Betrayed By The Billionaire

55

Chloe couldn't bear to imagine the pain Nora and little Joy would endure if the rumors were true. Unable to sleep, she slipped out of her room to fix a glass of warm milk, hoping it would quiet her racing mind.

She was halfway through the glass when Xavier returned. As they crossed paths, the sharp, heavy scent of alcohol hit her. "You've been drinking?" she asked instinctively. Perhaps because of Liam Martin’s severe allergy, she had become hypersensitive to the smell of liquor.

Xavier didn't even grant her a glance, striding past her with cold indifference.

"How rude," Chloe whispered to herself, sighing as she drained the rest of the milk.

She was turning to head back to the nursery when a violent thud echoed from Xavier’s suite. It sounded like something heavy had crashed to the floor. Did he fall? she wondered. He had looked steady enough a moment ago, but alcohol could be a slow-acting poison.

Chloe hurried toward his room. Pushing the door open, she saw him hunched over the edge of the bed in clear agony, one hand clawing at the nightstand while a brass lamp lay shattered on the floor.

She rushed to his side, picking up the lamp. "Xavier? Are you okay?"

She felt his entire frame stiffen. He lifted a face drained of color, his eyes bloodshot and sharp as daggers as they pierced her. "Get out."

The sheer intensity of his gaze made Chloe recoil, but her conscience wouldn't let her leave a man in such obvious distress. If something happened to him and she did nothing, would he blame her when he sobered up? Or worse, would she blame herself?

"Are you looking for stomach medicine?" Chloe noticed him clutching his abdomen, his forehead slick with sweat. He looked like he was suffering from a severe gastric flare-up. She began rummaging through the nightstand drawers, but found nothing.

If there was no medicine, what had he been reaching for?

As she turned to ask him, a large, powerful hand suddenly shot out.

Before she could scream, the world spun. Xavier lunged, pinning her against the mattress and wrapping his fingers around her throat. His bloodshot eyes searched hers like a predatory beast. "Chloe Bishop... you walked in here yourself. Don't blame me for what happens next."

Looking up at the man looming over her, Chloe realized his intent. Her eyes widened with a primal, suffocating terror...

The Breaking of the Contract

That night became a living nightmare for Chloe. In her fractured state of mind, she felt like prey being torn apart by a predator, consumed piece by piece until nothing was left but a hollow shell.

When it was over, Xavier released her. His voice was a mix of post-adrenaline lethality and his usual chilling frost. "What? Not what you expected?"

Chloe kept her eyes tightly shut, her delicate face white as a sheet, her slender frame trembling uncontrollably. In all her years, she never imagined that intimacy could be a weapon of such cold, mechanical cruelty.

Seeing her look like a broken doll, Xavier felt a surge of disdain. He reached out and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Remember your place, Chloe. Think back to how you begged me for help. Who are you putting on this 'victim' act for now?"

Women are all the same, he thought. Ungrateful and manipulative. If she was so unwilling, why had she come to "check on him" in the middle of the night? It was all an act—hypocritical and disgusting.

Chloe opened her eyes, meeting his gaze of pure loathing. Her voice was hoarse and broken from crying. "You... you hate me. Why would you touch me?"

"You seem to have forgotten your identity as my wife," Xavier said, his voice dripping with venom as he shoved her away as if she were a piece of trash. "And you brought this entirely on yourself. Now, get out of my sight. Crawl back to your room."