Just when Eloise had thought things would get better in her marriage, her husband divorces her and she’s back to having nothing but the seed he’d left in her, his heiress. She’d changed her identity to move on from him and to stay away from him But three years after the divorce, Eloise uses the black Amex card her billionaire ex-husband Edward Bassett had left with her for a medical emergency and there he finds her. Edward wants her back and he’d do anything to have her, even if it meant playing tricks.
Lihat lebih banyakEloise
“So what? You’re just going to walk away from my life like we hadn’t spent the last two years as married couples?” “Yes.” His voice plain like this was just some mere question. “Is this what you want? A Divorce?” I asked. “Yes.” “And what about last night?” I flung my hands in the air, my eyes staring at my Adonis of a husband as he knotted his tie. “Eloise.” He paused, his eyes taking me in. “That was just a mere night Elle, you couldn’t have counted it as anything serious, could you?” The causality in his voice was torn to my flesh, I hated it. I looked at him, so many words to say but it felt like my tongue was caught. He nodded negatively, “you did? It was just a night Elle, you didn’t have to savor it.” “I did Savor it, it was my first time and our first time as married couples in two years of being married. How could you think I would take it as a joke?” I asked but was answered with his silence. What did I expect from an emotionally unavailable, self absorbed man like Edward Bassett? He stopped what he was doing and looked me straight in the eyes, as he slowly made his way towards me. He reached where I was standing and stared at him. “You knew a day like this would come, Elle.” He smiled at me and I wondered why. He was divorcing me and he was smiling like there was something fun going on. He gently grabbed my face and I looked him in the eye, he was serious. “Then why did you do it?” I pressed my lips together trying to hold back the tears. “Do what?” He asked and I realized he was still holding me so I pushed him away from me. “All of the time we spent together lately, the date nights, the movies, how you made me feel, we had sex, Edward. Did that not mean anything to you?” He nodded negatively, a smile on his face. “No, Eloise. I was just trying to fulfill my duty as your husband before divorcing you. You knew this day would come. We signed a contract.” “So all of that was to fulfill your duty?” I wiped my eyes and watched as he nodded without any remorse. I was a fool to think that he loved me. I was so stupid to think that things could finally work out and we would be a happy couple. “These are the papers, sign them and I promise to keep to my ends of the bargain and give you your payment.” “I do not want any stupid payment, I want you,” I yelled. “I’ll head downstairs, our guests are waiting for us. It’s the last day of us being a married couple. We should enjoy it. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs.” He patted me on my shoulder, still smiling as he walked out. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I picked the papers up from the bed and read them line after line, word after word. He really wanted things done with me. He was serious about it. I hadn’t expected this, this wasn’t what I thought would happen today of all days which happened to be our second anniversary. Yes, the only reason why Edward Bassett, who was my boss two years ago, had asked me to marry him was because he needed to save his father’s legacy, it was just a contract and although our marriage kicked off roughly, things were slowly looking better. Not until months ago, Edward hadn’t had my time or cared that he had a wife, he’d been too carried away by work and I barely saw him but then he changed, always wanting to be sure that I was okay, being around me and trying his best to make time for me. For the first time yesterday, we had sex to celebrate our two years of being married, I could remember every stroke of his hard cock against my wet pussy. The way he made me feel, that couldn’t have been fake, that couldn't have meant anything to him? His little whispers of nothing. The way he clung to my skin. How could he? I looked at the papers again, my name boldly written on them. Eloise Vanessa Bassett. Was this real? No, it couldn’t. The sound of soft music from our anniversary party played gently, making me feel weird about everything. Something was wrong somewhere, he had been the one to coax me into having an anniversary party, he had been the one to make all of the plans, he told me he had something special to tell me, he couldn’t be the divorce, he sounded too happy for it to be a divorce. I needed to see him, if he needed space, then I would give him space, but he needed to tell me what was wrong. I picked myself up from the chair and stormed out of the room. I reached the main room where the party was being held. Businessmen roaming around, meeting up with other people of their caliber while my eyes ransacked the entire room for my husband. I had searched for a few minutes and hadn’t seen him. As a maid passed by me, I stopped her and asked for the whereabouts of my husband. “Have you seen my husband?” I asked, my hopes high that talking to him could solve things. “I saw him go to the guest room. Mrs Bassett.” “Okay, thank you.” I gave a fake smile and immediately headed for the stairs but as I walked by I was stopped by an older lady who looked so stunning and also looked like she had a million things to say. “Darling, congratulations on your anniversary. I wish you guys many happy years as a beautiful couple.” I smiled. That would only work if I could talk to my husband right now. “Thank you, I smiled.” “And it looks like there’s a little one coming soon.” She looked at my tummy and I smiled. Fuck I wanted to be out of here immediately. The woman, who I remember her name to be Mrs Huston, is a family friend and I didn’t want to be rude to her but I had to see my husband before he made a mistake that could ruin both of us. “Thank you so much. If you could please excuse me I have something urgent to attend to, I promise, I will be back soon.” She smiled at me and patted my hand warmly. “Sure there.” I nodded and gave one last fake smile before climbing up the stairs and heading to the guest room. I reached the guest room and without wasting a second, I pushed the door open, barging into the room. “Edwa….” I gasped at the sight in front of me, my jaw dropping, my legs suddenly forgetting how to stand and every bone in my body letting go of me. The sounds I heard were horrible and I felt faint.Eloise’s pov“I needed air,” I muttered.She narrowed her eyes. “For thirty minutes?”I shrugged. “Maybe I needed a storm instead.”Sandra didn’t push. She nodded and she started to talk about random things.