Page 66 of My Ex’s Dad

“Anton, you can’t throw away your family and start one with her,” she cries. “You just can’t!”

I shake my head and know that they will double down on keeping her away from me. There will be no more instances of her throwing herself at me. Ever again. “You’re not my family.”

“But Roman is!” she argues instead. “You can’t just start over and dismiss him.”

I let out a tense breath, seeing no point in arguing with her. She has no claim on my choices, and I’m done letting guilt keep me tied to a version of family that has never felt like one.

Before they remove her, I catch the first guard’s attention. “Just to make myself clear—again—she is banned from all of my properties.” Getting a proper restraining order seems like overkill when I’m so used to managing the world with my own sense of law and order. My men will heed my will and I am certain that all of them will be on the lookout for Elena again.

I leave, but with Elena’s stunt still gnawing at me, I get my phone out and start arranging for Liliana to move in with me. And for more guards to watch her at the bakery until I know she’s fully protected from Elena or anyone who’d think to target her.

While I’m on my phone en route to my office, I furrow my brow at the note that has been updated in the file I keep on all those close to me.

There is a green dot next to a line that indicates something has recently been changed or added. So much of this information is automated and updated by my extensive IT teams, so it’s not as though I need to check everything often.

I’m curious now, though.

While I count down the time until I’ll see her again, I notice the account for her bakery loan has been modified. The money’s been moved recently, and I wonder what that means.

“Hmm.” I’ve been planning to forgive the debt. Obviously. But I haven’t put the order in yet. All I’ve done is tell Markus to not bother following up on the loan anymore, which he already realized would happen.

But something has been done without my knowledge, and I can only wonder what’s going on.

27

LILIANA

Jenni’s jaw drops when she sees me walk into the bakery at our usual time.

“What are you doing here?” she exclaims.

“I work here?” I reply lamely, going for humor to lighten the mood.

“But the party last night and—” She hugs me close as I unlock the door and let us in. “You’re alive.”

I laugh. “Of course I am.”

“Well, you never replied to any more of my texts!” She swats my arm playfully.

“I got a little busy,” I admit shyly. It feels like a fever dream. Being Anton’s date. Him claiming me with all those kisses and touches among the elite at that fundraiser. Then the bliss of him confessing his love and showing how glad he is to have a baby with me.

“Oh?” Jenni doesn’t miss a beat, following me to toss our coats in the closet, then wash our hands and start the day like usual. Now I feel like Cinderella. At the fancy ball last night, back in the real world today, an ordinary working-class baker living a normal life.

“Yes. I got busy.”

“Busy in a good way?” she guesses. It seems like she’s losing the urgency to be concerned about me since I’m smiling and present.

“Busy with kissing a powerful man at a huge gala all night.”

She squees.

“Busy with having his psycho ex-wife notice that I’m not drinking and accusing me of being a baby-trapping slut in front of literally everyone.”

Her mouth hangs open again. “No.”

I nod. “Yes.”

“She did that?”