My Ex-husband’s Regret: On his knees for me

Charlotte Watson, a twenty-five year old rising pop star has been with Alexander Calloway for four years and married for two. When she comes back home after a tour to see her husband has started treating her coldly, she’s confused and wonders if he has a new woman.

Alexander has always been loyal to his wife. What happens when he hears rumors about her? Will he dismiss them? Or will he let it foster and end up ruining his marriage?

~•~

His head whipped to the side from the impact of my slap. His mouth fell open, surprised I’d raised my hand on him. He tried to speak but I didn’t let him.

“How dare you, Alex?” I questioned, burning with anger. “How dare you accuse me of such!?”

001

CHARLOTTE

~•~

I let out a satisfied sigh as the door of the van closed after me. I loved my job. I really did, but dealing with so many people at a time got draining sometimes.

Iris laughed as I leaned back on the car seat. “Finally happy to be back home, aren’t you?”

I smiled. I truly was. I had missed my husband. If he weren’t so busy, he could have visited me in different locations and we would have had the opportunity to explore together. Sometimes, I hated that he was working a corporate job, but I was sure he felt the same way about my job as it required me to travel around the world.

Well, I wasn’t that famous yet, but I did have to travel around the continent in order to satisfy the few fans I had.

“Wasn’t Mr. Calloway supposed to pick you up?” She asked again.

“He got held up at work.” Besides, if he had picked me up, it was going to be another unnecessary headline about how perfect our marriage was. A husband picking up his wife from the airport was the bare minimum yet the media ate it up like it was the most iconic thing ever.

I didn’t mind the attention. Honestly? I thrived in it, but when that attention came from my marriage rather than my music, it was a little annoying sometimes.

“There’s this infatuated look in your eyes whenever you talk about him,” Iris went on. She was talkative but I didn’t mind because she filled the silence whenever I had nothing to say. “It’s so admirable. I wish to have a love like yours one day.”

I looked over at her. She had only been my assistant for a year. Fresh out of college, she decided to take a gap year to work. One year turned into two and I was sure she had no plans to go back to college for now.

“Speaking of, does he have any brothers? Any cousins?”

I laughed. “Unfortunately, he only has a sister who is straight.”

“No friends?”

“I’ll ask and find out if anyone is single.”

Iris grinned. “You’re the best, Charlotte.”

I closed my eyes after that, soaking in the ride back home. I finally had time to be with my family but my break only lasted two weeks. Thankfully, Thanksgiving and our second anniversary were included in those two weeks.

As soon as the van started to slow down, I sat up straighter and looked out the window. I’d been away for a few months and I missed everything about home, most especially the man who shared it with me, even if he had managed to visit me a few weeks ago because of a business trip. That wasn’t enough though because we only got to spend a night together.

As the van came to a stop, I quickly got out. Iris followed after me, going straight to the trunk to get my luggage.

I walked over to the door, expecting it to be locked, but was surprised to see that it was open. Was Alexander in? Excited, I rushed inside the house and just as suspected, Alexander was by the fridge, drinking a glass of water.

Since he didn’t turn around, I assumed he didn’t hear me come in, so I tiptoed, making sure my steps were light as I approached him. As soon as I was close enough, I wrapped my arms around him from behind.

He was startled at first, but calmed down when he realized it was me. He sighed. “You scared me, Char.”

I grinned, releasing my hold on him and letting him turn around to face me. “Didn’t you say you were held up?” I asked with a pout. “You just didn’t want to pick me up, right?”

He stared at me for a few seconds, not responding. His expression was pretty blank. Then he moved away to rinse the glass before he spoke. “I just left work. I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

If only he knew what I wouldn’t mind waiting for him, but I understood his logic.

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted when the door opened again. Iris came in first, dragging one suitcase behind her. The driver followed with two suitcases in both hands.

“Just leave them there,” I told them.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to arrange them!”

“It’s fine,” I assured her, but I really just wanted them to leave so Alexander and I would be alone.

“Alright then, see you later,” Iris said as they let go of the luggage. “Bye, Mr. Calloway.”

Alexander gave her a tight smile as they left. I frowned at his expression. “What’s wrong? Did something happen at work?”

He let out a breath and walked out of the kitchen. I followed behind him.

My frown deepened. Why was he not replying? Was he mad at me? He was acting very odd. Usually, Alexander would be the one to open the door for me if he didn’t pick me up and he’d welcome me with a kiss, or at least, a hug. This time, he was evading my hug as well as my questions. It was odd.

“Wait,” I held his hand. He stopped walking and exhaled like I was a bother. My eyebrows raised in confusion. “Are you mad at me for something? Did I do something wrong?”

