Married To My Ex-Husband’s Rival

Third Person POV

Amber lay quietly in Richard’s arms, the burden of her anger and sadness weighing on her as she

remained lost in her thoughts.

Richard had been by her side since, silently offering her comfort as he gently patted her back, a calming gesture meant to ease her pain. The room was utterly silent, and the only sound was the soft murmur of their breathing.

As the minutes ticked by, Richard watched Amber closely, his heart heavy with the awareness of how much pain she was going through. He had carried her to the room earlier after she had sat on the floor at the entrance for almost thirty minutes without saying a word. Even after he helped her into the room, she still didn’t say anything, and it had been almost an hour now since he last heard her say something to him.

Even though her tears had ceased, the haunted look in her eyes spoke volumes, and he could tell that she was still very much in anguish.

Just when Richard thought that she would end up falling asleep without saying a word, Amber stirred.

breaking the stillness of the room as she sat up abruptly.

Startled, he mirrored her movements, concern etched on his features as he reached out to touch her, his voice soft with worry. “Are you okay, Amber? Is there something wrong?”

Ignoring his initial question, Amber fixed him with a piercing gaze,

raves!

his face with

a raw intensity that made Richard’s breath catch in his throat. In a voice edged with a hint of

sternness, she cut through the silence with a question that left him reeling. “Can I trust you, Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Richard?”

Taken aback by the sudden conversation, Richard blinked in confusion before answering, his voice tinged with surprise. “Trust me? Of course. You know you can trust me. Why would you even question

that?”

Amber’s expression remained unyielding, an expression of seriousness settling over her features as she leveled a penetrating stare at him. Without a preamble, she posed a question that sent a shiver down Richard’s spine. “If that’s the case, have you ever killed anyone?”

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The question hung in the air, charged with an intensity that left Richard momentarily speechless, his mind reeling with the unexpected inquiry. He searched her face for any hint of what had prompted such

an insane question, his voice laced with a note of surprise as he found his voice. “Why would you ask me something like that, Amber? Where is this coming from?”

Amber’s eyes bore into his. “Just answer the question, Richard. It’s important. Can I trust you to be honest with me?”

Richard hesitated, the weight of her scrutiny bearing down on him as he grappled with the gravity of her question. Taking a deep breath, he met her gaze head–on, his voice steady as he spoke. “No, Amber. I have never taken another person’s life. At least, not with my own hands.”

Amber’s frown deepened. “But if you haven’t done it yourself, have you had others do it for you?”

Richard’s disbelief was palpable as he shook his head. “Amber, no. I’ve never asked anyone to kill for me. I don’t understand where these accusations are coming from, Amber. Why are you suddenly questioning me like this?”

Amber’s

remained steady and unwavering as she delivered her next words, her tone cutting t

with chilling clarity. “I’d hate to find out that I married the same man twice, Richard. I need to be sure of who you really are.”

Puzzled by her response, Richard’s brows furrowed in confusion as he sought to understand the meaning behind her cryptic statement. “What do you mean, Amber? What are you trying to say?”

Amber met his gaze head–on, her eyes searching his face for any flicker of truth in his response. “Do you not remember taking me to that old building? Where you had a man tied up and beaten?” Her vo quivered with a mix of fear and seriousness as she voiced the memories that still bothered her. “How can you expect me not to question who you really are after that?”

Richard bowed his head, a heavy sigh escaping him. Raising his gaze to meet Amber’s once again, he responded, “I can’t claim to be a saint, Amber. I’ve hurt people before; I won’t deny it. But taking a life is a line I’ve never crossed.”

Gathering his thoughts, Richard tried to explain himself the best way he could. “In my world. sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. And I know that by dirty, you might be thinking that I

have a gang of goons or whatever, but my way of dealing with those who cross me is by giving them beating, not taking their lives. I’ve had men in similar situations to that night, but I’ve never killed any of them.”

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Amber’s expression softened slightly, a glimmer of understanding flickering in her eyes as she absorbed his words. “Were you serious when you threatened to involve H’s family?”

Richard’s features hardened. “I wasn’t trying to involve his family, Amber. I offered to help H protect his loved ones in exchange for information on Kayden. It’s like a give–and–take situation; he gives me information, and I give him protection. That was just a subtle way of pressuring him to tell me everything he knows, but it has nothing to do with wanting to hurt his family.”

Amber’s sigh echoed through the room, hinting at how much she was struggling with her thoughts.

Richard’s hurt look did not go unnoticed as he watched her in silence, his eyes searching for understanding in her troubled gaze. Finally, unable to bear the tension any longer, he voiced his concern, “Amber, are you finding it that hard to trust me?”

Meeting his eyes with a steady look, Amber held his gaze. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Richard. It’s that I trust you too much, and I’m afraid of what it would mean if that trust was misplaced,” she explained.

As her voice wavered with emotion, Amber continued, “Despite my hatred for Kayden, Marlene, and a those who have hurt us, I don’t want their blood on my hands, Richard, and I need to be sure that we are on the same page when it comes to the line we won’t cross.”

Richard’s sigh mirrored hers, a heavy sound that filled the room as he struggled with his own inner demons. “I have never taken a life before. Amber. But I can’t promise you that I won’t be pushed to that point with Kayden, Prison would be too easy a punishment for someone like him. He would thrive in that environment, living like a king, even behind bars. If I wanted to see him in prison, I would have done it already.”–

Amber shook her head, showing that she didn’t entirely approve of his thoughts. “You’re right about prison being too easy for him, but that doesn’t make killing him any less easy. Instead of giving him the luxury of a quick death, I have a better idea, I want to make sure he pays for everything he’s done, every life he’s destroyed, and for that to happen, he has to be alive. Not well, but alive.”

Intrigued by her response, Richard leaned in slightly, his eyes searching hers as he eagerly waited to hear her plan. “What do you have in mind, Amber?”

She answered. “I want to do to Kayden what I had planned to do to Marlene. But I need your help to find something–something that isn’t exactly legal, but I’ll need it as soon as possible. Once you get

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