeling down and need comfort, I go for plain vanilla.

My mind wonders to Travis. I’m not sure about how my parents are going about everything. I’m not the revenge type of person. I usually just let karma do her thing because the way she F***s people up is on another level.

I’m on the fence about the revenge thing. Part of me wants to see them crash and burn. The other part just wants to let everything go and just forget they exist. Does it make me evil that the bigger part wants to see them in pain? That it wants to see them suffer?

I finish my ice cream and leave still as conflicted as I was when I entered the place. Maybe talking to someone will give me some clarity.

Deciding to go see my therapist I head towards my car. I don’t get near it though because someone grabs.

me and covers my mouth and nose before I can scream. Within seconds, everything disappears and I fall into darkness.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 163-“Wake up!” I groan, but I don’t open my eyes. The voice sounded so far away and I thought that I was dreaming because how else would the voice sound so familiar?

“Ava, wake the F*** up!” This time I open my eyes. The voice sounded too real to be a dream. Also, why the hell would I dream of her?

My vision is blurry as my eyes try to adjust.

As the seconds go by, the memories of earlier come back to me.

Shit! I’ve been kidnapped again.

My brain was still fuzzy from what I assume is the chloroform I inhaled. I take a quick note of things, hoping that the chemical won’t affect my baby.

was seated on a chair with my hands tied behind my back. Trying to moves proves to be a moot point. The ropes were tight and they cut into my skin.

Whoever took me probably didn’t want to risk me escaping. 1 “Are you done?” she asks.

I thought it was just my imagination, but it’s not. I sharply turn to my left to find Emma also tied to a chair. She looked more alert meaning she was here longer than I was.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask her dumbly.

I survey the area. It was one big room with absolutely nothing. No chair or furniture except the one Emma and I were sitting on. There was nothing to give a clue of where we were or who this house belonged to.

“Isn’t it obvious? We were both kidnapped” she answers sarcastically.

I roll my eyes at her. “Of course I know that! What I meant to ask is why whoever it is would take both of Us” I don’t know who took us, but I have my suspicions. The only threat that was remaining was from the Reapers. It didn’t make sense though on why they would want both me and Emma. If anything Emma was more important to the Sharps and Rowan than I was.

don’t know” “How long have you been here?” I tried calming my breaths. It wouldn’t do me anything good to panic.

The more I try the more I’m taken back to the night Ethan betrayed me. Didn’t things happen almost in the exact same way? With the difference being Letty was the one kidnapped alongside me instead of Emma.

Fear grips me as I think of that day. Fear that the same thing would happen again. That I was about to find out that someone close to me had betrayed me again.

I’m not sure. I gained consciousness just as they carried you in” Emma’s voice pulls me back from the painful memories.

“And how long have I been out?” “Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes or so” I’m quiet after that. Trying to do the math. It doesn’t help though. Because I’m not sure how far out they drove from the ice cream shop.

I start to panic again when I think of Noah. Oh my god, who was going to pick him up? School ends at three thirty and when I got to the ice cream shop it was already around noon.

What if they decided to take him too? z ‘Calm down“. I tell myself. ‘You know the school will call Rowan if you’re unable to pick him up. He’ll be safe‘ I keep telling myself that until I calm down and my breathing stops being so erratic. Noah is going to bel fine. Right now I just needed to concentrate on myself.

“So it is true, you’re pregnant” Emma speaks, making me turn to her. She was looking at my baby bump.

Even when she was being held hostage, she still looked damn beautiful. How the hell is that even possible? Maybe she was a goddess in her previous life or something. 2 Instead of answering I ignore her and face forward. My pregnancy was none of her F***ing business.

“You know, I’m not surprised that you’re pregnant. With your track record, it’s given. Do you even know who the father of that baby is?” she scoffs, her voice irritating the F*** out of me.

“No I don’t. I’ve spread my legs for so many men I can barely keep count” I snap.

I’ve been conscious for less than an hour and already I was tempted to ask our kidnappers to shoot me. Emma was so F***ing annoying. Why the hell did I never notice that about her? “You don’t have to be so rude” she frowns at me, as if that’s going to do anything.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 164-“And you don’t have to open your mouth and talk. Can you just shut the F***

up?” I I continue to struggle on my chair. Hoping to loosen the ropes. There was no way I was going to stay here with her the entire time. Something ugly was bound to happen between us.