But how could I have done anything wrong when we weren’t even in the same city? Then again, if I thought about it, we hadn’t been texting as regularly as we used to in the past two weeks.

“I’m not mad at you,” he finally replied. “I’m just… stressed from work.”

“Did your MD give you shit again? What happened?”

“None of that, Char.”

“Then what’s wrong? Talk to me.” His managing director was his uncle, who didn’t like him very much. It wasn’t usual for him to stress him out at work.

“Do you have anything to tell me?”

I frowned at that question. I had just come back from a long trip so of course I had a lot to tell him. “Of course, I have a lot of things to tell you? Is that why you’re angry?”

“No, not that,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I mean a secret of yours. Do you have anything to tell me?”

002

ALEXANDER

~•~

I hated that she was playing dumb.

I stared at her, waiting for her to finally confess what I wanted to hear. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she could at least explain the situation that led to it. She could lie about it and reassure me that it was just a misunderstanding. The fact that she was pretending everything was okay was even worse.

She scrunched her eyebrows the way she usually did whenever she was confused. I wasn’t sure why she was confused as my question was pretty straightforward.

“You’re angry at me because you believe I’m hiding a secret from you?” She questioned. “I don’t have any secrets, Alex.”

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek. She was still playing dumb.

I was about to speak when her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh! I do have something I’m hiding from you.”

My heart stopped beating for a second. While I wanted her to admit it, I also didn’t want it to be true.

I watched her as she turned around and dropped one of her suitcases on the ground. I frowned. Was she going to bring out some kind of evidence to back up the fact that she was cheating?

I tried to be patient as she opened the suitcase and brought out a velvet box. She stood up and handed it to me.

“What’s this?”

“It’s supposed to be my gift to you for our anniversary, but since you’re impatient, I figured I’d just give it to you now. You’ve wanted that watch for a few months now so I decided to get it.” She explained, smiling as always. “How could you have known though?” She muttered to herself. “Did Iris mention something by accident?”

I was too stunned to speak. Was she fucking with me? Was she trying to see how far she could push me before I snapped? She knew very well what she had done while on tour. Did she think I was angry about a stupid watch?

I tried to stay calm. I really did, but before I could even process my actions, I was throwing the box on the ground.

Charlotte flinched, shock evident in her features. “What is wrong with you?” She yelled, picking up the box. “Do you know how much this costs?”

“I don’t give a damn about the watch, Charlotte! What I want to know is how you can act like everything is okay after what you’ve done!” I couldn’t hold in my anger anymore. Seeing her fake a smile and act innocent was my breaking point.

Charlotte and I had dated for two years before getting married. If anyone had told me she would cheat on me, I would sue them for defamation. Charlotte was the sweetest woman I knew. She could never hurt a fly. Apparently, I was a fly and she didn’t mind hurting me, except she never expected me to find out.

“What the hell are you talking about, Alexander? If something is wrong, we can sit down and talk about it. There’s no need to yell.”

I scoffed. “There’s no need to yell? If you didn’t try to pretend everything was fine, would I have a reason to yell?”

“For fuck’s sake, Alex. I just came home. If you can’t explicitly state the reason you’re mad, then there’s no reason for us to have a conversation!”

Just as angry as I was, for reasons best known to her, she zipped up her open suitcase and dragged it upstairs before coming down for the other two. She didn’t even bother to spare me a glance as she did so.

Of course, she didn’t. Guilty people often couldn’t look others in the eye. I badly wanted to tell her what was wrong but I also wanted her to spare me some dignity and admit to it herself.

If she was remorseful enough, maybe this wouldn’t cause much of a problem in our marriage.

But she clearly wasn’t. Even worse, she was trying to make me feel stupid when she was the one who disrespected our marriage. I couldn’t take that. I really couldn’t.

True to what I told her earlier, I was just back from work, but I also couldn’t stand to be under the same roof as her at the moment.

“I’m going back to work,” I cared enough to tell her as she stomped up the stairs, magically being able to carry two suitcases at once. If she didn’t feel guilty, she would have asked me for help, but she didn’t.

“Of course,” she chuckled bitterly, not looking back for a second.

I nodded to myself, grabbed my car keys from the bowl on the kitchen counter, and left the house, banging the door with much more force than necessary.

After the door closed behind me, I let out a few deep breaths. Thankfully, none of our workers were around to hear us go off on each other like that. They all saw us as a perfect couple. Fighting about infidelity in front of them would definitely be embarrassing.

