Chapter 6

At the end of the month, Yvonne sent Jaxon the address of a bar. “I’ve got the money and the invitation ready. Come pick them up yourself.”

An hour later, Jaxon found the place and pushed open the door to the private room. A chorus of mocking laughter greeted him.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Wilder! What’s the matter? Still can’t let go of Yvonne?”

“Yvonne doesn’t want you anymore, but I do. Five hundred thousand for one night. What do you say?”

Jaxon ignored them and walked straight up to Yvonne. “Where are the things I came for?”

She had clearly had quite a bit to drink. She lounged against the couch with flushed cheeks and unfocused eyes.

The people around Jaxon gave him lewd looks that made his skin crawl. He could not stand another second in that room.

He bent down and rummaged through her designer handbag.

Sure enough, both the check and the invitation were inside.

He picked up the invitation and was about to take it out when Yvonne looked at him through half-closed eyes. She murmured, “Hubby.”

His heart skipped a beat.

He had not heard her call him that in a long time.

When they had first started dating, Yvonne had called him that all the time.

He had always felt awkward about it and told her not to call him that.

But she only laughed and said, “I’m going to marry you someday anyway. What difference does it make if I call you that now or later? Hubby, hubby, hubby…”

Those sweet memories felt like they belonged to another lifetime.

By the time Jaxon came to his senses, Yvonne had already pulled him closer and rested her forehead against his shoulder.

“Hubby… I miss you so much…”

She was as affectionate and clingy as ever, just like the Yvonne who had once loved him with all her heart.

But Jaxon knew she was drunk. She had mistaken him for someone else.

He clenched his teeth and swallowed his pain. Then he tried to pull away. “I’m not your husband.”

She stared at him and stubbornly insisted, “Yes, you are. You’re my husband.”

Before he could say anything else, the door flew open.

Yulian stormed in and yanked Yvonne’s arms away from Jaxon.

“Yvonne, look at him properly! Where’s your husband?”

The sudden movement sobered Yvonne up considerably.

She froze for a moment, then instinctively turned and threw her arms around Yulian. She buried her face against his neck and kept whispering, “Hubby… hubby…”

The others hurried to smooth things over.

“Yulian, don’t be mad. Yvonne always says silly things when she drinks too much.”

“We all know who she really cares about.”

“Exactly! Jaxon can’t hold a candle to you.”

Right. What was Jaxon compared to him?

Jaxon gave a bitter smile. He knew it was time to leave.

He clutched the invitation and took the five-million-dollar check as well. He might as well go through with the whole charade.

But just after he left the private room and turned the corner, a sleazy-looking man stepped into his path.

“Hey, handsome. You look familiar. Oh, I remember now! I’ve seen your photo. You’re pretty good at getting rich women to keep you, huh? Did your sugar mama buy those clothes for you, too?”

The man kept running his mouth. Then he reached for the pocket watch on Jaxon’s chest, as if he meant to steal it.

Jaxon’s expression turned cold. He caught the man by the wrist, drove his knee into him, and flipped him over his shoulder in one swift move.

Within seconds, the man lay curled up on the floor and groaned in pain.

“Get lost!” Jaxon snapped. He raised his foot as if to kick him.

The man cursed under his breath and hurried away.

A burst of applause rang out behind Jaxon.

Yulian clapped and laughed.

“Who would’ve thought you could fight so well? But what good does that do you? More and more people are going to see the photo. Are you going to beat up everyone who sees them?”

Jaxon gave him a cold stare. “Were you the one who leaked the photo?”

“Yes. So what?” Yulian didn’t back down. “If you were shameless enough to do something like that, you should’ve expected people to find out.”

“You mean something your girlfriend did with me?”

Yulian flew into a rage. He called Jaxon disgusting and rushed at him with his fist raised.

Jaxon caught his fist before he could land a punch. “Fine. I’m disgusting. But Yvonne isn’t exactly innocent, either. She was just as willing to get involved with me. Also, what does that make you, when you insist on dragging yourself into this mess?”

Yulian’s forehead bulged with anger. Then he spotted Yvonne as she came out of the private room. His expression immediately changed, and he put on a wounded look.

“I know you’re upset because Yvonne is with me now, but that doesn’t give you the right to lay a hand on me!”

Yvonne rushed over and stepped in front of Yulian. “Jaxon, what the hell are you doing?!”

Before Jaxon could answer, Yulian held up his reddened wrist and complained.

“I just wanted to ask him a few questions about you, but he grabbed my wrist and wouldn’t let go. He nearly crushed it…”

Yvonne glanced at the red marks around his wrist. When she looked up again, fury blazed in her eyes.

Just then, a server passed by with a tray of red wine. Yvonne grabbed a glass without hesitation and threw its contents straight into Jaxon’s face.

The cold wine ran down his cheeks and soaked his shirt collar.

Through his blurred vision, he could make out only Yvonne’s icy expression and Yulian’s smug smile.

“Lay a hand on Yulian again,” Yvonne warned, “and next time, you’ll get something a lot worse than wine.”

Before Jaxon could defend himself, she laced her fingers with Yulian’s and led him into the elevator.

Jaxon stood motionless as drops of red wine fell onto the polished floor.

The cold seeped through his skin and into his bones.

He knew his Yvonne was gone for good.

She had dragged him into this emotional mess, then walked away without a second thought.

Perhaps that was for the best.

He let out a slow breath and wiped the wine from his face.

Once he completed his mission and left Kingsport, he would eventually forget her and free himself from this mess.

Just like her, he would never look back.