HIS REGRET (Ex-Husband wants Me Back) novel Chapter 500

Chapter 500

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Chapter 500

Silence settled over the room again. Eli lowered her head even further. She wished her chair could swallow her whole. She didn’t want to hear any more of this conversation-there was no warmth, no kindness, only tension and suffocating pressure.

Selena leaned back in her chair. “Fine. Perhaps I should have come to Chase back then, already pregnant, so you would’ve believed me. So you would’ve believed that we shared happy moments together. And that Chase promised to give us a proper life, especially his daughter.”

“Was any promise my son made ever written in an official document?” Nathan rested his face against both hands. “Because a man’s promises often to fade once time passes. Surely you understand that.”

For a moment, Selena was left speechless. But she wouldn’t be Selena if she gave up so easily. What she had been waiting for was right in front of her. She was certain-she and Eli would enter the Miller household and continue her plan.

“If we’re talking about fairness,” Selena said at last, “then let’s be honest.”

She turned to Riana. “What about Althea?”

Riana lifted her head. Her gaze was sharp yet controlled. “What do you mean?”

“Althea Callister is no longer anything to the Miller family, is she?” Selena pressed on. “Didn’t she even remarry her ex-husband? I’m right, aren’t I?” Her lips curved into a sneer. “But her child-Josh-receives full attention. He’s called the first grandchild. Raised with this family’s affection. He’s only Chase Miller’s stepson. So why does he receive such devotion? While Eli-”

Eli bit her lips. The mention of Josh made her stomach twist painfully.

“Why doesn’t Eli receive the same rights?” Selena demanded. “Is it because I’m her mother?”

Nathan let out a long breath-not from exhaustion, but from disappointment at the direction this conversation had taken. And… if he was right about where Selena was steering this, then the woman wanted more than just entry into his family’s home.

There was something else she was after.

Could it be…

“Josh was acknowledged by Chase while he was alive,” Nathan said firmly. “From the moment Josh was born, Chase was by his side. He openly acknowledged Josh as his son. Even though Josh wasn’t biologically his, even though our blood doesn’t run in Josh’s veins-Chase considered him his first son. He took full responsibility and declared it openly before us.”

Riana added, her voice calm yet cold, “If Josh-who wasn’t even Chase’s biological child-was loved so deeply by my son, have you ever considered this: if Chase had known you were left pregnant, in need of support, needing him by your side… what do you think Chase would have done?”

Selena ground her teeth, unable to respond.

“I’m certain Chase would have found you, no matter how,” Riana continued. “If he had known. If he truly promised you a happy life for you and Eli. But he didn’t. As a mother, it’s only natural that I continue to question

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Chapter 500

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the truth of your relationship.”

“Eli is Chase Miller’s daughter, Mrs. Riana,” Selena said, emphasizing every word. “Do I really need to present the DNA test here again?”

Riana shook her head firmly. “I can see it anywhere. You’ve spread it extensively. And one more thing-Josh has never been used as leverage to get something.”

Eli squeezed her eyes shut. The words were true; she couldn’t deny them. She felt it too-she was being used as a tool to pressure others into bending to her mother’s will.

“So in your eyes,” Selena sneered, “a child born to the wrong woman-like me-doesn’t deserve a place?”

“That’s not it,” Nathan replied quickly. “What’s unacceptable is the method.” He leaned forward. “I want to know one thing, Selena. What do you really want?”

Selena fell silent for a split second.

“Recognition,” she said at last.

“Recognition of what?” Nathan pressed.

“That Eli is part of the Miller family.”

“As what?” Nathan asked again. “As a granddaughter? An heiress? Or a symbol of your victory over the past— proof that you managed to have a child by my son?”

Eli clenched her fingers, her head still lowered. She wanted to speak-truly, she had never wanted any of this. What she wanted was what she’d felt when she met Riana and Josh before: warm, easy conversation, talking about school and everyday things. But the words caught in her throat.

“I want her to stop being treated like a discarded child,” Selena answered. “I want her to have her own place in the Miller family.”

“A place is not built through coercion,” Nathan replied. “And a family is not formed through public pressure.

That was when Nathan finally noticed Eli-whom he had momentarily forgotten. Why should this child have to hear a conversation like this? He looked at her again, this time more carefully.

“Eli,” he called gently.

“Yes, GrandDad?” Eli lifted her face and looked at Nathan. She tried to give him her best smile.

“I want you to know one thing. Whatever comes out of this discussion, none of this is your fault.”

Eli swallowed hard, her eyes glistening. “I… I don’t want anyone fighting because of me,” she whispered.

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