How did we end up like this? I gave her everything I could. I showed her how much I loved her as often as I could. What was she seeking outside? I helped with her career as much as I could. I did everything to make sure she had everything she wanted. How could she betray me without feeling an iota of guilt?

Was she still my Charlotte?

003

CHARLOTTE

~•~

The day wasn’t supposed to go like that.

It had been three months since I was home and three weeks since I last saw him. What could have possibly changed in just three weeks?

I buried my face in the pillow and let out a frustrated scream. I shouldn’t have lashed out at him like that. Alexander wasn’t an unreasonable person. I should have tried to hear him out even if he wasn’t making it easy for me. There had to be a reason for the way he was acting.

I looked for my purse and brought out my phone. I didn’t think twice before I dialed his number. I should not have let him walk out like that when he was still angry. Alex barely yelled and he had never thrown anything out of anger. But I also didn’t know what I could have done to make him so angry.

He thought I was hiding something from him and apparently, it was huge enough to make him throw a fit. That confused me more than ever.

I brought my phone up to my ear, waiting for him to pick up, but he never did. The second time I called, his phone was switched off. I huffed and threw my phone on the bed.

The doorbell rang and I groaned as I made my way downstairs. Whenever Alexander was home alone, he dismissed most of the workers as he was barely home himself. I already knew they would all resume work tomorrow.

As soon as I opened the door, arms were thrown around my shoulder, engulfing me in a tight hug. I laughed, reeling backward as I wrapped my arms around Leah. “It hasn’t even been ten minutes since I came back. How are you here already?”

Leah pulled back, grinning. “Alex told me you were going to be back this afternoon.”

“Oh.” My face turned grim at the mention of his name.

“Speaking of…” she looked around like he would magically appear out of nowhere. “Where’s he?”

“Work,” I replied begrudgingly, dragging my feet as I walked back to the living room.

She followed behind me. “Work? What is he doing at work when you just got home?”

I couldn’t answer that question. I couldn’t tell her that her brother was mad at me as soon as I got home. I couldn’t tell her that he stormed off without telling me what was wrong. I just settled for shrugging.

“I’ll give him a call right now.” I sat on the couch and watched her as she called her brother, frowning at her phone when he didn’t pick up. “His phone is switched off.”

I shrugged again. Leah was our biggest shipper. Aside from the fact that she was supportive of our relationship while we were still in college, she was also excited because her brother was lucky enough to get married to a “star.”

“When he comes back, I’ll scold him for you.”

I winced. “You intend to stay here until he’s back?”

“Yes?” She sounded confused. “I’m not leaving you to be alone.”

Unfortunately, that was exactly what I wanted at the moment. To be alone. “I just came back from a stressful tour, Leah. All I need is to rest and recuperate.”

“You can go upstairs and rest. I’ll just be here looking after the house,” She said. “I want to be the first to meet my idiot brother when he comes back.”

Unable to argue with her, I just nodded and headed upstairs.

Alexander didn’t come home that night.

Nor the next night.

Leah ended up going home the next day after asking me whether we were fighting. I didn’t know how to answer that so she took my silence as an answer.

Tired of staying at home alone, I got dressed and prepared to go to my parents’ house. I packed the gifts I’d gotten for them into my bag and set out.

The drive to my parents’ house was way too short and in no time, I’d arrived.

Since no one was expecting me, I rang the doorbell instead of just going in. I didn’t usually tell them my schedule because then, they’d feel entitled to my time.

I heard footsteps approaching the door but it never opened. I frowned and rang the doorbell again. This time, the footsteps retreated. I bit the inside of my cheek as I turned the knob of the door, opening it just in time to see Briella walking away.

I sighed. “Is opening the door really that hard a job?”

“You’re not a visitor,” she didn’t glance back as she spoke. “Why should I have to open the door for you?”

I didn’t even bother to respond. She was older than I was yet she was somehow less mature too.

“By the way, why did your husband not accompany you? I thought you two were joined at the hip?”

“Where’s mom and dad?”

Instead of replying, she just scoffed and sat on the couch, resuming what she was watching before I got there.

I shook my head. It was so fucking hard to deal with her. We’d been living with each other since we were 7 and 9. I only moved out when I was eighteen to go to college while she attended college from home, then blamed me for having more opportunities than she did.

I went upstairs to check their room first. They were there. Then I walked around the hall but still couldn’t find them. It seemed they weren’t at home. Briella could have just told me that. What an infuriating woman. How could we ever be regular cousins when she acted like a bitch all the time?

