The Billionaire's Ex-Wife Returns!
Chapter 23: Three Years Difference

Chapter 23: Three Years Difference

Landon felt utterly defeated ever since he began searching for Lucy. Nothing worked out for him. No matter how much time or money he spent chasing even the faintest clue about her whereabouts, nothing ever turned up. He just wanted to know if she was alright. But what tormented him the most was the crushing guilt—regret for not being there when she needed him the most.

And the most terrifying thoughts ate him away. The thought that the reason for his being unable to find her was due to her being already dead.

It was his fault. If only he had listened to her, if only he had rushed back sooner, he wouldn’t have spent the last three years desperately searching for his wife. She’d still be with him, and they could’ve been the happiest couple in the world.

But he had ruined everything.

His own cowardice made him hesitate, had made him let her go. Landon believed that by releasing her from their sham of a marriage, he was giving her a chance at happiness—at a life with a man who could truly love her. But instead, he might have delivered the final blow to whatever remained of their relationship.

"Mr. Westwood, there’s a parcel here for you," a man’s voice came from the door. As if his call shook him awake, Landon tore his eyes away from the document in his hand to glance at the employee.

Landon removed the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and rubbed his strained eyes. His voice came out hoarse as he muttered, "Give them to Alaric. He should know what to do."

"But, sir," the employee’s voice wavered as he hunched his shoulders, instinctively shrinking back when Landon shot him a piercing glare. "Alaric isn’t in his office."

"Where did he go?" Landon’s tone dropped dangerously low.

As far as he remembered, his secretary was supposed to be nearby. His head throbbed, and the furrow in his brow deepened, nearly scaring the employee, who edged further toward the door as though fearing for his life.

With his question hanging in the air, the employee couldn’t avoid answering.

"Sir, you sent Alaric to Virela City to attend a party on your behalf... yesterday," he stammered.

Did that happen? Landon tilted his head and recalled that he had indeed sent Alaric to a party hosted by his business partner in Virela City. He hadn’t even bothered to look at the invitation nor agree to go to the party, but Alaric pushed the idea, since it was an opportunity to have a wider connection with other conglomerate owners. And so, using his secretary’s vigor, Landon had him attend on his behalf.

When the employee was beginning to feel numb standing between his office and outside, Landon gave him a look. Never mind that he was an employee in his company, yet he was acting as if he were standing inside the cage of a lion.

Landon sighed inwardly. As much as he was tempted to reprimand the employee for his lack of composure, he let it slide. Like a benevolent king pardoning a guilty subject, he dismissed him with a curt nod, allowing the man to hastily place the parcel on his desk and scurry out of the office.

"If another parcel arrives, send it directly to Alaric’s office," Landon called after him. "Don’t bring it to me."

the employee babbled a few hurried affirmations before scrambling out of the office, as though fire were licking at his heels.

Landon returned to signing documents. It wasn’t until an hour later that his gaze drifted toward the parcel still lying on his desk.

His icy stare lingered on the package before he finally pulled it toward him. The small cardboard box, wrapped in plastic, bore no sender’s name or return address—no clue as to who had sent it.

He should have been suspicious. It could’ve been a bomb, an attempt to end his life. Yet a strange curiosity pulled at him, compelling his hands to act against better judgment.

Clack.

The sound of the cardboard lid hitting the desk echoed in the quiet office. Landon’s focus narrowed on the contents inside.

The first thing he saw was a note, stark and simple, and it read AUROMONT, VIRELA CITY.

He picked it up, and as he did, something caught his eye—a photograph tucked behind the note. Turning it over, Landon’s pupils constricted in shock.

It was a picture of a woman standing in the middle of a roadside. As the wind blew, her long brunette hair gracefully swayed behind her back like a waterfall. Her hand was raised to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear while her gaze was looking at something unseen in front of her.

A bright, radiant smile graced her lips, as though she were looking at the love of her life.

It was Lucy.

For a moment, Landon couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t sure what he had expected when he first opened the box, but seeing her picture, the woman he hadn’t seen in years, made his heart tighten in his chest.

In a flash, he recalled the day they got married. She was a vision he never thought would sweep him off his feet. The first time they met, Landon was astounded when he learned that a beautiful woman like Lucy would accept his offer. With her beauty, any man would bend the knee to beg for a glimpse of her.

But beauty alone was not enough to rouse his attention. Rather, it was Lucy’s liveliness and a unique personality that made him fall for her. It was the way she made him realize that life should not be lived monotonously.

He had thought Lucy’s eyes were the most expressive. And he liked the way he reflected on those eyes, as if he were the only thing she could see.

Then it dawned on him how much the three years of not seeing her could make such a difference.

Because Lucy was looking at someone with eyes filled with more love than he could ever get from her.

It took him almost four years to find her.

He had almost given up hope.

But now that he knew she was alive, that she was out there, nothing could stop him.

The years of separation no longer mattered.

He would get her back.