Chapter 4 of Dumped! Because His Ex is Back

Novalie POV

I let out an uncomfortable grunt.

It hurts all over. I felt like I had swallowed a handful of dust because my throat felt scratchy, my ribs hurt, and my head throbbed.

When my fingers trembled against a nice blanket, I immediately panicked. Where was I?

My eyes flew open and I blinked at the unfamiliar ceiling. White, smooth, framed by soft recessed lights.

It wasn't a hospital, not my bedroom and not anywhere I recognised.

My heartbeat stuttered and then a shadow moved.

“Easy,” a voice murmured. “You're okay.”

My gaze snapped toward the sound, panic coursing through my soul.

A man sat in a chair beside the bed, elbows on his knees, face buried in his hands. His dark brown hair was slightly less, like he had been running his fingers through it for the past hour. Broad shoulders tense. Something about his posture hit me with déjà vu.

When he lifted his head…

My eyes widened and my breath seized.

Aries Maxwell

Noah's ex-best friend.

And once, long ago, mine, too.

Before I met Kira, he was my friend, my confidant and the one person who used to know me better than anyone else.

His icy blue eyes locked one mine, widening with visible relief. And something else, sometimes darker and possessive.

“Nova…” his voice broke. “Thank God.”

He stood quickly, moving toward me like he was afraid I'd varnish so soon. My heart stumbled in my chest, confused and overwhelmed.

“Aries?” I whispered.

“Yeah.” His expression softened. “It's me.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

“What ..where…how.?”

He exhaled shakily. “You were in a car accident. Not a major one, but enough to knock you out and scare the hell out of me. Plus, you were profusely bleeding from your private part. I panicked.”

“Scare you? You are the one who saved me? Not ..” My voice trailed.

I thought I heard Noah's voice before I blanked out. I thought he was…

Something flickered in Aries' expression. Before he calmly said “no”

His gaze moved to the collection of bags sitting by the door. My luggage that I hastily packed

“I saw all your stuff in the car,” he said gently. “You were leaving. And you didn't tell anyone.” His jaw tensed.

“Not that he would've cared.”

I stared at him, unspoken words taking over the place.

I swallowed hard. “Aries.. I —”

He cut me off, his voice low and tight. “Are you hurt anywhere? Can you sit up? Do you need more water?”

His worry made something warm inside me. He looked genuinely terrified. Like he had been sitting here for hours replying the moment he found me. But at the same time his concern felt strategic and overwhelming.

“I'm okay,” I whispered, even though I wasn't. I just didn't want him hovering around me.

His gaze softened. “You don't look okay.”

And exactly! Exactly his words, undid me.

My throat tightened, my vision became blurry as tears welled up in my eyes.

And seeing Aries, someone who had once cared so fiercely for me, broke something loose.

“I'm divorced,” I announced.

Aries froze.

“I know.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I saw the papers in your bag.”

Of course he looked. Aries was observant in ways Noah never was. He always saw through me, even when I wished he wouldn’t. Even when I hid things away.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “He left. Just like you said he would. Just like you warned me.”

Aries’ jaw hardened, but he said nothing.

“He said our marriage was a mistake.” My voice wavered. “He said Amelia needs him. That he’s always loved her. That…” My chest is tightening painfully. “—that my miscarriages were too much for him.”

Something wild flashed across Aries’ face and he ran a hand through his hair. “Nova… Why didn’t you call me?”

A sob escaped me. “I didn’t think I could and someone was here to help me out.”

“Why not?” His voice rose.

“Because you were right.” Tears slid down my cheeks silently. “You were right about everything, and I didn’t want you to see the mess I made of my life.”

His expression softened instantly, heartbreak flickering across his eyes.

“Novalie,” he breathed. “Look at me.”

I forced my gaze up. He crouched beside the bed, leveling himself with me and his hands curling around the bed.

“You didn’t ruin your life,” he said quietly. “He did.”

My lips trembled. “Aries..”

“And you didn’t deserve any of it.”

My face crumpled as the dam finally burst.

I sobbed, a deep, painful sobs I hadn’t let myself cry in front of anyone in years. Aries didn’t hesitate. He moved onto the bed beside me, his arms wrapping around me gently, carefully, like I was made of breakable glass.

And I let him, despite the uneasiness I felt I decided to overlook and embrace the little peace I was feeling.

I pressed my face into his chest, soaking his shirt as everything I’d been carrying for so long poured out of me, five years of loneliness, pain, humiliation, and loving someone who never loved me back.

“I should’ve listened to you,” I choked out. “You told me not to marry him. You told me he’d never stop loving Amelia.”

Aries swallowed hard. “I wish I had been wrong.”

I don't know if it was the injury I sustained that was making me hyper active but I could swear Aries sounded anything but sad. Yet I ignored the feelings.

“You were the only one who saw me suffering.”

“Because I paid attention,” he murmured. “Because I cared.”

My heart twisted painfully at the truth I had never allowed myself to acknowledge. And I'm not even certain if it's even the truth.

“How did you even find me?” I asked weakly. “The accident… it happened so fast.”

He paused, maybe he wasn't expecting me to ask, but I'm curious.

“I was nearby,” he answered smoothly.

“Nearby?” My brows furrowed. “Why?”

Another pause,then a faint smile.

“I check on you more than you think.”

The statement was light,and something about it settled heavily in my stomach. But I didn't want to push it.

“But you walked out on me,” I whispered.

His arms tightened around me. “Because watching you destroy yourself for a man who didn’t deserve a second of your life… was killing me.”

I pulled back, wiping my face with shaking hands.

“Are you just going to let it go?” he asked quietly.

I blinked. “Let what go?”

“Everything he did to you. Everything she did to you. Are you really going to let them walk away without consequences?”

My heart lurched. “Aries… I don’t hate Noah.”

“Maybe you should.” Venom laced in his tone.

“No.” I shook my head. “I…I know I was foolish for loving him. I know I should’ve left earlier. But I don’t hate him, I don’t even understand how we got to this point and what happened exactly but I don't still hate him”

Aries stared at me like he wanted to tear the world apart.

“You’re still defending him,” he said softly, disappointment lacing in his tone. “Even now.”

“I… I can’t just switch it off.”

“Nova,” he called, his voice dropping to a whisper, “he used you. He took what he needed..your loyalty, your love, your stability, then went back to Amelia the second she snapped her fingers.”

I opened my mouth to argue, however, he didn't.

“He used you,” he repeated, slower this time. “And he never stopped loving her. Not for one day of your marriage.”

His words were true and my defenses crumbled. My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. Tears spilled again.

“I was never enough,” I whispered.

“No,” Aries said fiercely, cupping my cheek with trembling fingers, his eyes burning into mine. “He was never enough for you.”

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, startling me. Aries reached over and handed it to me without looking at the screen.

It was a message— from my brother?

I froze.

Yes, my brother. The one who never stayed with my father's new wife. The one who went over to my mom's family place.

We hadn't spoken in years, not since the day my mother's parents told me they wouldn't bless my marriage, that Noah wasn't the man he pretended to be. I married him anyway.

And I lost my family.

My brother’s message was simple:

Nana’s turning 80 next week. She wants you there. Come home. Please.

My heart twisted into fear. Meeting them when I was divorced?

I don't think so.

I typed automatically:

I don’t think..

Before I could finish the sentence, Aries snatched the phone from my hands.

“Aries!” I protested weakly.

However he ignored me and typed quickly, then sent it.

I lunged for the phone, but he held it above his head.

“What did you do?!”