Since there was no need to hang around, I dropped their gifts in their room, not trusting Briella enough to keep them with her. Despite how much she annoyed me, I still gave her hers. As expected, she didn’t appreciate it. Instead, her lips lifted in a scowl. “Are you leaving?”

“Should I stay and hang with you?”

“Next time, call before you come, as regular people do.”

“Thanks for the advice, Briella.” I turned around to leave.

“Also, the only reason Mom and Dad appreciate your visits is because of who you married. If you’re not coming with him, it’s best you don’t come at all.”

I closed my eyes briefly. I knew she was taunting me on purpose. Did she know that we were currently having problems? I turned around to face her again. “You’re oddly interested in my husband, Briella. Do you, perhaps, want him for yourself?”

Her eyes blazed with anger, cheeks red with embarrassment. “And what if I do?”

004

CHARLOTTE

~•~

I scoffed at her question. She was going to say anything to get under my skin and I’d be doing myself a disservice by standing there and listening to whatever bullshit she had to spew.

“Then it’s too bad he married me and doesn’t even look at you.” I didn’t wait to hear her response before I walked out of the house.

I took in a deep breath after the door closed behind me. On a regular day, her words wouldn’t get to me. Couldn’t. But with the way things were with Alexander… I wasn’t that confident.

I opened the driver's door of my car and got in. I drove around the city for a while before I finally went back home. When I got home, I saw that Alex’s car was in front of the house.

Would we finally have time to talk things through?

I rushed inside and found him in our bedroom. He was taking off his shirt when I came in. He turned around to face me, the buttons of his shirt already undone. “Where are you coming from?”

I blinked in surprise at his accusatory tone. “I should be asking you that question, Alex. You have been gone for two nights without any form of communication.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Fine. I went to visit my parents. Your turn?”

“Your parents?” He narrowed his eyes. “They aren’t even home.”

“Yes, but Briella was at home.”

“You don’t even get along with Briella.”

“What are you insinuating, Alex?” I questioned, tired of the back and forth that wasn’t leading anywhere. “How do you even know my parents aren’t home?”

Instead of answering, he looked away and resumed taking off his shirt. He walked into the closet to find a t-shirt and I followed after him.

“Are you going to say anything? Where have you been for the past two days?”

“In my office,” he answered rigidly.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t stand the sight of you, Charlotte,” he suddenly whipped around. “Not right now. I cannot bear to be in the same room with you.”

I reeled back in shock, his words sending an unfamiliar ache across my chest. “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, blinking back the tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe him. How could he say something like that so easily?

“You see, this innocent act is what pisses me off the most.” He gritted out like he was trying so hard to stay calm. “If you would just admit what you’ve done, maybe this conversation could have gone a different way.”

There he went again. He clearly suspected me of doing something but couldn’t open his mouth to say what he thought I did wrong? I stayed quiet for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling. I tried to make sure my voice sounded steady as I spoke. “Alexander, if you think I’ve wronged you in any way, tell me what it is, so we can talk about it. Thanksgiving dinner is two days away. We can’t be fighting at my parents’ place.”

Alex scoffed. “You still want to go to Thanksgiving? Would your conscience allow you to do that after sleeping with another man?”

My lips parted, but no words came out. Did he know how heavy that accusation was? Sleeping with another man? Why the hell would I ever do that?

“What?” He laughed, but it came out bitter. “Speechless now, aren’t you? You didn’t think you’d ever get caught when you were out there spreading your legs for your potential costar, huh? Is that how you intend to start acting? By sleeping your way into the industry?”

Before I even processed it, my hand was cracking against his skin.

His head whipped to the side from the impact of my slap. His mouth fell open, surprised I’d raised my hand on him. He tried to speak, but I didn’t let him.

“How dare you, Alex?” I questioned, burning with anger. “How dare you accuse me of such?”

There was a beat of silence before shook his head. “You’re such a good actress. All roles should be given to you immediately. Are you trying to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about? Does the name Dave Brown ring a bell? You had dinner with him and the director, didn’t you?”

“So how the hell does having dinner translate into sex, Alexander. Has working too much made you silly?”

“At least, you’re not denying you know him.” He muttered to himself and brought out his phone. I watched him as he scrolled for a bit before he handed it to me. “Since you have an explanation for everything, you must have one for this, right?”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, wondering what the hell he was going on about, then I stared at the screen, my eyes widening in shock. It was a picture of two people kissing. Our faces weren’t clear but anyone who knew me or Dave knew that it was us.

The outfit was the same one I’d worn to have dinner with him and the director. My hair was in a bun, the exact way I’d tied it that day. Dave was also wearing the same clothes. The picture looked like it had been taken by paparazzi when we weren’t paying attention.

