Welcome To Hell, Dear Wife-Chapter 54: A hot Ex

Mira’s brain had frozen completely.

This was the Alex Vance. The man from her secret Pinterest board, her celebrity crush since he debuted at twelve.

The guy whose posters she’d hidden in her closet because her stepdad would have beaten her to death for it.

She remembered staying up past midnight just to stream his very first song when he was experimenting back then.

Back then, Alex Vance had been her escape from everything ugly in her life, a safe crush in a world that never felt safe.

And he’s Lorena’s ex-boyfriend?

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time because this kind of thing only happened in movies, not real life.

The man she used to daydream about while washing dishes was standing right here, looking like sin in a suit, and apparently used to date the body she now lived in.

Her life was officially a twisted fanfiction and her brain wouldn’t stop buffering like a computer trying to load too many tabs at once.

Her palms were already sweating against the glass in her hands even. She couldn’t tell if she was smiling too much or not at all. Was she supposed to say hi like an ex, or scream like a fan?

He smiled at her like he was remembering a private joke, or maybe a private weekend. Mira had no idea, but she smiled back even though she knew she probably looked like a deer caught in very, very bright lights right now.

"Yeah," she managed to squeak out. "Crazy seeing you here too. After, uh... all that."

All what? she screamed in her head.

What "all that" was she even talking about? A messy breakup? A stolen car?

The heat in her neck climbed up to her ears.

Focus, Mira, she thought to herself. Don’t make it worse.

She took another sip of her drink just to keep her hands busy, pretending like she totally belonged in this glitter-filled world.

But his smirk just deepened, and Mira was glad that he was able to somehow understand her vague nonsense.

He then laughed in that low movie trailer laugh that always made a million fans fall in love with him. "I see that you still bite your lip when you’re nervous, huh?"

Her teeth immediately released her bottom lip. "No. I—that’s not—" she stammered before processing what he said properly.

Wait, did Lorena have the habit of biting her lip too? Well, hallelujah then. We finally have something in common.

His grin went wider as if he was totally enjoying watching her squirm. "You haven’t changed at all, Lorena."

Oh man, Mira thought. If only you knew. Technically, I’ve changed—the whole engine is different, only the body is the same.

"Seeing you now just makes me smile so hard. I forgot how fun you could be when you aren’t so... guarded," he added.

Mira blinked, not understanding that part. "Guarded?"

"Mm-hmm. You used to look at people like they were auditioning to get into your life. Now, you seem to be tired of that."

Yeah right. Maybe that was Lorena’s problem. She probably built walls too high and called it strength.

Mira wasn’t any better though, she’d just been ignored instead of hated.

Funny how two different versions of loneliness could end up in the same body.

He took a sip of his champagne with his eyes never leaving her face. "I owe you an apology," he announced out of nowhere.

"For...?"

"For disappearing. I mean, technically, it’s your fault since you blocked me everywhere, but then I tried so hard to reach you after everything. See why you shouldn’t just block people?"

Her mouth was apparently on its own mission as she let out, "Maybe you deserved it."

She knew nothing about those two’s relationship, not what happened, but she was sure nobody blocks people for no reason.

Even if they’re the Alex Vance.

But Alex merely chuckled while tilting his head like she had just said something very clever.

"Still feisty. That’s good. I was worried that the press might have broken you."

He squeezed the drink in his glass. "Honestly, you don’t even deserve what they did to you, Lorena. Everyone just turned on you overnight like you were a villain in a movie no one finished watching. It makes no sense to me."

The words hit her this time. Not as Lorena, but as Mira.

"Maybe I do deserve it," she muttered as the words slipped out before she could cage them.

He frowned. "Don’t say that. Did they really break you then? ’Cause last I know, you are always stronger than the stories peddled about you."

By now, Callis had disappeared into the party, leaving them alone to catch up, so they were both at the corner alone.

That seemed to give him confidence as he reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. His touch felt like a spark on her skin.

"You know that you don’t have to let them win just like that, right?" he whispered with a voice full of promise. "I can always help you rise back up."

Mira nearly snorted her champagne as her heart did a full-on somersault.

She could not believe that she was in this kind of talk with Alex Vance, and she was almost forgetting that she was supposed to be Lorena Sanders too.

The real Mira would have probably jumped on him and licked his face like a happy puppy by now, but she needed to remind herself that she was Lorena.

"I’m... married now," she whispered.

Alex’s hand froze in midair as his eyes darkened and his smile turned bitter. "Since when did marriage ever stop you though?"

Mira stared at him, completely lost. "Excuse me?"

But he just gave her that faint, stupid smirk like they were both in on a secret—but then maybe the real Lorena would know what secret, not her.

He noticed Mira’s empty glass and smoothly swapped it with his own full one. "You look like you need this more than I do."

His fingers brushed hers, too briefly to mean anything yet her pulse jumped like he’d touched her bare skin.

"I probably do," she muttered truthfully this time.

He raised his own newly acquired empty glass. "To second chances."

Mira hesitated at that because everything in her screamed how this was a very bad idea, but her hand moved nevertheless and clinked her glass with his.

Then she downed another big gulp. The champagne felt cold and bubbly going down, but it felt like it left a trail of fire because the edges of the room had started to get soft and fuzzy.

Her eyes drifted to catch Callis laughing politely at something someone said, and her eyes flicked over to Mira and Alex for one second like a bodyguard watching her boss play around.

Alex brought her back to him by offering her his hand, with his movie-star smile back in full force.

"Come on. One dance. For old time’s sake."

Old time’s sake? Mira didn’t even know any time’s sake!

But then the champagne was starting to fizzle in her veins, so she placed her hand in his. She was here to have fun anyway, why not do it with the Alex Vance?

The crowd seemed to part for him as he led her to the dance floor. The music slowed down and turned into something so smoky and romantic as his hand settled on her waist.

"You still move like that," he murmured into her ear.

"I have no idea what that means," she said honestly.

"Exactly like that. Like someone who can’t dance," he teased.

Mira could not help the laughter that left her lips, and even she knew it was too much because what he said wasn’t even that funny.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just the warmth of being seen by someone so... dazzling. Someone she only ever saw on TV and fangirled a lot.

But she couldn’t care less right now as she let herself forget all about the whispers and whatever.

She just kept moving and dancing as she felt freer and lighter.

"You never stopped haunting me, you know," he said in a serious voice. "You still do."

"Haunting? Wow. That’s a... very weird way to put it?"

He smiled, but it was a slow, sad smile this time. "I would have burned the whole entertainment industry for you."

She froze for a second before letting out an awkward laugh. "That’s probably arson, which is, you know... a crime?"

He didn’t laugh, but his gaze softened, and the air between them felt suddenly too hot and too close.

"Maybe. But you’re so worth it."

And just like that, she forgot how to breathe.

And he wasn’t even done, because he leaned in. Too close. So close that his breath was warm against her ear as he whispered the words that Mira hadn’t seen coming at all.

"I still love you, Lorena."