The Ex-Wife's Secret (Jonathan and Teresa) novel Chapter 869

Chapter 869

Teresa now had two guarantees. One was Irene’s written promise, and more importantly, Jonathan’s voluntary waiver of child custody-

Since Jonathan himself had given up custody, that meant Irene had

even

even less right to go after it.

responsible.

I don’t want to affect your relationship with her or make

Teresa said, “These two documents are enough. You don’t need to hold your things difficult for you.”

Jonathan stared at Teresa in silence. His eyes were filled with both pain and anger.

“You don’t want to make things hard for me, so you keep it all to yourself? Do

think that makes you a good person?”

Teresa was taken aback. She shot back, “She’s your mom. If I complained to you about what she did to me, wouldn’t that make me the kind of woman your mom always accuses me of being? I don’t want that.”

“But I don’t want to see you get hurt, you know? I wish you’d just tell me whenever yo

feel wronged.”

“How am I supposed to even bring it up?” At that moment, Teresa finally spoke the words she’d kept buried in her heart.

“She’s been your mother for years. How could I even bring it up? No matter what I say, I’d be seen as trying to come between you. As long as she respects my boundaries and doesn’t fight for custody, I can endure everything else.”

Her tear–filled eyes met his, piercing straight into his heart and leaving it aching and scorched.

Jonathan couldn’t hold back anymore and pulled her into his embrace. His broad hand cupped the back of her head, gently pressing her face against his

chest.

“Do you know how angry I am now after hearing you say all this?” Jonathan said, his voice tight.

He brushed his jaw against her hair. “I’m angry, Teresa. You took all the pressure from my family alone and never told me. You never saw me as your partner. Even now, I feel I failed you, but you’re still carrying that weight.”

Teresa was stunned. Something deep inside her was deeply shaken.

From marriage to divorce, they never truly opened up. Jonathan was always busy, and even at home, their connection rarely went beyond pillow talk. After the divorce, silence settled in, and they each walked away without ever looking back.

Teresa hadn’t told Jonathan about what Irene did, partly because she didn’t want to put him in a tough spot.

But on the other hand, it was also because she didn’t trust him.

He kept turning a blind eye, again and again. She never believed he had the courage to stand up for her or the strength to handle being caught in the middle.

Even now, with everything blowing up, she thought he’d say a few words and move on, like always. She didn’t trust him. But right now, Jonathan’s dark eyes held a flush of red, showing just how much he felt.

Jonathan slowly let Teresa go and said with guilt, “You were right to divorce me. I thought I could make you happy, but I brought you pain. I overlooked too much. Now, I have no right to ask for your love or speak of mine.”

Just thinking about all the pain Teresa had endured, pain caused in some way by him, made Jonathan blame himself even more.

F

“From now on, I hope you’ll put your own feelings first. Don’t let yourself get hurt or get so down in Jonathan said softly.

Teresa was taken aback again. ‘He knows?‘ That thought flashed through Teresa’s mind. Jonathan didn’t want to keep anything from her.

“I wanted to know if you suffered because of my mom during our marriage. I saw your depression file, the big check mark next to ‘mother–in–law issues‘

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Chapter 869

and even the forms you filled out,” he said.

He knew Teresa’s moods constantly shifted during their marriage. She often doubted him, suspected something between him and Yvonne, and o faced endless misunderstandings.

No matter how many times he tried to explain himself, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him.

He never realized that the root of it all was actually his mother. He never imagined that all the pain and depression Teresa suffered after marrying him were caused by him and his family.

How Jonathan wished he could have cherished her, loved her, protected her, and made her a happy woman after marrying him. But in the end, all he brought her was pain.

That’s why he didn’t feel he even had the right to say the word “love“. He’d reflected on it over and over, wondering if his so–called love had always been selfish.

Tears streamed down Teresa’s face. She rarely cried in overdosed on pills, or when Evelyn fainted.

Ho only when it was about her child, when Jennifer nearly took her life, when Lucas

But this time, right in front of him, she was crying for herself.

Jonathan pulled her into his arms again, his broad, solid chest

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