The only problem was that I never kissed Dave Brown.

I didn’t drink that night so I couldn’t have made a drunken mistake so where the hell did Alex get his picture from?

005

ALEXANDER

~•~

I stared down at her, waiting for an explanation, waiting for her to tell me that she was drunk and didn’t know what she was doing, anything that could at least put me at ease, but she didn’t.

Instead, she looked up at me and said, “This is fake, Alex.”

“Fake?” I laughed. “That’s your explanation, that it’s fake?”

“Look,” she seemed less angry than she was just a few minutes ago. “I know how it looks. I understand you’re angry at me because you believe I’ve cheated on you, but I didn’t. I did meet him that day, but it was only for dinner and the director as well as all our assistants were present. I didn’t kiss him. I was never even alone with him.”

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek. Her words didn’t even make sense. “So everything is true except for the part that makes you look bad?”

“You’re not hearing me, Alex!”

“Oh, I am. And all I’m hearing is your lack of accountability, Charlotte. There’s tangible proof in front of you and you’re still denying it?” I shook my head in disappointment. “I didn’t expect this from you.”

A tear rolled down her cheek, landing on her shirt, then another. Before I knew it, she was crying. “Someone is trying to slander me, Alex. This is not true, I promise.”

I turned away from her. She knew her tears were my weakness and she knew how to use them to her advantage. “Why don’t you scroll and see the rest of the pictures then?”

If it were just a kiss, I wouldn’t be this angry. I could have easily dismissed it. I could have pretended it never happened as long as she promised to stay away from him. I would never have brought it up, either, but it was much more than that. There were more pictures of them entering a hotel, both of them in a hotel room. Both of them getting undressed, not knowing they were being watched.

At first, I’d dismissed the pictures as AI-generated pictures but they were way too detailed not to be true. The piercing on her back. The tattoos on the side of her waist and the side of her breasts. AI couldn’t be this thorough.

“Please, Alex. I don’t know how these came about but I am certain it’s not me! I didn’t even drink! If I had slept with him, I would have remembered!”

I turned back around to face her, but before I could say anything, her phone started ringing. She ignored it at first. “Aren’t you going to take that?”

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and brought out her phone from her pocket. My eyes went straight to the screen. A chuckle slipped past my lips when I saw who was calling. Talk about incredible timing.

“Answer it.”

She stared at me for a few seconds, no doubt contemplating whether to listen or not. When she realized it wasn’t worth fighting me over, she answered the call and put it on speaker.

“H-hello?” She cleared her throat. “What’s up?”

“Are you good? Your voice sounds different.”

I rolled my eyes. He knew her voice enough to know when there was a change.

Charlotte faked a laugh. “That’s what happens when I spend three months constantly singing.”

Dave Brown laughed loudly even though it wasn’t that funny. “You singers are incredible.”

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek, irritated by the unnecessary compliment. She avoided my eyes, uncomfortable as well. “Did you call for a reason?”

“Oh yeah! I wanted to check if the news has been delivered to you? We’re the official cast.”

“Oh,” she glanced at me. “I haven’t heard yet. Thanks for telling me.”

“I guess the director saw our chemistry.” He chuckled.

She cleared her throat again, knowing the call was doing nothing to help her case. “I’m busy right now. How about I call you later?”

“Alright then. See you soon.”

She hung up after that and looked at me. “I know that sounded sketchy…”

I scoffed and walked away from her, walking further into the closet to find the shirt I originally came for. I took the first shirt I saw off its hanger and put it on.

“Come on, Alex. Do you really believe I’ll cheat on you?” She followed me as I walked out of the closet.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Charlotte.”

“How about you start by believing your wife?”

I didn’t respond because I didn’t know how to. How could I believe her when every piece of evidence was pointing towards cheating? How could I just take her world for it like a fool?

Before those photos, I never would have believed she would cheat on me, but I didn’t know anymore.

I’d acquired those photos at a very high price just because I didn’t want her reputation to be ruined. I had given her enough grace by not letting the paparazzi post them. I’d paid a lot to suppress the news. I knew she was just getting into acting. I didn’t want to ruin that for her, but she still found it hard to tell me the truth.

I turned around to face her once more. She stopped walking before she could run into me. “Tell me something, Charlotte. Are you going to take that gig?”

“What?”

“Are you going to go through with it? Are you going to act with him?”

She bit down on her bottom lip, staying quiet.

Her silence was all I needed.

“Of course,” I nodded.

“Alex,” she teared up again.

I shook my head, not wanting to hear any more. “Either you let go of the gig or we get divorced.”