Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 161 - Chapitre 170

Jaxen POVI didn’t go far after I left Scarlett’s hotel.Her "no" was still lodged in my chest like a damn fist, so I ducked into the restaurant across the street and grabbed a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows.From there I could see the big glowing sign of her hotel clear as day.I ordered whiskey. Then another. Then another.After a while, the burn stopped registering.All I could hear was that single word looping in my head.No.Was that all I was to her? Money? Status? The Hale name?Did she ever actually like me, even a little?She used to say, “I love you” like it was the easiest thing in the world.Used to smile at me as if I were the only guy in the room.She used to climb into my lap and bury her face in my neck, like my scent was home.Had each one of those moments been fake?The more I thought about it, the heavier that unfamiliar

Scarlett POVAllen was twenty—a grown-ass man. I wasn’t about to hover over every crush he had and run back to Denise with a full report. Who he wanted to chase was his business.He’d specifically asked me not to breathe a word to his mom, and honestly? That worked for me—one less headache.Still, after the last few days, I was regretting ever agreeing to be his wingman.The kid had no chill.He hounded me nonstop—what girls liked, how to read the little tells, and the quiet stuff most guys missed.I answered every question, even the ones that made my wolf shift uncomfortably under my skin.I knew that mouth of his.One wrong crack and he’d send any girl running for the hills.So I drilled it into him: keep it sweet. Soften the edges.He just looked at me as if I’d grown a second head.“I’m not an idiot. I know how to talk to people. Don

Scarlett POV“It was almost funny, in a screwed-up way. Hirsch Group had apparently been circling our firm for a while, and nobody upstairs had bothered to loop me in. They just pointed me at the account like, "Go fish." So I did. Sat through the meetings, smiled, and tried to reel the big client in. And nearly lost the whole damn thing. “Delaney wasn’t laughing.She sat across from me in the booth, arms folded, jaw set.That look she got when a fat retainer was on the line, and she refused to let it walk.“Do you know anything about this?” she asked, eyes sharp.I shook my head. “Honestly? Not a clue.”I meant it. Part of me wanted to help her. The rest of me knew I couldn’t.She exhaled hard through her nose.“God, money’s hard enough to make these days.”“Tell me about it.”The restaurant smelled like grilled

Christina POVI attempted to speak, to say anything at all, but no sound emerged.My throat locked up tight, as if someone had shoved a fist down it.Pure shock. That’s what it was.This kid and Scarlett had barely been divorced for five minutes.Right after the papers were signed, he looked me dead in the eye and swore he was done, that he wouldn’t crawl back.Now he was sitting across from me, talking about wanting her again. Wanting to remarry her.My head was ringing.“You want to remarry Scarlett?” I finally managed.“Have you even asked her? Does she want that? Because if I remember right,”I remembered perfectly. Scarlett had said she didn’t love him anymore.That the marriage had never had a real foundation.Back then, my son had done nothing to fight for her, apart from the wrong things.He’d pushed too hard, gotten ugly about it, until she showed up on my doorstep crying.That lost, broken look on her face… any mother would’ve felt it in her chest.“She doesn’t love you anym

Scarlett POV“An apology?”I almost laughed.The words didn’t even sound real coming out of his mouth.My ex-husband showing up out of nowhere to say he was sorry?For what?Existing in the same zip code as me was already more than I wanted from him.The best apology he could give was simple: stay the hell out of my life.He clearly hadn’t gotten the memo.Or he had and just didn’t care.I stared at him and seriously considered how good it would feel to stuff him into the nearest trash can and have him hauled off with the rest of the hazardous waste.My world would be so much quieter."Yeah," he said, voice steady.“An apology.”The seriousness in his tone made my stomach turn.Of all the places to pull this stunt—right outside my office at quitting time, with half the building filtering onto the sidewalk.One coworker glance and the office gossip mill would run overtime by morning.I looked past him, already done.“Fine. Message received. We’re good.”“I haven’t even said what I’m ap