Semua Bab I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis: Bab 231 - Bab 240

Marlowe glanced at the door.His lips twitched when he saw me pressing my ear against the glass like I was trying to phase through it, but he said nothing.‘You could’ve waited to screw me over from the grave,’ Ashton said. ‘But you just had to do it while you’re still breathing. So I figured I’d return the favour. While you can still watch.’‘What are you doing here? Eavesdropping?’The shrill voice snapped my head around.Gwendolyn Laurent stood in front of me in a powder-blue coat, eyebrows lifted.‘What are you doing here?’ she asked again.I didn’t bother answering that. ‘Weren’t you in a hospital bed?’Had she been booted out after Ashton froze her cards?She folded her arms. ‘Is that how you greet your mother-in-law?’‘You’re not Ashton’s mum.’‘You’ve got no manners.’‘Manners are reserved for those who’ve earned them.’She rolled up her sleeves. ‘Just because Ashton covers for you doesn’t mean I won’t slap you straight back into the gutter. You’ve got no idea what I’m capable

She didn’t answer straight away.Her shoulders hunched slightly, like she’d been carrying too many bags too long.‘I don’t know. Ever since Elmridge, he’s had this thing in his head about me and Cassian. I explained it a hundred times, but it stuck. He doesn’t trust me. Today just tipped him over.’Yvaine sighed again, louder this time. ‘I’m such a mess right now. I’ve got no clue what I’m doing. I look at you and Ashton, and it just seems so easy. You two are all wrapped up in each other without all this drama.’I didn’t respond.Because all she saw was the polished surface.Ashton and I weren’t simple, not even close.There was still that woman, the one who came before me, still lingering in his past like a smudge I couldn’t scrub off.I needed answers. Tonight, if I could actually get a moment alone with him.But for the next few days, he was buried at work, barely sleeping.Every night, I went to bed alone.Every morning, I woke up to an empty house.We weren’t in the same room fo

The noise faded.One man in a corduroy blazer made a loud scoff and stormed out.‘What a waste of a day,’ someone muttered behind him. ‘Could’ve stayed home.’‘Let’s go. This was a bust.’People began trickling out.Handbags snapped shut. Suit jackets were yanked from chairs.Within minutes, the room was cleared, with just me and Ashton left.Gwendolyn hesitated in the doorway, shot Ashton a poisonous look, then stomped off.Ashton stepped slowly towards the bed.He leaned over the old man’s face.‘They’re gone. Every last one of them. Not a single person in this room gave a damn about you. They only turned up to collect. The moment they realised they weren’t getting what they came for, they fled. Probably whining about bad luck the whole way to the car.’Edouard’s eyelids struggled open.His pupils locked on Ashton, wide and blazing with fury.‘You… you changed my… my will…’The words scraped out like broken glass.His chest rose in short, jagged bursts.Ashton looked down at him lik

I frowned. ‘Who brings their husband to work?’‘Don’t think of me as your husband. Think of me as your assistant.’I considered it. ‘Fine.’He kicked the covers up and dragged them over both of us. ‘Come back to bed, it’s still early.’I tucked myself against his chest, curled into the space under his chin.I hadn’t even shut my eyes when I felt his hand sliding down my back.The nap never happened.It was as if Ashton had just discovered that stamina was a competitive sport and I was the trophy.Soon, I was sore everywhere, and my spine had melted into the mattress.Then he started again.I clawed at his chest, eyes blurred. ‘I can’t. Ashton, please—’‘Okay,’ he muttered, but his pace didn’t slow. At all.By the time he stopped, I couldn’t tell if I was breathing or hallucinating.Everything buzzed.My brain lagged behind my body like it needed a reboot.I was barely conscious when I felt him take my hand.I blinked blearily and watched him slip my ring off.In his other hand was ano

What do normal couples do once they get engaged?Kiss, cuddle, book a dinner somewhere fancy, then blast the news to everyone they know.For Ashton and me, it was just the two of us, rattling around that enormous house, no families to phone, too early even for lunch, with a whole holiday stretching ahead of us.‘That still doesn’t justify what you did,’ I grumbled as I rolled out of bed, every muscle in my body aching from overuse.Ashton swung his long legs off the bed, then stood and swept me into his arms. ‘Engaged couples are supposed to have sex.’‘Not as much as we just did.’‘We had to make up for lost time.’He carried me to the wardrobe.If I’d had the energy, I’d have rolled my eyes.He dressed me—because apparently I’d temporarily lost the use of my limbs—then whisked me off to the shower, his hands not exactly staying where they should.‘Seriously,’ I moaned, somewhere between exhausted and exasperated. ‘You need to get a grip. Maybe see a doctor, check if you’re a sex add