All Chapters of After 666 Betrayals, I Chose His Billionaire Rival: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Leo waved a hand, warming to the topic."Men these days are the worst, honestly. Incredible actors, every one of them. Perfect gentlemen before the wedding, and then completely different people the second the ring's on.""And what's so shameful about divorce, anyway? If something's not working, you end it. Dragging it out just makes everyone miserable.""Honestly, I don't see much difference between leaving a bad marriage and leaving a bad job. Both just mean you've decided you deserve better."Eleanor's whole face lit up at that.She picked at her fingers, coy. "Well, that's one way to look at it. And you know if a divorced woman has a child, once you two marry, that child could call you 'Dad.' Wouldn't that be nice?"Even slow on the uptake, Leo wasn't that slow.He grinned. "Grandma Eleanor are you trying to set me up with Lily?"Eleanor flushed slightly.She cleared her throat. "Oh, I'm just thinking out loud. She's not even divorced yet.""But hypothetically if she were. Could I

The next day.Nathan woke up to good news.Pierce Group's biggest rival for the bid the Sterling family had withdrawn without warning.No explanation given.For Nathan, it was easily the best news he'd gotten in his life.The Sterlings pulling out meant one thing and one thing only.Victory was all but guaranteed now.He was insufferably pleased with himself.Dana couldn't help venting to Adrian. "Sir, you wouldn't believe how well things are going for Nathan Pierce lately.""We're the ones who did all the actual work at the welfare home, and somehow the press keeps crediting him for it. There are already half a dozen fabricated versions of some grand love story between him and Lily Ashford floating around someone's even bought the rights to turn it into a TV series."Adrian set down the papers in his hands. "Charity isn't a performance. Anything else?"Dana: "..."She shook her head.Without looking up, he said, "Go."Before she left, she asked, "Are you seeing Milo at the hospital t

Adrian dropped down from the balcony in one clean motion.For a secondLily felt like she was dreaming. "Mr. Sterling?"He was in black head to toe, his hair wind-tossed and disheveled, and the look on his face was darker than the night outside the window.The moment he took in her situation, his brow dropped low. He crossed the room and crouched in front of her.His frown deepened at the chain locked around her ankle.He reached out, touched the links, tested the weight of it."Anything sharp nearby?" His voice stayed low.His dark eyes never left her ankle.She nodded fast, pointing toward the nightstand. "There's a hair clip, in there."He stood.Found two of them without trouble.He knelt back down in front of her and went to work, the clip doubling as a makeshift pick.He settled cross-legged on the floor.Lifted her ankle.Set it carefully across his lap.A rustle sounded from the next room over, and Lily's whole body flinched.If Nathan walked in right now and saw this saw Adri

Nathan's smile froze in place.Even a performed smile looks absurd once it locks up like that.What surfaced underneath it was something closer to a threat. "Lily, I know I've been buried in this project and neglected you lately. I'm sorry.""But even if you genuinely want a divorce, this is a private matter. It's not appropriate to air it here. Think about the bigger picture."One of the older shareholders looked at Lily like she'd lost her mind. "Go home. What kind of woman barges into a meeting like this?"Lily ignored every judgmental glance in the room.She gestured to the man beside her. "This is my attorney, Mr. Reed."Nathan surged forward half a step.Grabbed her wrist, hard. "Lily, stop this. If Grandma and Milo found out about this little stunt, they wouldn't be happy, would they?""Are you actually threatening me with my own family?" she shot back.Nathan: "..."He glared at her, furious.Lily held out her hand.Mr. Reed placed the divorce agreement into it.She slapped it

The photos had been taken at the welfare home.The sequence was unmistakableLily losing her footing, him catching her, both of them going down together from the momentum.The children swarming in.The snowball fight breaking out around them.Him pulling her inside his coat, shielding her.Depending on the angle it was shot fromIt had to have been Hayes, that meddling troublemaker, who'd taken it.But for it to end up in his father's handsAdrian was certain it hadn't come from Hayes at all.He held the photo, saying nothing.ThenThe old man's voice cracked out, cold. "Kneel."Adrian looked at him.Winston's hair had gone fully white, the lines around his eyes sharp and deep with fury.His gaze stayed hard, unyielding.Adrian bent his knees and dropped to the floor with a dull thud.The next secondA strap had appeared in the old man's hand, seemingly from nowhere.The Sterling family's own discipline strap.Twisted leather.Black through and through.Rigid. Long.A flick of his wri