I

“There is nothing like a good cat fight between women. Should I untie you so you can settle whatever score you have against each other?” A man says as he walks towards us.

I’d been so occupied with Emma that I didn’t realize that the door had been opened. I curse myself internally for that foolishness.

“Sure, why don’t you untie me and when I’m done with her, I’ll be coming for you next” I seethe, letting my anger show.

The guy just laughs. Of course he finds it funny. He was a giant compared to me. To him, fighting me.

would be akin to fighting a child.

“I’d like to see you try I scoff at him. “Is this what you do during your spare time? Kidnap helpless defenseless woman? Does it make you feel more like a man drugging a woman into unconsciousness?” “Shut up!” he shouts at me, his face contorting into something ugly.

He approaches me. His steps and movement menacing. Like a tiger that was about to pounce on its prey.

“Or what?” “What the hell are you doing? Stop it” Emma whisper yells, her voice fearful.

“Stop taunting him” 1 I ignore her and smirk. Looking directly at the huge man “They should cut off your dick. Any man that drugs two women is nothing but a pussy and isn’t worthy of being called a man” To be honest, I don’t even know why I was pushing his buttons. I didn’t want to feel helpless, so this was sort of a defense mechanism.

I don’t see his hand move, but when he strikes I fell it all the way to my bones. I say this again, being hit by a man F***ing hurts.

My vision blurs and for a while there is ringing in my ears. My mouth fills with blood, probably from biting my tongue.

When things right themselves, I look at him before spitting the blood on his shoes. He literally roude and “What the hell is going on here?” “Sorry boss she got on my F***ing nerves” the big guy says.

The man who he called boss walks to us until he becomes clear. He had tattoos, but he was gorgeous. Bright green eyes. Midnight black hair, high cheek bones, a jaw line to die for and the fullest l*ps you will ever see on a man.

He oozed confidence and power. The guy could give Rowan a run for his money and that’s saying a lot because Rowan was damn good looking and has confidence the size of the universe. 1 I turn to Emma to find her gawking at the guy in awe. I guess I wasn’t the only one who was struck by his looks. 1 I don’t care what she did, you’re not supposed to lay a F**ing hand on any of them!” The only way I can describe the sound coming out his mouth is to call it a snarl.

His eyes turn cold and a certain danger fills the atmosphere. The kind that gives you chills down your spine. 2 The spell I was under breaks and I shake my head to clear the remaining cobwebs. Was the damn guy a kind of siren or something?

“Who the hell are you and what do you want with us?” I ask, making both men look at us.

The tattoo guy gives me a blinding smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ronny” He starts. “As for why you’re here it’s simple really, I want revenge against your ex–husband” My heart starts beating wildly against my heart, but I don’t say a thing. I remain quiet as he continues to talk.

“He nearly destroyed my organization and now it’s payback time. I’m going to show him exactly what happens when you mess with me.” It then hits me like a ton of bricks. Fear encases me as I utter the words. “You’re part of the Reapers” He laughs. A deep and cold laugh that rises the hairs on my back.

“No babe, I’m not part of the Reapers. I am the Reaper Fucking shit! Things just took a turn for the worst and it’s all Father’s fault. He should have minded his own damn business

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 165-Rowan.

“Are you going to brood forever?” Gabe asks in annoyance.

I don’t pay him any attention. Just continue staring at the amber liquid in my glass, contemplating how whim things went downhill with Ava so fast.

I’m not naïve enough to think that she was acting irrationally. She was acting like a normal person would. A person who’s been hurt over and over again by

people she loved.

There’s s this strong need inside me to soothe her pain. To take all her hurts away. To heal her. How can I do that, though? When I’m the one that F***ing put it there in the first place.

“You can’t continue like this, Ro. If she’s not giving you the time of day, then leave her the hell alone!

Emma wants you for crying out loud. Hell, It’s not like you’re lacking when it comes to the women that want you,” he grumbles, plopping his ass down on the chair.

I don’t acknowledge his stupid tirade. Instead, I send him a glare. If my current mood bothers you so much, you can Fing leave.” He doesn’t understand, and I am in no mood to make him understand. My entire being has recently decided that it doesn’t want Emma. Nor does it want any other woman who is not Ava, I used to despise her. Used to think that there was no way I would ever want her. Famous last Fing words because she’s all I think about right now. She’s taken over every inch of my thoughts and fantasies.

Karma sure is a F***ing bitch, ain’t she? Just when I finally acknowledge that I do want her, she decides. that she wants nothing to do with me. The fact that she’s having a baby with another man is proof enough. of her determination to move on.

I used to be the only man that has ever touched her. The only man she knew quite intimately. I never used. to take that for the Fing gift it was. Now, someone else knows how she tastes, and I Fing hate that Ethan gave her something that I used to deny her while we were married.

Shaking those thoughts away, I stand up and walk to the large windows of my office. Thinking of any other man touching her drives me crazy. It’s pure F***ing torture. I guess now I have an inkling of how she felt when I used to hold Emma between us.

Fuck! How can I make her see that I don’t mean any harm? That I don’t want to hurt her; instead, I want to heal what’s broken.

You want to heal what’s broken, yet you can’t accept that you love her? A voice taunts. ‘When are you I ignore those words. Refusing to drown too much in them Yes, I did feel something for Ava. I’m not even sure when or how they developed. Even if I were to tell her that right now, do you know how insincere those words would seem? She probably wouldn’t even believe me. Not after how I have treated her for the past nine years.

My door opens, but I don’t turn.

“Now, what has gotten you in such a foul mood?” Gabe asks.

I don’t need to turn around to know that it’s Travis he’s talking to. We’ve been friends since we were all in diapers. We know each other like the back of our hands.

“Ava” Her name makes me turn around. My focus on Travis.

He looks tired, lost, and utterly defeated. He has lost weight these past few weeks, and it’s worrying all of 1. US.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice sounding gruff even to my own ears.

“I went to ask her for help concerning the company. She refused.” He sighs.

I’ve told him I could help, but he refuses. The Howell’s kept to their promise.

Sharp Corp was sinking and if nothing was done soon, it wouldn’t last even two months before it completely collapsed.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 166-The only reason our company was still standing was because we were as powerful as the Howell’s. Their pulling out and getting their loyal investors to do the same hadn’t affected us that much.

I wasn’t foolish enough to think it would end there. They may not have been able to destroy our company, but I’m F***ing sure they’ll look for another way to get their revenge. I won’t even fight them. They were right to come after me. I deserve everything they plan to do to me for the way I treated their daughter.

“Is that what has you so dejected? That she refused to help you.” Gabe looks at him in sympathy.

Travis lets out a long, tired breath. “No. It’s what she said. She said she didn’t consider me her family. In other words, I was nothing to her.” I see the pain it causes him, but I don’t feel any sympathy for him. We were horrible to her. Her treatment towards us was less than we deserved.

“What did you F***ing expect? I keep asking you guys that question,” Gabe grumbles.

“I know. I don’t know why I keep expecting her to be as she was. Every trace of the old Ava is gone. The only time you see glimpses of her is when she’s with Noah.” Travis slumps in his seat, looking defeated.

My phone rings, drawing my attention from their conversation. I didn’t recognize the number. For a moment, I thought of ignoring it, but I thought otherwise, 1 “Didn’t I tell you I’d get back at you” the familiar voice says.

“What the F* do you want?” I ask angrily, not in the mood to F*ing play his damn games.

Ronny also known as Reaper chuckles. “Don’t you want to know what, or more specifically, who I have?” I’m not one to be fazed, but damn it. Reaper was a crazy F***er. The fact that he sounded so cocky worried me.

“Spit it out, Ronny, I don’t have all day” My voice was calm, but a certain kind of panic was rising inside me. He had someone I cared about. That alone was starting to drive me crazy.

“Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you.” He pauses as if trying to rise suspense, but all he was doing was pissing me off. “I have two beautiful ladies with me. The love of your Fing life and the mother of your kid” My heart stops for a minute before it starts to beat erratically Travis and CA “What do you want?” My whole Fing b*dy was frozen as if I was encased in a block of ice.

“It’s simple really. I want you to choose who gets to live and who dies. I’ll spare the one you choose and kill the other one. Aren’t I being nice? You get to walk away with one of them instead of me killing all of them” Fuck! This was worse than I expected. The Fer was clearly out of his Fing mind.

“Remember, time is ticking. “Tick, toc, tick, tock,” he says right before the lines goes dead.

“What is it?” Gabe asks me, seeing my bothered look.

“Ronny has Ava and Emma” I pause, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself. “He asked me to choose.” “Fucking shit!” Travis shouts, his voice reverberating through the room.

This shit was F***ed up.

I was going to do everything to get them both back safe and sound. But if push came to shove I knew in a heartbeat who I would choose. Only problem is, would I be forgiven for costing the other her life.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 167-“You can’t be serious” Emma asks as shell shocked as I was.

I felt my heart beating wildly. Panic fisted my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. If I had thought that Ronny or Reaper, whatever the F*** he goes by, kidnapping us was bad, I was wrong because what he planned was way worse.

“Oh, I am. You father should never have messed with me neither should Rowan.

It’s time to get my revenge” Ronny smirks evilly sending chills down my back.

He had called Rowan right in front of us and told him to choose. I still can’t believe that his plan was that only one of us would walk out of here alive.

• 18.

I felt like everything was crushing in on me. Fear was wreaking havoc inside me and I couldn’t think clearly. I was sure that my face was swollen from that bastard hitting me and my l*p had split. I chose to focus on that pain instead of the impending doom.

“Don’t you have anything to say, Ava?” Ronny asks with the same cold smile.

I avert my eyes. I couldn’t form a thought let alone say anything. This was the fifth time I was facing death. With how unhinged Ronny seemed, I was afraid that I wouldn’t come out of this alive.

internally shake myself. Shoving those horrible thoughts away. I couldn’t think like that. I had Noah and a baby to think about. For their sake I was going to fight to stay alive.

“Maybe you’re afraid that Rowan will choose your sister” he taunts. “Is that what has you so worried?” “She’s not my sister!” I snap, getting my fire back.

He chuckles with no humor in the sound of his voice.

“No matter. This is going to be a fun game. I want to see your ex–husband break because either who he chooses he’s going to get the other dead and that will be on him. The guilt will be his undoing” with those parting words, he walks away. Closing the door behind him.

“What are we going to do?” Emma whispers but I don’t answer her.

Ronny was right. I was afraid because I knew that I wasn’t the one Rowan would choose. Emma has always been important to him and I doubt that has changed.

He would go to hell and back for her, so I knew I didn’t stand a chance of him choosing me over Emma.

wouldn’t stand a chance. 1 With those thoughts in my head, I start struggling to get out. I couldn’t push myself backward to break the chair. First of all, it would hurt and second, it would probably put my baby in danger. The only option left was to try to get myself free from the ropes. 1 I first survey the room. Good. There were no cameras. Of course they wouldn’t be because these men probably thought we can’t escape. This was going to make things easier.

The more I twisted my arms, the more the rope cut into my wrists. I curse in pain, but I don’t stop. Time was ticking. 1 “What the hell are you doing?” Emma asks looking at me puzzled.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I ask her sarcastically. “I’m trying to get free.” “But why? Rowan will come for us” she states firmly as if she actually believes what she’s saying.

I look at her like she’s dumb and at this moment I actually feel like she is.

“Maybe the drugs you inhaled affected your brain cells but we both know that if push comes to shove, Rowan is going to choose you. I have a son and another baby on the way. I’m not going to wait twiddling my thumbs while Rowan plays god all because father was stupid enough not to do a background check before signing a contract with the Reaper!” She looks at me in shock. Unable to believe what I just said. I know that it was rude speaking ill of the dead, but I am frustrated. I’m in danger and so is my unbom child. If only father had them investigated. before signing a contract with them then I wouldn’t be in this damn mess

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 168-“I can’t believe you just said that about daddy!” “Lucky for me because I don’t really give a F*** what you think” I snap.

Can’t she just keep quiet and let me concentrate? With each moment that passes that I am not free, my anxiety rises even more.

She glares at me, but keeps quiet. I heave a breath of relief. Now I can focus on getting my hands free. If I do that, then everything else will be a breeze. I hope.

can I don’t know how long it was when I gave up. My hands were shaking. My wrist were burning and I could.

tell that they were bleeding. It’s like the more I tried to free them, the deeper the rope dug into my skin.

