My Ex Husband Wants Me Back

Together Again

Three weeks after Noah came home, laughter returned to the Hart house.

It came carefully at first.

Noah still woke some nights and stood quietly in the doorway of Mara and Michael’s bedroom, unable to explain why he could not sleep. On those nights, Michael would pull back the covers without asking questions, and Noah would lie between them until his breathing became slow again.

But that evening, Noah was downstairs, sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace with a deck of cards scattered around him.

“You are cheating,” he said, looking up at Michael with a suspicious frown.

Michael leaned back on the sofa, pretending to consider the accusation seriously.

“I am not cheating.”

“You have won three times.”

“That is because I am good.”

Noah narrowed his eyes, then reached for another card. He studied it for a moment before placing it down with a small, satisfied smile.

Mara watched them from the armchair nearby. For the first time since the night of the attack, she felt something inside her loosen.

Noah was still quieter than he had been before. He startled when a car slowed outside the house. He held her hand more often when they went anywhere. At school, he did not like being out of sight of the guard Michael had arranged to wait near the gate.

But he was home.

He was safe.

That was enough for Mara to breathe again.

When the game was over, Noah gathered the cards slowly and placed them back into their box. Michael helped him without speaking, picking up the ones that had slipped beneath the sofa.

Noah looked toward the window. Rain pressed softly against the glass.

“Will the guard be there tomorrow morning?” he asked.

Mara’s heart tightened, but Michael answered before she could let the sadness show on her face.

“Yes,” he said. “He will wait outside the school until you are done for the day.”

Noah nodded. He did not look embarrassed for asking. He only seemed relieved.

Michael rested a hand briefly on his shoulder.

“You do not have to be brave all the time,” he said.

Noah looked down at the cards in his hands.

“I know,” he replied quietly.

Mara swallowed the tears that rose in her throat.

A few minutes later, Sarah came downstairs after speaking to someone on the phone. She smiled at Noah and held out her hand.

“Come on,” she said gently. “You promised to show me the new game on your tablet.”

Noah glanced at Mara.

She smiled at him, though her chest still ached.

“Go ahead,” she said. “I will come and say goodnight soon.”

He nodded and followed Sarah upstairs.

Mara watched until he disappeared around the corner.

Michael came to stand behind her. His hand settled at her waist, warm and steady.

“He is getting better,” he said quietly.

Mara leaned back against him.

“I know.” Her voice softened. “I just wish I could take it away from him.”

Michael pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

“You cannot take away what happened,” he said. “But you are here now. So am I. That is what he needs.”

Mara covered his hand with hers.

For a while, they stood together in the quiet sitting room, listening to Noah’s voice upstairs as he explained something to Sarah. It was an ordinary sound. It should have been ordinary.

To Mara, it felt like a gift.

Later, after Noah had gone to bed and Sarah had returned home, Mara found Michael in the kitchen.

He stood by the window with a glass of water in his hand. The house was quiet now. Rain slid down the dark glass, soft and steady.

Mara walked toward him slowly.

Michael turned when he heard her.

“You should be resting,” he said.

“So should you.”

A faint smile touched his mouth, but it disappeared when he saw the expression on her face.

She had been carrying something all evening. He could see it in the way her hands were folded tightly in front of her.

“The sentence was confirmed today,” she said.

Michael was quiet.

Mara looked down at the kitchen counter.

“Fifty years.”

Her voice shook on the number.

Michael set his glass down.

“He will not get out again,” he said carefully.

Mara swallowed.

“I know what he did,” she said. “I know he took Noah. I know he would have kept coming after us.” Her eyes filled, but she did not let the tears fall. “But fifty years is a whole life, Michael.”

He watched her silently.

For a moment, Mara looked as if she was ashamed of the sadness in her voice. She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

“I am not saying he did not deserve punishment,” she continued. “I am saying that I knew him once. Before everything became so ugly. I look at what happened to him, and I do not know how to feel.”

Michael stepped closer to her. He reached for her hand and waited until she let him hold it.

“If Adrian had remained free, he would not have stopped coming for us,” he said quietly. “Not after he took Noah. Not after he saw you with me. He still believes you and Noah belong to him, Mara. I did what I did because I needed to make sure he could never hurt either of you again.”

Mara looked down at their joined hands.

She hated that he was right. Adrian had already shown them what he was capable of when he believed he was losing them.

Her eyes drifted toward the rain outside.

“And Claire?”

Michael became still.

“Her death was an accident,” he said quietly. “One of Adrian’s guards fired during the fight. The bullet was meant for one of my men.”

Mara closed her eyes. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Michael brushed it away, his touch gentle.

“I am sorry,” he said.

Mara leaned into him then, resting her forehead against his chest.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Michael held her with one arm around her shoulders, his hand moving slowly over her hair. The quiet between them was not empty. It was full of everything they had survived. The fear. The anger. The relief of having Noah asleep safely upstairs.

After a long time, Mara pulled back.

“There is something I need to do,” she said.

Michael looked at her closely.

“What is it?”

Mara took a breath.

“I want to see Adrian.”

Michael’s expression changed at once.

“In prison?”

She nodded.

“Mara, are you sure?”

Her face was pale, but there was a calmness in her eyes that had not been there before.

“Yes,” she said. “I need to see him.”