7
When I woke the next day, the sky was just barely beginning to lighten.
Jax Ryder beside me was still sound asleep.
My clothes and his were crumpled together, tossed messily by the bed.
Using the sliver of light filtering through the curtains, I glanced at him, then got up and
left.
My car was parked downstairs. As I got in, my assistant, Maya, handed me an iced Americano and said softly:
21:36
Tue, 26 Aug
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“Ms. Cross, the second phase of the stock acquisition was completed last night. No one has discovered it was our move yet.”
I held the cup, listening quietly as she recounted the details.
“…Also, your father called this morning, ordering you to return to the Harding estate today.”
I nodded: “Ignore him. If he calls again, block him.”
“Everything else, proceed according to the original plan.”
Maya nodded. Before starting the car, she hesitated, glancing at my neck.
“Ms. Cross, your neck…”
I checked the rearview mirror, understanding.
I reached up and carefully buttoned my shirt to the very top button:
“Don’t worry about it. Just a playful nip from a puppy.”
I originally planned to go home, change, and head back to the office.
But I never expected Alex Thorne to be home.
He lounged on the sofa, his shirt unbuttoned and open, clutching some documents.
Seeing me, he said coldly: “Eve, aren’t you going to explain yourself?”
I took a look.
It was the divorce agreement I had asked my lawyer to draft earlier.
I remained silent.
“Speak up, have you gone mute?!”
He suddenly stood striding toward me “You? You thin! you have the right to demand a
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Tue, 26 Aug
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He suddenly stood, striding toward me. “You? You think you have the right to demand a
divorce from me?”
“Eve, have you forgotten how you debased yourself, begging on your knees, clutching at
my pants, just to marry me?”
He threw the divorce agreement at my face.
The crisp edge of the paper sliced the skin right by my eye, and blood welled up.
I raised a hand, touching the wet stickiness.
I took a quiet breath:
“…I thought you and Chloe were true love, and you needed me to step aside for her.”
“You don’t get to decide what I do.”
Alex laughed, enraged: “Eve, you’re just a dog the Harding family raised and
“ent to me.”
“Now that the Hardings are seeing you get a little more respect, that you can say a few words at Harding Corp, have you forgotten your place?”
He clamped my chin, forcing me to look up at him.
“Thorne Enterprises will halt all cooperation with Harding Corp on the second phase of the downtown development project.”
“Eve, this is your lesson–you only get to be treated like a human when I decide to give
you that much respect.”
He released my chin, a soft scoff.
And just like before, he reverted to his arrogant, superior self.
“Go home and think about how you can butter me up enough for me to forgive this transgression.”
“Perhaps, by kneeling and begging me again.”
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