I let out a heavy breath. I hate to do this, but I had no other option. At this point it was either that or risk being the one that got killed.

“I have a plan that might work” I turn to Emma and tell her grudgingly. It felt like a blow to my ego, but considering what’s at risk, my pride can go to hell.

“Now your need my help? Didn’t you just tell me that I should shut the F*** up and that you didn’t really care what I think?” she asks smugly.

The need to lash out at her is great, but I hold back. I’m not stupid enough to antagonize her when I clearly need her help.

“Are you going to help or not?” I ask instead, not willing to admit that I might have gone a little overboard.

She stays quiet and just stares at me. Blue eyes clash with brown. She’s assessing the situation. Assessing whether it’s wise to assist her mortal enemy. I almost take back my request when she finally speaks.

“What do you need me to do?” I sag in relief. Maybe there was hope for us after all.

“I can’t untie myself, but maybe you can.” I begin. “If we can turn our chairs so that our backs are facing each other and we get cloc enough, maybe we can untie each other” I hope to God it works because I have run out of ideas.

“Fine” she says before she starts twisting her chair.

I had thought of just hoping up and down on it, but Emma’s approach was better. It produced minimal It takes a couple of tries and we almost fall over a few times, but we finally manage to get in the right position.

“Please hurry up” I plead as I do my best to untie her too.

Some time had passed and with each second, I was afraid that Ronny would walk in at any time and declare that Rowan had chosen Emma so I would have to be killed.

We finally get the ropes untied. My b*dy relaxes but not completely. I won’t be able to relax all the way until I am out of this place.

Hurrying up, I untie my legs. When I stand up, I almost fall over. The ropes had cut off blood supply so my legs were a bit numb.

“What do we do next?” comes Emma’s question tinted with a bit of nervousness.

ve go.

I didn’t really have a plan. So I was just going to make it as we “Now we escape I start to walk towards the door when I realize that she wasn’t following me.

“Are you coming?” I ask without turning my whole b*dy towards her.

“I’m not sure. What if Rowan comes and doesn’t find us? What then?“ Just because we helped each other get untied, doesn’t mean we are friends or anything. She has to stop relying on others to save her.

“Look, what do you think will happen when they find out I’ve escaped? They’ll take the option from Rowan and just kill you instead. You can stay and risk it or we can go together, either way I’m leaving” with that I turn and resume my walk towards the door.

Slowly opening it, I peep out just to make sure there weren’t any guards. There weren’t. I open the door further to step out just as I feel Emma behind me.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 169-I get out and survey the place. We were in a junk yard. I smile at our luck. This meant there were a lot of places to hide from Reaper and his men.

“We have to find the exit. From there, I believe things will be easy” I tell Emma as we start moving.

She nods her head in agreement and walks beside me. We’re careful as we look for an out. Keeping ourselves hidden and making sure we don’t walk in the open.

“Where the hell is the exit?” Emma was exasperated. It was easy to tell.

We’ve been walking for a few minutes. Even though we haven’t come across any goons, we also haven’t come close to finding the exit.

“Maybe we should rest a little” I was beginning to get tired. My face was hurting, so were my hands and feet.

That thought is immediately shot to the ground when we here a blaring alarm.

Its sound ringing loudly across the yard.

My heart starts pounding. Fuck. This was bad. I’m F***ing sure that they’ve realized we have escaped.

“Go, go, go” I insist as I pull Emma forward. She had a look of total fear. Like she had just seen her life flash before her eyes.

We rush forward blindly. We didn’t know where we were going. All we knew is that we couldn’t get caught no matter what.

I kept looking behind me. Making sure that Emma wasn’t out of sight. That was a big F***ing mistake.

Colliding with a b*dy, I stumble, but catch myself before I can fall. Terror squeezes my heart as I stare at the man that hit me earlier.

Shit! We were royally F***ed.

“Did you honestly think it would be that F***ing easy to escape?” he asks, taking out a gun and pointing it at me.

I feel Emma gasp in fear. She was shaking and I could feel her trembling.

“Yes I tell him with a fake bravado.

He walks slowly towards me. His gun still pointed at me.

“I don’t like you smart mouth or your sass. Maybe I should just kill you and save your ex–husband from having to choose” I make a split decision. He was close enough and it could work. Using the defense techniques I was taught in defense class, I quickly knee him in the balls.

