Betrayed By The Billionaire

87

The air in the apartment remained heavy with the scent of copper and old resentment. Liam Martin wiped the blood from his chin, his hand trembling. For years, he had told himself a specific story to justify his actions.

"Sara saved my life," Liam rasped, looking at Justin with eyes that were hollow and broken. "She suffered so much because of me. I love her. My approach to Chloe Bishop... it was always just a calculation. I was using her."

Justin let out a sharp, mocking laugh that cut through the room. "Then why the hell are you standing in my living room at three in the morning looking like your world just ended?"

Blood dripped from Liam’s chin, staining his pristine white shirt like a scarlet inkblot. He looked desolate, a man drowning in a grief he refused to name. "You’re right," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Why am I here? What am I so afraid of?"

Justin had waited for this moment—the moment Liam’s "Gentleman" mask finally cracked. He wanted to feel triumphant, to gloat over the wreckage of the man who had discarded Chloe like trash. But looking at Liam now, Justin only felt a matching bitterness. They were both losers in this game.

Unable to stand the sight of him any longer, Justin kicked the sofa over with a violent thud, his chest heaving as he tried to stabilize his breathing. "Just get out," Justin said finally, his voice cold. "And don't come back."

Their friendship had died the second Liam broke the engagement. They both knew it.

As Liam turned to leave, moving like a ghost with no place to haunt, Justin spoke one last time. "Don't go looking for Chloe. Stay with the woman you chose. Knowing Chloe’s personality, all she wants now is for both of you to live your separate lives in peace."

"Separate lives in peace?" Liam repeated the words with a lonely, mocking smile before disappearing into the night.

Justin paced his apartment, his mind a whirlwind of anxiety. He had tried calling Chloe a dozen times, but there was no answer. He had already dropped Nora off at the Nicholas estate. She wasn't physically hurt, but she was in a trance-like state, refusing to utter a single word. When Justin had arrived at the scene, he saw Nicholas rushing out, cradling a blood-covered Cindy in his arms. Whatever had happened in that room, the damage was catastrophic.

The Awakening

While Liam wandered the dark streets of River City like a lost soul, Chloe was shocked back into consciousness—not by a gentle hand, but by a sharp, agonizing pinch.

She bolted upright, her eyes flying open to see Xavier Grayson’s face looming inches from her own. His expression was a storm of pure, unadulterated fury. He was gripping her cheek so hard that tears immediately welled in her eyes.

"Ow! Stop! That hurts!" Chloe cried out, clutching her throbbing face and glaring at him. "What are you doing?!"

She was still disoriented, her head pounding with a localized migraine. In her mind, she had just been sleeping peacefully, only to be "assaulted" by her husband’s temper.

Xavier’s eyes were like twin abysses of ice. "It seems I’ve been too merciful with you," he hissed, his voice vibrating with a dangerous edge. "From this moment on, you are not to take a single step outside the front gates of this mansion. Consider yourself grounded."

He turned on his heel and strode out of the room, his back rigid and haughty.

Chloe sat on the bed, rubbing her swollen cheek, her mind racing to piece together how she had gotten home. Nanny White walked in a moment later, his expression unusually stern.

"Madam," Nanny White said, his voice clipped. "How could you let yourself get into such a state? Drinking until you’re unconscious in public? Master Xavier just brought you back from a den of wolves, and yet you still have the nerve to give him an attitude?"