I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father-Chapter 280: War Was Inevitable

Warmth.

Lyse felt it before she understood it, heat pressed against her back, an arm heavy around her waist, a slow steady breath ghosting along the nape of her neck. Her eyelashes fluttered, her mind still swimming in the fog of last night’s grief and exhaustion.

For a moment, she let herself stay there, suspended in that strange quiet. Safe. Held.

Then realization hit her like a slap.

She stiffened.

The arm around her tightened instinctively, pulling her closer before the body behind her jolted awake. Levi’s breath caught, and he immediately loosened his hold, sitting up sharply.

"Lyse..." His voice was soft, too soft. The kind of tenderness she had once craved and which she still secretly missed.

She pushed herself upright, turning to face him. Her eyes were swollen from crying; her throat felt scraped raw. "You... you stayed."

Levi’s expression was unreadable, concern carved into every angle of his face. His shirt was wrinkled, the sleeves rolled up from last night. He looked like someone who hadn’t slept a second.

"You fell apart in my arms," he said quietly. "I wasn’t going to leave you like that."

The words only made her chest twist tighter.

She hugged her arms around herself and looked away. "This is... this is awkward, Levi. I... I didn’t expect to wake up like this."

He swallowed visibly, his jaw clenching. "I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable."

The discomfort was more than physical. It was emotional. Dangerous.

"Maybe you should go," she whispered.

He flinched. "Lyse, please. Don’t push me away again. Not after last night."

She closed her eyes. His plea scraped something raw inside her.

"Levi..." Her voice trembled. "I don’t know what you want from me."

"I want you," he said instantly. "I want my wife, I miss you so much."

Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs. "Don’t, don’t call me that."

"But you are." He leaned forward, desperation leaking into his voice. "Lyse, I’m sorry for everything. For lying. For hiding the marriage. For making you think you were alone. I know I destroyed your trust. Just... just tell me how to fix it. Tell me how to make you stay."

She shook her head.

"I don’t know if I even know who you are," she said, her voice breaking. "Every day I learn something new about you, something you hid. Something you controlled. You keep saying you love me, but love shouldn’t feel like this."

Levi’s breath caught, and for a moment, he looked gutted. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"I love you," he whispered again. "That hasn’t changed."

"That’s the problem," she cut in. Tears stung her eyes again. "You say you love me, but your actions... Levi, they scare me. They confuse me. I don’t know how to feel around you anymore."

Silence. Thick. Heavy.

He looked down at his hands, his shoulders sinking. "I’ll go," he said quietly. "If that’s what you want."

She nodded, though the motion felt like knives digging into her bones.

He stood, moving toward the door, every step reluctant. His hand touched the doorknob...

"Wait," she blurted.

He froze.

She swallowed hard. "I... haven’t gotten a divorce lawyer."

The moment the word left her lips, his entire body stiffened. He turned slowly, eyes sharp with pain.

"You’re still thinking about divorce," he said hollowly.

The weight of it crushed them both.

"I’m busy, Levi," she whispered. "That’s the only reason. Not because I’ve not made a decision."

He closed his eyes for a long, trembling moment. When he opened them again, there was nothing left but quiet devastation.

"Thank you for being honest," he murmured. "And... I’ll respect your space. But Lyse, no matter how far you run, I’ll always be waiting for you."

She didn’t respond. Couldn’t.

He turned and finally walked out.

Only when the door clicked shut did she let out a shuddering breath and collapse back onto the bed. Her eyes burned, her chest ached. Everything felt fractured, her emotions crushed beneath layers of grief, fear, exhaustion, and the remnants of last night’s trauma at the detention center.

Outside the building, Levi paused on the steps, inhaling sharply as the cold air hit his face.

He had come here with a purpose, something important. The memory hazed for a moment before it snapped back into focus.

Right.

Ken.

The meeting Bella insisted on.

He wanted to ask Lyse what she knew about her connection with Ken, the way Ken was insistent on her safety. He sensed something out of the ordinary but he couldnot put his finger on what it was.

But now? After all this? He could not go back and ask her, she would think he was making excuses to be close to her and as much as he wanted to be by her side hw had to accept her wishes.

He exhaled shakily and shook his head. It didn’t matter. Not right now. She was hurting. Lost. And he had pushed her far enough.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked toward his car, deciding he would deal with the Ken issue later.

He didn’t look back.

He didn’t notice the shadow sitting in a car on the curb across the street.

Brandon had been there all night.

Curled against a streetlight, hood pulled up, jaw tight and eyes cold. He had watched Levi enter the building with Lyse the previus night. Watched the lights turn on in Lyse’s apartment. Watched the night bleed slowly into dawn as time dragged like a noose tightening around his neck.

He had stayed.

Stewing.

Planning.

Breaking.

And now, he watched Levi walk away.

His nails dug into his palms until blood welled.

"So he spent the night," Brandon muttered to himself, his lip curling. "Of course he did. Of course he came running the moment she was vulnerable."

He stood slowly, joints cracking, exhaustion masked by a surge of hatred.

This wasn’t over.

Lyse had chosen Levi, again. Even after everything Brandon had done. Everything he had sacrificed.

She still turned toward Levi.

But Brandon wasn’t giving up.

Not when he had come this far.

Not when he had already crossed every line for her.

His eyes narrowed, dark with a dangerous promise.

"Fine," he whispered to the empty street. "If that’s how he wants to play, I’ll make sure he never gets close to her again."

The morning sunlight hit his face, illuminating the grim, fractured smile spreading across it.

War, it seemed, was inevitable.

And Brandon was more than ready.