My Cold-Hearted Husband Wants Me Back
Chapter 188: Unspoken Goodbyes

Chapter 188: Unspoken Goodbyes

Lunara was ready when she came downstairs this morning, her bag in one hand, her steps quiet.

The dining table was already set but only for one. A single plate of warm toast, scrambled eggs, and a neatly sliced apple sat waiting. No second chair pulled out, no coffee mug across from hers.

Eryx was nowhere in sight.

She sat slowly, her appetite dulled by the weight in her chest. She ate in silence, her movements mechanical, eyes occasionally drifting to the empty doorway. But he didn’t appear.

Not even once.

The quiet pressed in until footsteps echoed from the entrance.

When she thought he finally appeared, it was eventually, Callum.

He stepped inside, pausing as he saw her. "Good morning, madam." He smiled, "You finished your breakfast?"

Lunara nodded, pulling out a tissue and dabbing carefully around her lips, "What are you doing here so early?"

"Oh," Callum rubbed the back of his head, "Sir asked me to send you to the place you want to go—"

"Where is he?" Lunara instantly cut his words.

"Ah..." Callum took a few moments to answer, "Well, something happened with the company late at night, so he is dealing with it at this moment."

Lunara’s eyes flickered for a moment. "I see," she said softly, folding the tissue neatly before setting it on her plate. Her appetite had long vanished anyway.

Callum shifted uncomfortably, then tried to smile again. "He left a message, though. Said he didn’t want to make things harder for you this morning."

She didn’t respond to that.

Instead, she stood up, brushing her hand gently over the strap of her bag. "Give me five minutes. I’ll be ready."

Callum nodded. "Take your time, madam."

As she made her way upstairs to calm herself, Lunara tried not to think about how Eryx had quietly disappeared. Not about the untouched second chair at the dining table, or the way the breakfast had been prepared only for her.

But once she closed the door behind her, the silence pressed in again.

Why was she angry?

She was the one who asked for space. The one who said she needed time to think.

Still... she sank onto the edge of the bed, her fingers tightening slightly around the strap of her handbag.

"He said he’d take me himself," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "Wherever I wanted to go."

So what was this? Sending Callum in his place, slipping away before she woke up?

Maybe it was easier that way...for him.

Maybe it was exactly what she asked for.

She sat there for a few more seconds, collecting the loose pieces of her thoughts, then stood, her face once again composed.

But her steps faltered before she reached the door.

She hesitated.

Her fingers lingered on the handle, unmoving, as if her body refused to follow through.

A part of her wanted to walk out without looking back, clean, simple, decisive. But another part... the quieter part, the one she didn’t want to admit was still hoping, wondered if she had misunderstood him. If Eryx had left because he didn’t want to see her go. Or worse, because he didn’t care enough to try.

Lunara closed her eyes, drew in a breath, and forced the thought away.

She had made her choice.

She turned the handle and walked downstairs, each step steady now, even if her heart still carried the weight of too many questions.

Callum was waiting near the entrance, checking his phone. He looked up as she approached, quickly straightening. "Madam?"

"I’m ready," she said simply, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

Without another word, he opened the door for her.

The drive was quiet.

Morning light filtered through the windows, painting soft shadows across her lap. Lunara stared out, watching the streets shift past in a blur. She wasn’t sure what she expected to feel freedom, maybe. Or a sense of direction. But there was only silence. The kind that filled in the spaces between decisions.

Eventually, the car pulled up in front of the villa.

Her villa.

The place her mother had left for her. If anyone thought she chose this place simply because it was the only place she had, no, not quite. She chose it because it was familiar... quiet... and yes, maybe because it would be easy for Eryx to find her here.

Not to plead. She didn’t expect that from him.

But maybe to try. To show up. To prove something.

She didn’t even know what she wanted him to prove.

That he cared?

That he regretted something?

That he chose her, not out of obligation, not because of some old deal, but simply because he wanted to?

The thoughts felt childish when she said them in her head, but they lingered.

Lunara stepped inside, letting the door close behind her. The silence welcomed her like an old friend. No footsteps echoing behind hers. No familiar cologne hanging in the air. Just her.

And maybe, for now, that was enough.

====

The days blurred into one another. Mornings came and went. She kept herself busy, reorganizing rooms, tending to the garden, reading books she never finished before. Occasionally, she would glance at the road through her window.

And just like that, a month passed.

Thirty quiet mornings. Thirty quiet nights.

No calls. No texts. No knock at the door.

She hadn’t reached out either, not because she didn’t want to, but because a quiet fear had settled deep inside her. A fear that if she did, and he didn’t answer, the silence would become real. Tangible. Final.

She tried to convince herself that maybe he was just giving her the space she asked for. That maybe he was respecting her boundaries. But with every day that passed, that hope thinned.

What if after all this time apart, Eryx finally realized he never really loved her?

What if this space was the answer she dreaded most, the proof she was never more than a deal to him?