Library

Maghanap

Home / Romance / THE BILLIONAIRE'S FORGOTTEN WIFE: My Husband's Redemption / Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE BILLIONAIRE'S FORGOTTEN WIFE: My Husband's Redemption: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

219 Kabanata

CHAPTER 030

BETTYI’ve been avoiding Rhys since the day he found me at the cemetery.The way his arms wrapped around me, and how I clung to him longer than I should have, hasn’t left my mind since.He didn’t pull away. He didn’t say a word. He just let me stay there, quietly breaking against him, and it didn’t feel pathetic. I felt safe. Seen. Like I mattered in a world that had done nothing but bruise me.The problem is I can still smell his cologne on the coat I wore that day, and I can’t bring myself to wash it.Every now and then, I catch myself pressing the fabric to my face like an idiot, inhaling deeply just to remember how it felt to be held.The thought of his hands steady on my back flickers through my mind, but I shake my head hard, twisting my hair into a bun as if I can knot the thought away.“Stop it, Betty. That’s Nathaniel’s cousin.” I think out loud, applying a layer of lip gloss on my lips.Once I am done, I stare at my reflection, my lips parting on a slow sigh. The woman looki

CHAPTER 031

BETTYThe construction site is alive in a way that feels almost primal.Dust floats through the air like lazy ghosts, catching sunlight that spills through the unfinished frame of the club, the smell of sawdust and cement heavy against my tongue.I clutch my portfolio to my chest as if it’s the only thing keeping me grounded, and for now, it feels like it is.I barely slept last night. I kept revising the sketches, redrawing, rethinking, pushing lines across the page until the sunrise bled through my curtains.Every stroke felt like a small rebellion against the version of me that had stopped trying long ago.This is my first real project, my first chance to make something that belongs entirely to me, and the thought both steadies and terrifies me.The gravel crunches under my boots as I step closer to the half-built frame, and I catch sight of Rhys, standing near the center of it all, a blueprint rolled in his hand, sleeves folded high on his forearms, a hard hat tipped slightly back

CHAPTER 032

NATHANIELIt’s finally time to close the Virnkirk deal, a moment that should feel clean and decisive, but for reasons no one has bothered to explain properly, they want Rhys present.The request irritates me more than it should because I don’t need his theatrics or his unpredictable presence muddying the waters.I pick up my phone and dial his number anyway. It doesn’t ring twice before someone else answers.“Grandma,” I say, straightening in my office chair. “Where is Rhys?”“Hello to you too, Nathaniel,” she replies, her voice sharp. “Rhys left his phone behind. I believe he’s at his club construction site if whatever you need is so urgent.”I clench my jaw, a restrained sigh slipping out. “Alright, Grandma. I’ll pass by. Thank you.”I hang up before she can launch into one of her lectures about my attitude lately or my life choices—both topics she’s been far too interested in these days.My grip tightens around the phone before I set it down and call in my secretary. “Cancel the res

CHAPTER 033

BETTYAfter a full day of dust, drills, and paint samples, I still feel like the construction site clings to my skin.My fingers smell faintly of fresh cement and marker ink, and my back aches from leaning over blueprints all day.I should have gone home to shower, but Lucy can be very persuasive.So now I’m here, walking into a rooftop bar downtown, the city lights flickering like gold beneath me.I spot her immediately at the far corner—legs crossed, martini glass in hand, her blonde hair tied into a perfect bun.She’s scrolling through her phone, her red lipstick the only pop of color on her otherwise bare face.Even without trying, she’s the most beautiful woman in the room. The kind of beauty that gets her free drinks and confessions from strangers.She looks up just as I approach, a smile spreading across her lips before she stands to hug me, kissing both my cheeks.Her perfume wraps around me like something expensive and familiar as she grabs the stack of layouts that are slippi

CHAPTER 034

BETTYLucy can barely finish her story before she starts laughing again, loud, messy laughter that turns a few heads from the next table.“I swear to God,” she says between gasps, “I looked at him dead in the eye and said, I think I have to go, and he probably thought it was because of him, you know? Like maybe he said something dumb. But no, I had food poisoning and literally ran out before I shit myself.”I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe, and a snort escapes me before I can stop it, making us laugh even harder until there are actual tears streaming down my cheeks.“Oh my God, Lucy, stop!” I wheeze, holding my stomach, but she keeps going, fanning herself dramatically.We are so drunk. The kind of drunk where everything is funny and the world tilts in slow, silly circles.My head feels light, my lips numb, and I can’t even feel my legs properly under the table.Between the tequila and the wine, I’ve completely lost count of how many rounds we’ve had and we are paying the price.A