He falls down groaning and cussing. Without really thinking I take the gun he had dropped, remove the safety lock and fire.

“That’s for hitting me” I shoot his right thigh. “And that is for how much it F***ing hurt” I then shoot his other thigh He hollers in pain. His deep voice travelling through the space. I have never shot anyone, though I did practice with Ethan a few times. Seeing the bastard bleed was oddly satisfying.

“It came from over there” My satisfaction doesn’t last long when I hear the voice. Still with the gun in hand, I motion for a shaken Emma to move. We weren’t even that far away when they came across the shot goon.

“Fucking get them!” he shouts, his voice tinged with pain.

All hell breaks loose as they start to fire. I pull Emma behind a beat up car as bullets fly in all direction. Fuck. This was bad. This was worse than bad, it was F***ing terrible.

“Fuck it Ava. I shouldn’t have listened to you.” She starts ranting, but I know it’s to cover her fear, “I swear Ava. If you get me killed, I’ll hunt your sorry ass” I ignore her and focus. After a few minutes, the shooting stops. My breathing turns to as normal as it can. get. Standing up, I pull Emma up.

“Let’s go before the find us” I had only taken a couple of steps when I felt a presence near us.

“Ava!” the scream drives fear inside me.

I’m shoved to the side and fall just as a single shot rings through the entire yard.

Ex-Husbands Regret Chapter 170-“Fuck, it hurts” Emma screams in agony, making me come out of my shock just in time to see the man raise his pistol.

I scramble to take the gun that I had dropped and immediately fire. He drops to the ground. I get up rush to Emma, who was writhing on the ground.

and I don’t even check if the man was alive or dead. Right now, it didn’t F***ing matter to me. Not when I’m pumped full of adrenaline and Emma was bleeding

on the ground.

“I’m dying aren’t I?” she asks with tears filling her eyes.

I could have told her to stop being a cry baby, but I don’t. Not when she’s the one that shoved me and took a bullet that was meant to be mine.

“No, you are not” I respond as I examine her.

She’d been shot in the shoulder, and it was bleeding a lot. I was worried. First of all, she might just bleed to death, and second, we were still in danger. Someone was bound to find us eventually.

“You’re lying!” she hisses when I put pressure on the wound. “If I’m not dying then why the hell does it feel like I am?” I don’t answer. Choosing instead to focus on stopping the bleeding. As teachers, we are required to know basic first aid. The bullet was still lodged inside, so I couldn’t remove it. Not without knowing the extent of the damage. Instead, I rip the hem of my dress and tie it tightly around her shoulder.

“Damn it, I should have just stayed in that F***ing room” she grumbles, glaring at me. Her eyes showed the pain that she was trying to hide.

“Come on. We have to keep moving” I say as I slowly help her up and we start moving.

Fuck. Rowan was going to kill me. Not only did I put Emma in danger by dragging her into my escape plan, but I also got her shot. I didn’t know how to face him when we manage to get free.

Sure, others might reason that it was Emma’s decision to take the bullet for me.

That I didn’t ask her to do it, but Rowan might not see it that way. He will take one look at his bleeding precious Emma and blame me.

Sighing, I pull her up straight. I was currently supporting her weight. She was leaning into me as her right hand hung helplessly by her side. I honestly don’t how long before we were found. At the pace we were going I estimate that it won’t be long.

I don’t know for how long we were walking. Maybe an hour or a few minutes, I couldn’t tell, because it felt like an eternity. I was starting to get tired from carrying both our weights. My legs were aching, my hands were shaking and my head was pounding. Emma had now almost slumped all the way forward and she was weakening from the blood loss.

“Maybe we should rest” I pant.

“Yesss. That’s a gooood idea” she slurs, tipping forward, almost tripping both of us.

I look for a hidden place, before gently lowering her down. I then sit next to her and lean my head against the old car.

This place was like a F***ing maze. It felt like we have just been going round in circles from the moment we escaped that room. I was so tired and hungry that I didn’t care if they found us. I just wanted some pain meds, food and a nap.

“Emma, I’m not sure we can escape” I tell her but receive no answer.

I face her. Her eyes were closed and her mouth slightly open.

“Emma?” I call again, but she still doesn’t answer.