From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 289

Chapter 289 The Trap

Chapter 289 The Trap

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It felt like a stone was lodged in his throat, making it impossible to swallow. The disgust was overwhelming.

In moments like this, his mind always drifted back to Jade.

She hadn’t brought him business deals, but when he came home exhausted, she had created a world of warmth and peace for him. She had been his sanctuary.

He realized now that all the corporate success in the world couldn’t buy the feeling of safety she’d given him for free.

‘Daddy Hudson?” Cortney sensed the shift in him and tugged on his sleeve, looking worried.

‘Did I say something wrong? Are you mad at me?”

Hudson forced the dark thoughts down and gave her a gentle smile.

‘No, sweetheart. It’s not your fault.”

He held out his pinky finger.

‘Can you do me a favor? Don’t tell your mommy about our little chat, okay?”

‘Okay!” Cortney beamed, hooking her tiny finger around his.

‘Pinky swear. A hundred years, no changes!”

Hudson smiled and ruffled her hair before setting her down.

“One more thing. From now on, call me Uncle Hudson, okay? Not Daddy.”

“Why?”

Cortney looked confused. She’d used the name for so long; why the sudden change?

Hudson was patient. “Because I’m not your real father, and ‘Uncle’ is more accurate. But more importantly… one day, your Aunt Jade and I might have a baby of our own. If that baby hears me letting other kids call me Daddy, it might think I don’t love it. That would be very sad, wouldn’t it?”

Cortney thought about it. “But didn’t you say you weren’t going to have a baby? You said I could call you whatever I wanted.”

Hudson’s pupils contracted. A sharp, physical ache bloomed in his chest, and his eyes began to sting.

“I have a baby… I have a baby… it’s just… it’s not here right now. But it’s coming back. I know it is…”

Cortney saw his sadness and patted his shoulder.

“Well, until your baby comes back, I can be your practice baby.”

The child’s innocent words managed to clear a bit of the fog in Hudson’s heart.

She was so much like Ronald-always knowing exactly what to say to lift him up.

1/3

Chapter 289 The Trap

+30 Free Coins

Thank God for Cortney.

Ronald’s daughter was a bridge to his past, a small comfort in the wake of losing his own child. He had to protect her.

Hudson stood up and smoothed her hair.

“Go find Grandma Rosa in the kitchen. She’ll make you a snack. I have some files to handle, but I’ll come play later.”

Cortney gave an enthusiastic “Yes!” and skipped off toward the back of the house.

Hudson went upstairs, but he didn’t work. Instead, he pulled out the only photo he had left of him and Jade-a shot from their wedding day.

He’d found it tucked away in a bookshelf, one of the few things she hadn’t managed to destroy before she left.

In the photo, Jade was radiant. Her smile was pure, sweet, and full of a love that seemed to glow through the paper.

She looked so soft in her white gown.

He traced the curve of her face with his thumb, his gaze softening in spite of himself.

Everything he’d told her at the hospital was the truth.

He didn’t understand love. No one had ever shown him what it looked like.

But he knew with a terrifying certainty that he couldn’t live without the life she’d built for him.

Without Jade, this house was just a collection of expensive furniture. It wasn’t a home.

“Just wait for me, Jade,” he whispered to the empty room.

The fact that she had rejected Julian Forster’s proposal proved his theory.

She still loved him. She couldn’t possibly move on to someone else because her heart was still tied to him.

She was just waiting. Waiting for him to learn how to be the man she needed. Waiting for him to clear the wreckage of their past.

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