Chapter 81
JULIAN
The front door clicked shut behind me and I stood there on the driveway, keys in hand, the cold night air doing nothing to cool the rage sitting hot in my chest.
Celeste had looked at me like I was nothing. Like I was some stranger who’d wandered into her house. In front of my mother. In front of my sister. She’d walked past all of us, and shut her bedroom door without a single word about dinner.
The old Celeste would have never. The old Celeste would have smiled through gritted teeth, served the goddamn food, and then shown me her displeasure in private. That was our rhythm. That was how we
worked.
But this Celeste, this new Celeste with her five billion didn’t play by those rules anymore. Money changed people. It had gotten to her head, swollen it up like a balloon, and now she thought she could treat me like dirt in my own house.
I got in the car and started the engine. Five billion was a lot of zeros. Enough to make a woman forget who put a ring on her finger. But I knew how to handle this. Dominic was still the husband of her best friend. If I could get to Dominic, get him to cancel his partnership with her Lab, Celeste would remember her place soon enough.
But she needed to learn that actions had consequences. I pulled out of the driveway and drove without a destination. She’d be awake. I knew my wife. She wouldn’t sleep a wink knowing I was out here because of her. She’d call. She’d apologize. And then, maybe, I’d give her another chance.
But I needed somewhere to wait. Not a hotel. Not a bar. Not yet. Somewhere quiet where I could sit and
let her stew.
I thought of Sera.
I called her. She picked up on the third ring.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I am at the hospital,” she replied.
“The hospital?”
“Someone shot at me, Julian. Did you not see the news?”
“There are other things on my mind, Sera. The world does not revolve around you. Did the bullet touch you?”
“No, but…”
“Then you have no excuse. What are you doing still lying in a hospital bed? I need to let off some steam. Come to where I am. I will send you the location.”
1/2
+15 Bonus
“Like I said. before, I am not interested in that anymore.”
“What?”
“I only want my husband to touch me,” she said flatly. “There will be no other men for me. I am done.”
I gripped the phone tighter. “Are you sure you want to be on my bad side, Sera?”
“Don’t threaten me, Julian.”
“Threaten you? I will send that sex video to your husband. Let’s see how done with other men he thinks you are.”
She laughed. Low and cold, a sound I had never heard from her before. “You know what? Maybe I will beat you to it. I will tell my husband myself. And I will send the recording of this call to your wife.”
“What recording?”
“I recorded every word, Julian. Every single one. So here is the deal. You send my husband that video. I will send this recording to Celeste. And I will tell her everything. The hotel rooms. The late nights. The texts. The photos. Everything.”
My jaw tightened. “You are threatening me.”
“I learned from the best,” she said. “So be careful with me, Julian. All I have to do is mention your name once. Tell my husband I want him to destroy Julian Fisher. And he will do it. No questions asked. I am a billionaire’s wife now. I am not at your beck and call anymore.”
“You will regret this.”
“No.” She hung up before I could get another word in.
I stared at the screen. She had hung up on me. Before I could get the last word. Both of them, these women, they were trying to break me.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic)