Chapter 142: Why did I fall for you in the first place?
As the soft light of dawn filtered through the curtains, Ava stirred awake. Her phone flooded with birthday wishes from her friends. A faint smile graced her lips as she typed out her replies until her eyes landed on one name in the sea of messages: Nicholas.
Her smile faltered, a subtle shadow passing over her expression. Even he had remembered her birthday, yet the man sleeping soundly beside her had not. She set the phone down, her attention drawn to Dylan’s sleeping figure.
For a moment, her gaze lingered on him, tracing the sharp lines of his jaw. This was the face she had loved to watch so much.
She still remembered the stolen glances in school hallways, her heart fluttering with every sight of him, and the countless nights after they were married when she had stayed up just to watch him breathe.
Nothing had changed. He was still devastatingly handsome. But things had changed. Her feelings, once so certain and steady, now felt tangled and unclear.
"Why did I fall for you in the first place?" she muttered as she threw the blanket and jumped out of the bed.
After taking a bath, Ava came out of the bathroom and found him still asleep. Her disappointment lingered in her heart as she made her way to the closet.
As she was slipping into a dress, the sharp trill of her phone broke the silence. She stepped out of the closet and grabbed it from the nightstand. A smile instantly lit up her face when she saw her father’s name flashing on the screen. Her earlier frustrations melted away.
"Good morning, Papa." She walked out of the room.
"Happy birthday, darling," Thomas’s cheerful voice came through, filling her heart with comfort and joy.
"Thank you." She beamed.