Chapter 136
Chapter 136
Valerie touched her forehead and checked her palm to make sure she wasn’t bleeding.
She let out a soft laugh. “You’re the one who asked me to come back to Ironhaven with you. You said you’d take care of me and never let anyone hat me But did you keep that promise?
“You let Audrey walk all over me again and again. My hand get ruined and I can’t paint anymore, and now you think I’m useless because can’t take care
of myself
“You ruined my reputation, and now you want me to faka marry you to fool my mom. Clayton, what more do you want from me? You can’t have your
cake and eat it too.”
Twant
cake and eat it too! Clayton thought. His usually sharp mind just crashed, ‘Who’s the one trying to have it all here?
“if Valerie hadn’t been running for her life in the middle of the night and almost crashed into my car, would I have offered to help!
“If I hadn’t seen the bruises on Luna’s body and the police reports, would I have believed Lucas was abusive and told Valerie to dump that loser!
“If it wasn’t for the fact that her dad saved my father’s life, would I have hurt Audrey just to take Valerie’s side?”
Everything had been Valerie pulling his strings, but now she was acting like he’d been chasing after her and playing innocent after getting what he
wanted.
Clayton rubbed his forehead, too exhausted to say another word,
Valerie shot Cheryl a look.
Cheryl immediately exploded. “You’re fake married? Clayton, your family are all ungrateful jerks! My husband died saving yours, and that’s why family even exists today. Instead of being grateful, you just want to screw my daughter for free.”
“Mom, don’t get upset. Think about your health. Valerie played the good cop card. “Sure, it’s a take marriage, but the marriage certificate is real. Mrs. Lillian Patel didn’t like me, so Clayton told her it was take to make her feel better. Right, Clayton?”
Valerie frantically tried to catch Clayton’s eye, but Clayton didn’t even look at her. He went to the bedroom, grabbed a jacket and his laptop, and headed for the door.
“You just got back. Where are you going now?” Valerie looked at him with worried eyes. “My mom was just being harsh because she cares about me. Can you please not take it to heart, for my sake?”
Clayton held up his injured hand. “I’m going to the hospital. You guys get some rest. He had literally just told Valerie about his hurt finger, and she hadn’t said a single word of concern. All she cared about was money.
I’ll come with you to the hospital,” valerie said the words but clearly had no intention of actually following through
Clayton couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. He changed his shoes and walked out.
A few older women were chatting by the building entrance. When they saw him come out, they didn’t bother lowering their voices. “What goes around comes around. Ungrateful bastards who abandon their wives and kids never get a happy ending.”
“I heard he got thrown in prison. That’s karma for you. The old man saved his life, and instead of being grateful, he screwed over a wido
Ter kid
“Some guys want a good wife to take care of the house, but they also want their childhood sweetheart for romance. You can’t have it both ways without everything falling apart.”
Clayton picked up his pace, his face burning with shame and anger. He got in his car and smacked his head against the steering wheel a few times. The word “regret” didn’t even begin to cover how he felt right now.
Chapter 136
After quickly bandaging his finger, Clayton drove to a nightclub. The doctor had told him not to drink, but he needed alcohol. His che going to explode.
It was Saturday night, so the place was packed with people trying to blow off steam. Everyone was crowded around the stage, dancing to the
Clayton had just turned down some woman when he spotted a familiar figure being led upstairs by some guy “Valerie?‘ he thought. Wasn’t she supposed to be at homer
He rushed after them but got stopped by a server at the bottom of the stairs. “Can I see your
room key?
“Room key? There are hotel rooms up there?” Clayton couldn’t believe it.
The waiter looked at him like he was an idiot, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “Upstairs is VIP only”
People came here to blow off steam in all kinds of ways. Groups would hang out in the smaller rooms, smoking whatever, drinking whatever, doing whatever–having a good time together while keeping things private and safe
Clayton tilted his head back, trying to see who was up those dark stairs, but he couldn’t make out anything. He wasn’t even sure if what he’d seen earlier was actually Valerie.
Sure, Valerie had changed. She’d gotten vain and jealous. But she wouldn’t marry him and then sneak around with other guys in places like this.
Clayton found a quiet spot and called Valerie, but no one answered. He tried Cheryl next, and it took her forever to pick up. “You planning to yell at my
girl again?”
“I need to talk to her. Put her on,” Clayton said,
“Can’t you call her yourself? Hold on. The phone got muffled, then Cheryl came back. “Valerie’s already asleep. After how you treated her earlier, you really hurt her feelings.
“You two grew up together. Don’t you know what kind of person she is? When other people doubt her, she figures the truth will come out. But when you doubt her? That’s like stabbing her in the heart.”
Is lecture. He said he wouldn’t be coming home tonight and hung up. I must have been seeing things, he thought
Clayton didn’t want to listen to Cheryl’s “Valerie isn’t that type of person.
Upstairs in the VIP room, Valerie was wrapped around a young male escort, desperately trying to get pregnant during her fertile window.
Monday morning, Audrey got to the office and headed straight for the break room to make herself a lemon coffee. She needed the caffeine boost.
Ever since Yann had started their whole kissing thing, he’d grab every chance he could get to pull her close. Thankfully, he had incredible self–control. Several times when things almost got out of hand, he managed to pull back at the crucial moment.
That kind of starting and stopping tension was something Yann could handle, but Audrey was getting frustrated. So last night, after they almost lost control again, she had one of those very adult dreams
“What happened to your mouth?” Tiffany asked while making coffee, staring at Audrey’s lips in surprise.
Audrey’s cheeks burned. “I’ve been feeling run deyin lately.”
I was wondering why th
they looked a bit swollen Tiffany moved closer and whispered, “But fuller lips are actually pretty sexy
Audrey playfully elbowed her, and they walked out of the break room together.
“Audrey, come here for a secund.” Paul stood in his office doorway, waving her over.
Audrey walked into the manager’s office with her coffee. “What do you need, Mr. Gibson?”
09:15 Wed, 4 Jun
Chapter 136
4 Jún G
Paul looked at her drink and frowned slightly, “What kind of combination is that? Coffee with lemon? Hn’t that sour
“It is sour. That’s what wakes me up,” Audrey smiled and took a small sip.
Paul sat behind his desk and got down to business. “We can’t keep dragging this project out. Go son Ms. Hale today and try to close the
“Got it. I’ll head over now.” Audrey turned
ned to leave, but Paul called her back.
He pointed at her mouth. “I believe in your abilities. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” He assumed her irritation was due to stress from the project’s repeated setbacks. He thought her swollen lips were from stress over the project’s repeated setbacks,
Audrey licked the corner of her mouth,
It was such a casual gesture, but Paul’s eyes narrowed and his fists clenched instantly
5
After Audrey left, Paul opened his computer and picked two people from all the job applicants. Then, he called Edana into his office. “Contact these two people and tell them to report to the company.”
Edana looked at their profiles and said in shock, “But you already assigned Audrey to go. Why are you changing people?”
