Chapter 8
Travis was losing all patience. His lips curled into a mocking smile. “What, you don’t know? Don’t play innocent. You wanted to latch onto me, but had to act coy about it.”
“Well, I’ve already given you what you wanted. Now, get out.”
“And don’t ever show up in front of me again, I don’t want Elise upset.
Blair stood up, stunned. “Travis, what are you saying? Didn’t you say you loved us?”
“You’re divorced from Elise, aren’t you? Why are you kicking us out now?”
“Did she say something to you? Did she threaten you?”
Before she could say another word, a sharp slap cracked across her face.
Travis calmly flexed his wrist, his tone cold and flat. “I told you to leave. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“You were just a pair of cheap distractions I toyed with out of boredom. Did you really think you were some kind of heiresses?”
He signaled to the bodyguards. They moved without hesitation, dragging Blair and Lila out the door.
The sisters went fetal, pounding on the front door like maniacs. “Travis! There’s been a misunderstanding, right?! Let us in! Don’t abandon us!”
But Travis’s expression only grew darker, colder. “Throw all their things out,” he ordered. “And put the master bedroom back the way
it was.”
Unfortunately, many of Elise’s original things were already gone–irreplaceable.
He stood in the middle of
of the empty house, chest burning, unable to breathe. Finally, he turned to one of the guards. “Find me a rabbit.” The guard didn’t quite follow. Travis’s voice sharpened. “Are you deaf? I said find me a rabbit!”
“I want one exactly like the one Elise had. Same breed, same color. Do it now.”
The bodyguard scurried off.
a
Just then, the butler approached with a velvet–trimmed invitation in both hands.
“Sit. A wedding invitation. It’s from the Hart family of Westbay. Master Julian is getting married.”
Travis took the card, frowning slightly. “Julian Hart? That Hart family from Westbay? The one at the top of everything?”
He tipped the invitation open without thinking–then froze. His breath hitched.
fingers trembled as he double checked the bride’s name.
“Are you sure this came from the Harts?”
“Yes, sir,” the butler confirmed.
Travis swallowed hard, his face pale.
“Why would the bride be Elise Whitman? It has to be someone with the same name
The butler hesitated, brows drawing together. “I don’t think so. Word is, the Hart family treasures this future daughter–in–law ”
“She her background-”
Travis waved himnoll, forcing a breat
“No That’s impossible. Elise would never marry into a family like that.”
She doesn’t have the pedigree for the Harts–everyone knew that
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He tossed the invitation back. “Send a gift. Something generous–it’s the Hart family. Can’t be disrespectful.”
I ran my fingers along the edge of the gilded invitation. Julian was still busy with the wedding preparations.
My thoughts drifted back to childhood–the year his family moved away. I was only six then, chasing after their car in tears, shouting, “Julian, wait! Don’t go!”
Pup
He’d stopped the car, jumped out, and scooped me up into his arms.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll come back for you, I promise. Wait for me.”
That same year, my father had taken in a mistress behind my mother’s back.
From then on, he barely came home.
Eventually, he forced my mother into a divorce and kicked us out of the house.
We became a laughingstock in our social circle overnight.
My mother had gone against her own parents to marry him. She cut ties with her family for love.
And in the end, she couldn’t even go back to them.
She raised me on her own after that. Life was hard–really hard
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