“What dish do we do next?”“Maybe gnocchi for the weekend crowd,” I said. “You know, the one with the blistered cherry tomatoes?”Sandra perked up. “Ooh, yes! We could top it with that lemon ricotta…”I smiled. It was faint, but real. Sometimes the only peace I got was talking about recipes. Ingredients didn’t judge you. They just became whatever you turned them into.We were mid-discussion when I heard the knock… no, more like a tap, on the kitchen service window. I frowned, walked over, and slid it open.Oscar’s face grinned back at me like he was the headline in a romcom. “Hey, chef.”I blinked. “What the hell are you doing?”He gave a charming smile. “Can’t a man come say hi to his favorite genius?”I rolled my eyes. “You’re really going all in on the charm, huh?”Oscar just
Edward’s povI just wanted to get to the elevator.That was all. Nothing fancy. Just thirty seconds of peace.But the moment I turned the corner, there he was—Oscar Monroe. Grinning like he owned the damn building.“Edward!” he called out, like we were old college buddies and not two guys barely tolerating each other for the sake of a bottom line.I stopped and looked at him for a while before taking in deep breaths.“Oscar,” I acknowledged him.“Just wanted to say—your chefs? Top tier,” he said, clapping his hands together once. “That duck confit at lunch? Blew me away.”I gave him a tight nod. “Glad to hear.”He walked up beside me, clearly not picking up on the fact that I wasn’t in the mood. “Didn’t think you had it in you to pull together something that good. Figured your kitchen would be all form, no flavor.”“Nice to know your standards are so low,” I muttered as I hit the elevator button. Harder than I needed to.Oscar laughed. “You really know how to throw a low jab huh?”“Y
Edward’s povThe door slammed. It was like she had vanished all over again.I didn’t move. I couldn’t move as I stood there in shock.My ears were still ringing from her voice. From the way she said “I loved you too” without turning around. Like it cost her something. Like saying it out loud made it real in a way she didn’t want it to be.I ran a hand down my face.Jesus Christ. What the fuck had I done?I had lost the one good woman in my life and all because I wasn’t man enough to tell her what the true excuse was.I remembered the past.She used to hum when she cooked. Always out of tune, always soft. It hit me now that since she started working here she has not been humming.The worst part? She’d tried. All the time. She brought me coffee when I forgot to eat. She ironed my clothes and she even helped me set my entire life straight. And what did I pay her with?Distance. Excuses. Charlotte.I closed my eyes.It wasn’t even about Charlotte anymore. This was about me and what I had
Edward’s pov“I didn’t know how to be close to someone who actually saw me,” I said. “Charlotte saw the polished version. The headlines. You? You saw the whole mess. And I didn’t know what to do with that kind of grace.”I sighed and looked at my hands. “Every damn day. I thought about how you’d hum when you cooked. How you wore those oversized hoodies around the apartment. How you asked me once if I ever cried as a kid.”She flinched. “Work didn’t erase you. It just… muted everything else,” she admitted. “I kept throwing myself into meetings and projects because it was easier than going home to someone I felt so unworthy of.”The words fell out faster now. Like they’d been dying to get out.“I wasn’t some heartless bastard you know and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way. I was fucking terrified. Of loving you. Of losing you. Of needing you too much. And yeah, I screwed up. I pushed you away. But I never, never cheated on you.”Eloise really looked at me then. Her arms dropp
Eloise’s povSilence smothered the room. I sat on a couch and crossed my arms tightly, over my chest. My skin still tingled where he’d held me. “Look; I have no idea what we are but seeing you with him…”I had to stop him right there because I didn’t like where this was going.“There is no ‘him,’ Edward.”“Still,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It made something snap within me.”I swallowed hard. “You don’t trust me to hold myself when men talk to me.”“I do,” he swore, but before I could say anything, he spoke again. “Not that. Not entirely. It’s… I kept doing this because I thought it was what I was supposed to do. Stay away from you and keep you safe.” He inhaled deeply then blew it out all at once like a balloon pop.“But then… You were there, with someone else, and I realized I…” His eyes snapped up to mine and the distance between us disappeared completely.I didn’t say anything.He kept talking, softer now. “I know I don’t have the right. I know I walked away. And I k
Eloise’s povThe moment I stepped back into the kitchen, I released a quiet breath—not quite a sigh but a heavy one. Whatever that Oscar guy had been doing out there—clapping like he was at some circus performance—none of it had reached me. I didn’t have the time or the energy for it. Plates to plate. Orders to finish. Mouths to feed. I had a lot of work to do. And little time for compliments.I rolled my shoulders beneath my jacket, swiped the back of my hand across my forehead with a practiced move, and presented one last grin for good measure as I handed over plates to one of the runners.“Table twelve wants to speak to the chef,” someone called from the side.I put down my towel and wiped my hands. “I’m coming!” I called and stepped out into the dining room for a moment.A couple seated by the window smiled warmly as I passed. “Sorry,” the woman called out, half-leaning in my direction. “That mushroom risotto? It may have just ruined all other mushroom risottos for me.”I laughed
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