THE BILLIONAIRE'S FORGOTTEN WIFE: My Husband's Redemption のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 191 - チャプター 200

BETTYThe white cab jerks to a sudden halt outside Lucy’s apartment building.My hands are shaking so badly that I drop the twenty-dollar bill twice before finally shoving it through the plastic partition.I don't even wait for the driver to hand me my change. I just grab my heavy duffel bag, push the door open, and practically fall out onto the sidewalk.The entire frantic ride here, I tried desperately to scrub my mind blank. I tried to focus on the blur of the city, the traffic lights, the exhaust fumes, anything but the suffocating confines of that elevator. But it was useless.I can still feel him. I can still feel the phantom heat of his mouth crushing against mine. I can still feel the bruising, territorial pressure of his hands pinning my shoulders to the wall.Nathaniel Blackwell kissed me.The reality loops in my skull like a broken record, and I feel like I must be hallucinating. The man has loathed my very existence for years. But his mouth was on mine. Hungry. Desperate.

NATHANIELThe engine roars as we tear down the highway, but the only sound I can actually hear is the violent, erratic thudding of my own heart.I stare down at my phone. I have dialed her number three times. She hasn’t picked up once.My thumbs fly across the screen, firing off a frantic text, and I stare at the screen, holding my breath.A moment later, three small gray bubbles pop up on the screen. She is typing. The knot in my chest loosens for exactly one second before the bubbles completely vanish.Nothing. No message. And pure, blinding panic spikes straight into my bloodstream."Faster," I bark at the driver, the command vibrating with lethal urgency.The security guard in the passenger seat—one of the retired Marines Anders swore was the best on payroll—turns around, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Sir, we are already doing ninety. If we go any faster, we'll draw police attention, and you need to calm down…"I don't speak. I don't yell. I just lift my eyes and lock

NATHANIELTen minutes later, we pull up to the gleaming gold-and-glass entrance of The Pendulum.Lucy bids Betty a fierce goodbye and forces her to promise to call her the absolute second she finishes talking to Rhys. As for me, she completely ignores my existence, slipping out of the car without a single backward glance.The moment the door shuts and the car pulls away, the air inside the cabin turns to lead.Betty turns her face entirely toward the tinted window, and from the corner of my eye, I can see the unshed tears glistening on her lower lashes, but I know her pride will never let a single drop fall while I am sitting next to her.The silence is suffocating. I stare at the side of her face, desperate to clear the heavy air between us."Betty," I start, my voice low. "About the elevator... I shouldn't have forced that kiss."She lets out a dry, incredulous scoff, not even bothering to turn her head away from the glass."Do you seriously want to talk to me about that right now,

BETTY"Okay," Rhys whispers, gesturing weakly toward the single-seater armchair near his bedside. "You should sit down, then.""I am fine right here.""Please, Betty. Just take a seat. Please," he begs.I look at his bruised face, and I don't know if it’s the desperation in his dark eyes or the terrifying reality that, despite all of this, I still care about him, but my resolve cracks just enough, and I walk over to the armchair and sit down on the edge of the cushion.But the moment I sit near him, the suffocating memory of Nathaniel’s mouth crushing against mine in the elevator flashes violently through my mind, and a wave of guilt washes over me so intensely I actually feel nauseous.I swallow it down, forcing my face into a completely blank mask, because if Rhys ever finds out about that kiss... fuck. I am not ready to go down that road. Not today."Okay," I say, crossing my right ankle over my left knee. "I am seated. Now tell me. Everything."He swallows hard, licking his dry li

NATHANIELI can’t believe she is being this infuriatingly stubborn. Honestly, at this point, I would prefer her curled up under the blankets crying her ass off, because at least a weeping woman isn't actively risking her own life to gain a sliver of control.She turns her back on me and marches into her walk-in closet. I follow her right in, desperate to talk some sense into her, but she simply grabs her purse, brushes past me again, and tosses it onto the bed."Betty, you need to listen to me," I command. "I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you for that. But you need to do exactly as I say. Do not go back into that house, because…""Actually, I do trust you when you say he is a dangerous man," she interrupts, spinning around to face me. "But hear me out, Nathaniel. Just for a second. Right now, I am under a legal contract. He can sue me if I breach it. And abandoning that project is a breach.""I don’t give a shit about the contract!" my voice booms, the raw, unpolished pani