Ruining My Ex By Marrying His Ruthless Father

Chapter Two

When I married into the Cadmus family, I learned one important thing. The Cadmus family would be nothing without Alaric Cadmus, the current head and patriarch.

Alaric Cadmus began as the third son of a minor executive of a bankrupt company. Through his brilliance and ruthlessness, however, he rose to become one of the richest men in the world.

As I entered the restaurant and spotted him waiting for me in a table not far from the entrance, I could see how he could’ve gained his current power.

“Alaric,” I greeted with a smile as I approached the table.

Alaric stood up from his chair, stretching to his full height of six feet three inches.

“Ginny,” he smiled at me as well, and something about his expression brought butterflies to my stomach. Maybe it was my nervousness.

Alaric Cadmus was a handsome man, even at 47. He was large and muscular, his healthy frame covered only by his million dollar suit. His hair was black lined with strands of white, and signs of wrinkles were beginning to appear around his eyes, but they only made him appear even more handsome and dignified, not less.

His dark green eyes, normally cold and unapproachable, warmed at the sight of me.

“It’s good to see you,” I said as I reached him, hugging him slightly and kissing both his cheeks. His hands settled around my waist as he kissed my cheeks in return, and electricity sizzled through my veins at the contact.

What was going on with me? Was my body acting up because of my plan?

We took our seats after the greeting, and began to talk about everything and nothing.

“How have you been, Imogen? Has my son been treating you right?” he asked as he took a sip of his champagne.

I hid my smile with my own glass of wine. This was my chance.

Putting down the glass, I put on a sad expression.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Alaric, but Davian and I...we aren’t together anymore,” I said, making it look as if I was near the point of tears.

Alaric paused, frowning at me.

“What do you mean?”

I stretched out my ring finger, showing him that the ring that was supposed to be there was missing.

“Davian has officially called off the marriage, and he has forced me to sign the divorce papers.”

When I looked up at Alaric, I saw anger taking over his expression. To be honest, it scared me a little bit, to see him so angry; he only ever smiled at me, he never frowned.

Still, this was not the end. I had to deliver one last blow.

“That is not the only thing he has done,” I said.

Alaric looked at me, his eyes blazing.

“What else did my stupid son do now?”

I sighed. “Davian has fired me from his company. I now have nowhere else to work.”

“What?” Alaric demanded. “I was the one who told you to work there, not him. He has no right to fire you!”

With a smile that Alaric could not see, blinded as he was by his anger, I reached out to him and placed a hand on his chest.

“It is alright, Alaric,” I said with a gentle, pleading voice. “The contract that bound Davian and I ended today, so he has a right to divorce me. He is also the CEO of Helios Informatics, so he also has a right to fire me from there. There is nothing you can do, Alaric, and I don’t want to bring separation and strife between father and son.”

As I said this, I called up all the sadness I felt from earlier today, and with that, tears bloomed in my eyes, making me appear even more pitiful. When Alaric saw the tears, his anger faded away, and he calmed down, gathering my petite hands in his larger, broader ones.

My heart skipped a bit at the contact, and I asked myself for the thousandth time; what am I doing?

Alaric had always had a strange, soft spot for me, even from the beginning. At first, I thought it was because he had been friends with my parents before they died. But I had always suspected that it was something more, something deeper. Which was why I had created this dangerous plan in the first place;

To seduce Alaric Cadmus.

It all depends on one thing; if Alaric was actually attracted to me.

As I stared into his eyes, I was sure that he was; the look on his face was that of a man that wanted a woman. And I was excited by it.

“What will you do now?” Alaric asked.

“Davian will most likely not want to see me at home, so I will stay at a hotel for the evening,” I said, staring straight at him, trying to gauge his reaction. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. Maybe later, I will travel out, and try to find a job somewhere else.”

With that, I waited to see if Alaric would take the bait. I watched as he thought of something and the longer he remained silent, the more my heart beat painfully and my breath shortened in my lungs.

This was it. This was my only chance.

“I have another idea,” he broke the silence, and joy sang through my veins.

“What?” I asked with a whisper.

He met my gaze and held it. I saw his eyes trail down my eyes, to my lips, to my neck, and then…to my bosom. Unconsciously, I sat up, exposing myself to his hot and heavy gaze.

“I will be staying in the city for a while,” he said. “Why don’t you stay with me, until you find a place of your own?”

I swallowed.

“Yes.”