My Ex Regrets Dumping Me For His Ex

Audrey looked up and went cold.

The woman was striking even furious—a narrow, catlike face, a small mole high on one cheekbone, the kind of looks that photographed better than they behaved.

Where Audrey was quiet and unhurried, Lila Stone came at you like weather.

"Lila." Audrey blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"You've got some nerve, showing your face. But let me spell it out for you. If Diego doesn't love you, he doesn't love you. You could hand him a hundred better reasons and he'd still walk out the door after me." Lila's smile was pure goading.

That little curve of her mouth said everything. Triumph, plain and simple.

She waved one pale hand, and the bracelet on her wrist caught the light. Impossible to miss.

Audrey's chest clenched. She knew that bracelet. Diego had put an identical one on her wrist two years ago and told her it was a family heirloom, passed to the women who married into the Ramos family.

So it hadn't been indifference. It had been contempt.

Audrey stood, and made herself smile. "Ms. Stone, do I look like I'm competing with you? If you want leftovers, take them. I won't stand in your way."

"You—" Lila's eyes flashed.

"Spare me. They're all yours." Audrey turned to go.

Then Lila crumpled sideways toward her, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Audrey stepped clear on instinct, one hand flying to her stomach. If Lila landed on her, the baby—

"Audrey, help me. Please—"

Audrey froze, and a shadow fell across her.

The man scooped Lila up like something breakable and pinned Audrey with a look. "I knew you didn't like her. I didn't think you'd put your hands on her."

Audrey laughed, sharp and incredulous. "Did you actually see anything? I never touched her."

Lila pressed closer to Diego, eyes brimming. "It's my fault. She didn't do anything."

"And you're still defending her."

That was the thing that cracked her. Heat rushed to Audrey's face. Half the waiting room was watching her get humiliated in public by a man she'd loved for three years.

Pride wouldn't let her stand there another second. She straightened her spine and walked. The tears came the moment her back was turned.

Pain could fade into a dull ache. Tears could fall without permission. And still, she couldn't seem to put him down.

You are unbelievable, Diego Ramos.

"She looked upset. You should go after her," Lila said, all careful concern, smiling into his shoulder.

"Never mind her. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I've already called friends, they're on their way. Please go—she was pale, and she's on her own." Lila had already clocked the man waiting by the doors.

Diego hesitated. Pale. That stuck. He went.

Reid spotted Audrey heading for the exit with red eyes and slipped the registration form out of sight. She'd been clear: nobody was to know about the pregnancy. Especially not Diego.

"Guess we're not making that appointment," he muttered.

"Audrey!" Diego called, picking up his pace.

"Mr. Ramos." Reid stepped into his path. "Hold on."

"You've got a lot of free time, Mr. Medina. Always trailing after Ms. Griffin." The irritation surprised even him.

Reid smiled, unbothered. "She doesn't want to see you. I'd stop chasing her if I were you. You have your own obligations." He tilted his head toward the waiting room. "Isn't somebody waiting?"

Diego's expression cooled. "How is any of this your business?"

He was winding up to say more when his phone rang. His mother. Aurelia Ramos.

He picked up fast. "Hi, Mom."

"Diego, what exactly do you think you're doing? Bring Audrey home. Tonight."

Aurelia's voice, normally unflappable, had an edge in it. She had objected to the marriage three years ago. Now they were ending it without telling her, and she'd had to hear about it secondhand.

Widowed young, she'd raised Diego with his grandfather's help, through one hard year after another. He'd built himself into the man who ran Ramos Enterprises. And this was what he did with it.

Diego's eyes darkened. "Understood."

He turned to Lila apologetically and handed her a card. "I'm sorry. Something's come up at home."

Lila's irritation simmered under the surface. She'd expected him to react to Audrey leaving with another man. He hadn't.

She took the card with a sweet smile. "Of course. I'm still waiting on that wedding, you know."

She waved it at him. "Thanks, Diego."

Audrey's car was pulling out when Diego stepped in front of the door. "My mother wants us at the house."

Audrey, who had only just stopped crying, frowned. Aurelia wanted them home?

Her mother-in-law had never once interfered. What had changed?

Out of respect for Aurelia, she felt obliged to go. She hadn't been the one to end this marriage, so she wouldn't be the one apologizing for it.

"Fine. Move so I can shut the door."

The waiting room replayed itself in her head and her chest twisted. Right now she didn't want to look at him.

Diego's hand stayed on the door. "Ride with me. Are you really going to be this stubborn?"