CHAPTER 035

BETTY“Girls’ night out, huh?” Rhys’s voice slips into the air behind me, smooth and amused, with that kind of teasing tone that says he knows what happened here tonight.I turn toward him, or rather, I try to, but the world sways a little too much for me to look graceful doing it.“Yeah, we might’ve slightly overdone it,” Lucy says, her words melting together as she fumbles for her fur coat.She ends up putting one arm through the sleeve, then the other wrong way around, and it’s so ridiculous I can’t help but laugh.“I texted you less than twenty-five minutes ago,” I mumble in between, trying to sound casual even though I can barely feel my lips. “Were you around town?”Before he can answer, my knees give way, and there’s that split-second of helplessness where I feel gravity winning, but firm hands catch me mid-fall, and suddenly his chest is right there against mine.“Careful,” he whispers, steadying me with one hand at my waist.The air around us shifts, and the faint mix of ceda

CHAPTER 036

NATHANIELI walk down the hallway from Grace’s room, the low lights casting long shadows against the walls, and reach for the glass of whiskey I abandoned earlier on the console table.The liquid burns slightly as I take a slow sip, the warmth settling in my chest but doing nothing to ease the ache sitting there tonight.The house is quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that amplifies everything you don’t want to think about.My footsteps echo softly against the floor, measured and controlled, and I can hear the faint sound my throat makes as I swallow, and it’s very unsettling.I’m sad today. Sadder than I have ever been in years.It takes me a moment to admit why, but the realization comes reluctantly, like a bruise I’ve been pressing around all day without meaning to.It’s almost the anniversary of both my grandfather’s and father's death, and somehow, this time, it snuck up on me, no matter how busy I had made myself.I thought going into Grace’s room would help, but as I stood the

CHAPTER 037

NATHANIELThe realization sends an unexpected flutter through my chest. She looks younger, carefree, standing just behind me, smiling at something I must have said.I stare longer than I intend to, my thumb brushing absently over the frame, and I can’t help but notice how beautiful she is. And still is to date.For the first time tonight, something warm slips into the sadness, a reminder that not everything I lost is gone forever, and I whisper her name under my breath, barely audible.Her voice slips into my head as well, and all I can hear are the words she told me the other day. If you love me, why haven’t you left her yet?The question settles deep in my chest, heavier now that I’m alone, and I drag a hand over my face, exhaling slowly, because the answer is never as simple as she wants it to be.The truth is, I haven’t filed for the divorce yet. And not because I don’t want to, or because I’m hesitating, but because I’m not stupid enough to do it here.Every lawyer in this town b

CHAPTER 038

NATHANIELMy hands won’t stop trembling, and the paper shakes between my fingers, the words blurring no matter how many times I blink.I must have read the same line a dozen times, but it still doesn’t make sense. Divorce. “She wanted to divorce my grandfather?” The word tastes foreign in my mouth.It’s like reading a confession from someone you thought incapable of sin, and when I flip the pages slowly, my throat tight, one side is signed—hers.My blood starts to boil, and suddenly, I can hear her voice in my head, as clearly as if she’s standing beside me.“The Blackwells do not divorce, Nathaniel. We don’t air our shame to the world. We fight. We endure.” The memory strikes like a slap.All those years of her sermons about legacy, about duty, about keeping our name untarnished, and the entire time, she was ready to throw hers away?“Hypocrite,” I whisper, the word sharp against my tongue, as my grip on the paper tightens until my knuckles go white.Another echo of her voice fills m

CHAPTER 039

BETTYI freeze outside the door, my breath caught somewhere between my chest and my throat.I force myself to look in, and the sight steals whatever air was left in my lungs.The room looks like a battlefield, books scattered like fallen soldiers, and papers littering the floor in torn, angry flurries.Rhys stands in the middle of the wreckage, his mouth bleeding, his chest rising and falling fast, his eyes wild, the kind that carry more than fury.Harriette stands across from him, hugging herself so tightly that she looks as though she’s trying to keep her bones from shaking apart.“Are you okay, Grandma?” I whisper, rushing to her side before she can answer.Her skin feels cold under my hand, fragile in a way I’ve never felt before, and I slide my arm around her shoulders, rubbing slow circles to warm her.She gives a tiny nod, but her eyes dart toward Rhys, and that’s when I notice his hand—split and bleeding.“We should clean that,” she murmurs, her voice coming out thin and shaky.

PREV

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status