Revenge After Divorce by Black Rose

Chapter 288 OLIVIA When I stepped out of my therapy session, my husband was nowhere to be found. The weight of the session still lingered in my chest, but there was a subtle sense of relief, lightness I hadn't felt in weeks. I took a seat on the chair outside, the cool air on my face a stark contrast to the heat that had been building insidefor so long. I reached for my phone and dialled his number, my thumb hesitating as I pressed the call button.

It didn't take long before he picked up. "Hey, babe," his voice crackled through the speaker, a mix of concern and uncertainty. "You finished?" "Yeah," I said softly, trying to mask the exhaustion that was creeping in. "Just waiting for you now." I didn't mind the wait. I had cto terms with the fact that healing wasn't a quick fix. The session had helped, well, it was a start. We hadn't covered everything that had happened, of course. There was still so much left unsaid, but at least 1 had started the process. My emotions had gotten the best of me, and I had spent most of the tcrying, leaving less space for words. I had talked about what I could, though, about the fears, the pain, the scars that Xander had left, even if they were mostly buried deep inside.

I didn't want Marcus, or anyone else, to know the full extent of what had happened at Xander's hands. I couldn't let them see the fragility that had been embedded in my soul. After the whole imprisonment ordeal, they already treatedwith a kind of gentle caution, like I was made of glass, waiting to shatter at any moment. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate their concern, but I hated feeling fragile. I hated the idea of being seen as weak. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to move forward, to carry on as if nothing bad happened, as if I hadn't been trapped on an island, fighting for my life, for days on end.

I wanted to forget it all, forget Xander, forget the island, forget everything. But most of all, I wanted to forget the fear that had gnawed atduring those dark hours, the terror of wondering if I would ever see my children again. The thought alone was enough to send a shiver down my spine.

As I waited, my thoughts drifted to my kids. They were the light in my life, the reason I had to keep going. The thought that I might never see them again had plaguedduring those days on the island. The graveyard, the dark corners of that place, the overwhelming sense of impending doom. Xander had intended to kill me, to slaughterlike an animal. He wanteddead. I could still hear his voice in my mind, cold and cruel, promising the end. I had been seconds away from it, and yet somehow, I had made it out. Somehow, I was still here.

Even now, I woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, my heart pounding in my chest as I relived it all. The nightmares were relentless, hauntingevery tI closed my eyes. But I refused to let them destroy me. I refused to let fear dictate who I was. I had endured too much, survived too much to let it breaknow. Instead, I planned to use it. I would turn that pain into strength. The woman who emerged from all of this was going to be someone stronger, someone more resilient that I had ever been.

I would show everyone who thought I was fragile, that Olivia Walker was anything but weak. I would prove them wrong.

"Olivia?" My thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of my husband's voice. I lifted my head and looked up to see him standing in front of me.

Something was off. His face was tight, his jaw clenched, his eyes a little too guarded. The expression was a stark contrast to the warmth I was used to seeing in him.

"Hey," I greeted him softly, but there was a hesitation in my voice. "Is everything okay?" at He looked at me, his expression shifting for just a moment, like he was deciding whether or not to tell m was really going on. Then he exhaled, shaking his head as if to brush off whatever it was that had been bothering him. "Don't ask anything right now. Just tellwhat you want, and I will get it. Anything. We will take care of it +25 BONUS Chapter 288 before we go to see Lupita and Grandma." His words didn't sound entirely like him. There was a heaviness in his tone, a layer of something unsaid. I wanted to press him, to ask him what was wrong, but I held back. There were times when I knew that if I pushed too hard, I would only make things worse. And right now, I couldn't afford for either of us to break down at the stime. I had just started to get a grip on my emotions, and I wasn't about to lose it again, not when he seemed so... fragile.

I nodded, forcing a smile, trying to keep the tension from thickening between us. "Okay," I said softly. "Let's get a massage. My whole body is sore."

It wasn't a lie. After everything I had been through, the hard concrete of the tomb, the exhaustion from the travels, it was no surprise my body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. I was sore in places | didn't even know existed, and a massage was probably the best thing I could do for myself right now. "Say no more," he said, his tone a little lighter, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "Let's go."

He took my hand in his, and for a moment, everything felt like it might just be okay. We walked out of the doctor's office together, side by side. But even as I tried to focus on the task at hand, my mind couldn't let go of the nagging worry. Something was wrong with him, and I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. But I refused to press him further. Not now.

We couldn't both break down, not with everything that was at stake.

One of us had to be okay for the sake of our kids. For the sake of moving forward. And for now, I was determined to be that person for him. He needed me, just as much as I needed him. We were in this together, no matter how hard it got. As we walke out into the fresh air, the sounds of the world around us seemed muffled, like I was hearing them through a thick fog. The weight of what we'd been through, of what we still had to face, was still there, but I held on to the hope that we would make it through. Together.

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