Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 51 Sarah's pov If you'd tolda year ago that I'd be waking up to a message from her of all people, I'd have laughed in your face.

Susan. Richard's ex-lover. The woman I once called the devil in high heels. The sone who pranced into my life and nearly tore my marriage apart.

And now, out of nowhere, she was texting me? Of course, my first reaction was to laugh. It was either that or scream.

I'd barely had tto make coffee, and there it was, my phone buzzing from the kitchen counter.

When I saw her nflash on the screen, I swear my stomach twisted into knots.

I hadn't heard from Susan since I cto Mexico, leavingwith the broken pieces of my life after Richard chose her over me.

Yeah, Richard didn't love me, but it hurt the same. Now she had the nerve to message me? The first text was like a punch.

"Hey Sarah. Long time." I nearly dropped my mug. My heart pounded. Why was she even messaging me? After all these months, why now? I stared at the screen for a good minute before typing back.

"What do you want, Susan? Thought you'd be too busy wrecking lives in the States." Yeah, I was mad. I had every right to be. She hadn't just ruined my relationship-she'd strutted into my life, into our home, and practically made herself queen of the place.

I didn't think I'd ever be able to look at my couch without picturing her sitting there, legs crossed, smirking at me.

I didn't even realize I was gripping the edge of the counter, my knuckles white.

The last tI heard her nwas when she was splashed all over national TV-as Richard's fiancee. And now she was messaging me? My phone buzzed again, pullingfrom the shock.

"Didn't think I'd need to reach out like this, but you need to know something about Richard." What the hell did she want? My first instinct was to delete it and move on with my day, but curiosity gnawed at me.

I unlocked the phone and read the message again, then quickly typed back: "What could you possibly have to say to me? Didn't get enough when you stole him the first time?" It was a cheap shot, but it felt good to say it. Susan had already torn my life apart once. No way I was letting her do it again.

My phone buzzed within seconds.

"I didn't steal him. He cto me. And if you think he's changed, well... I thought you should know the truth before you get hurt again." I scoffed, but the words hit somewhere deep. The truth? What the hell was she trying to do? Richard and I had history, painful history. He'd divorcedand put a ring on her finger before the ink on the papers had permanently dried.

I'd been humiliated, reduced to watching their engagement on TV like it was ssort of victory lap. But Richard had cback. Said he'd changed. Had he? The rest of the day, Susan's message hung overlike a bad omen. Even in the office, while I tried to focus on work, my thoughts kept circling back to her words. Richard had been making efforts, trying to showhe wasn't the sman who left me. But Susan... She knew him too.

She knew him in ways I didn't, or maybe couldn't anymore.

And the worst part? She wantedto doubt him. But why now? Later that evening, I was lying on my couch, half-watching the news, when my phone buzzed again. Another message from Susan.

"You're probably wondering why I'm even bothering. Honestly, I don't like you, Sarah. But I don't want to see you get played the sway I was. You think Richard's back for good? Think again." I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the unease from settling in. I wasn't snaïve fool-of course, I knew Richard had flaws.

But this was different. Susan wasn't just messing with me. She knew how to twist the knife in just the right places.

Before I could even think of a reply, my phone buzzed once more.

"Remember when Richard 'suddenly' had to go on that business trip last month? The one he didn't tell you about? Guess where he really was." I froze. That trip. The sone Richard had been weirdly vague about. The one where he didn't call or text for days.

I had let it slide back then, convinced myself I was being paranoid. But now, Susan was bringing it up like it was ssort of smoking gun.

My fingers hovered over the screen, trembling as I typed.

"What are you talking about?" Her response cquickly.

"We spent that weekend together. He cdown to the USA to see me." I stared at the screen, my heart pounding. That couldn't be true. Could it? No. Richard wouldn't have cback toif he was still seeing her... would he?

My mind was racing, trying to make sense of what Susan was saying.

Was she lying? Or was there a grain of truth in her in her words? Suddenly, all the small things I'd ignored in the past started bubbling up-the late-night meetings, the unexplained absences. The way Richard had a habit of saying "I'll explain later," but never did. I'd convinced myself he had changed, that he wasn't the man who abandonedfor her.

But now, Susan had opened old wounds, and the doubt I'd buried was clawing its way back to the surface.

The next day, I tried to shake it off. Tried to ignore Susan's messages, but they were like poison, seeping into my thoughts.

And then, while Richard and I were sitting in my office, talking about dinner plans, my phone buzzed again. Another message. From Susan.

Richard noticed the shift in my expression. Something wrong?" I forced a smile, slipping my phone into my desk drawer. "No, nothing. Just work stuff." I was alone in my apartment that night, pacing. Susan's latest message was a knife to the gut.

"It's funny, you know. I thought once he got me, he'd stay. But he's just like stay. But he's just like that. Once he gets what he wants, he moves on. Are you sure you're not just the next stop on his list?"

I felt sick. I hated her for doing this. I hated her for makingfeel like was losing my mind. But most of all, I hated how much sense she was starting to make. Richard had a pattern. He charmed, he convinced, he won you over-and then? He left.

I'd seen him do it tobefore. I'd seen him do it to her. Was I next? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I wasn't going to let Susan get in my head.

But... What if she was right? What if Richard was just doing it all over again?