Chapter 72
Fiona
Π
I push the glass up, sliding it as quietly as I can while looking at the bedroom door from over my shoulder. If I’m caught, my work from the last twenty minutes will be for nothing. Like in the movies, I tied two bedsheets together, hoping they’ll help me bridge the gap between my window and the ground.
It’s not very far, but still, jumping down from the second floor without any help would hurt, and I’d rather not be hurt more than I already am. Getting injured means becoming trapped.
I won’t let that happen.
anyone a a mental
Ethan wants me here where he can keep an eye on me, and probably where he can make sure I don’t te” u about him and his secret. As if I’d go around screaming it. The first person I told would call and have me locked institution. I’m not stupid enough to go around telling everyone.
My only and safest bet would be to get away from him.
Once I’m alone, I’ll be able to clear my head. He won’t be hovering. He won’t be at the forefront of my mind. Everything will be line.
So, as I tie my makeshift ladder to the window frame, I poke my head out. Once I see the coast is clear, I toss the twisted sheet out the window and wiggle my way through, keeping a tight hold on the top knot I made.
There are multiple knots, providing me with handholds so I don’t fall. While I climb down, I can almost imagine the cinematic music that would play if this was an action film. The heavy base that builds suspense and the string instruments provide tension as I make my way to freedom.
I keep my head on a swivel, looking for any sign of danger and staying silent even when my feet touch the grass. Ryan is nowhere in sight, and neither are any of the staff. Lucky me.
Hefore my luck can change, I dash toward the end of the driveway, turn left toward town, and run until the house is out of sight. My chest aches from the exertion, but only when I’m sure I’m free do 1 stop and bend over.
Fear tingles through my body but so does pride. I don’t let either emotion take over for too long before I keep walking toward the city. Soon, I’m flagging down a taxi and clumbing in.
“You okay, Ma’am?” He asks with a concerned furrow to his brow. I wonder what he sees. I’m not even sure what I look like right now, but from his reaction, it’s not anything good.
“Do you need the police?”
“N–no. I just need to get home,” I tell him with a forced smile. It takes everything in me to put the mask in place.
“If you’re sure,” he mutters before pulling away from the curb. I rattle off my address and lay my head back, closing my eyes.
I’m so very tired, but my brain doesn’t shut off Images of wolves fighting immediately play against the back of my eyelids, making it impossible to clear my head. Everything that had happened since I met Ethan played like a movie.
Our first night together, the way he touched me and took me into the blissful depths of pleasure that I hadn’t felt in so long.
Our second encounter where I approached him with the evidence of Jack sleeping with his secretary in the office. The hope I’d felt when telling him was dashed by a few words from him which led to our third meeting filled with desperation, anger, and negotiation. He’d reeled me in like an expert fisherman, and I’d let him
Everything was in the palm of his hand; me, our agreement, my job, my life. None of this was ever in my control, and if 1 understand correctly, he knew from the first time we met at that bar who I was to him.
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20:08 Tue, 15 Apr
Chapter 72
Hurt buries itself in my heart like a dagger. He knew and still treated me as a pawn, like some toy he could play with. And
now…
Now I don’t know what to think.
Like a zombie. I climb out of the taxi when it stops in front of my house and make my way inside. On autopilot,
my bathroom, stripping my clothes off to shower.
Which side of Ethan is the truth?
Is Ethan the cold CEO billionaire that everyone sees? –
“If you can bring me a greater benefit, I’ll fire your husband, but until then, I’ve got a business to run.” Ethan said, wood, and then walked away, exiting the office and leaving me there alone:
“You’ll have to eat alone tonight,” he said through the phone. “I’ve got business to take care of
Is he the sweet man who comforted and cared for me when I needed someone?
His touch was gentle, but his eyes were full of fire as he looked me over.
“Are you okay?” Ethan asked, running his hands over me to check for injuries. “Fuck. I’m so sorry, Fiona. I didn’t know she would… I should’ve paid more attention.”
When I didn’t respond, Ethan scooped me up and carried me off. The fear and anxiety pulsing through me made me close my eyes and lean into his chest.
Or is he the monster I’d seen last night?
And Ethan’s wolf was on top, his teeth on the gray wolf’s throat.
The man holding me finally released me, and I fully dropped to the floor, my legs and arms giving out beneath me.
“Montgomery, if you kill him, Alpha Moore will come for you, my captor warned, taking a slow step toward Ethan’s wolf.
The answering growl made the man stop in his tracks and had me lifting my head from the cold concrete. Ethan’s teeth clamped down on the gray wolf’s neck at the same time his claws dug into the wolf’s chest.
Everything spirals through my head, making it throb as I dry off and change into new clothes.
The safety I used to feel in his presence has been shattered by the reality of what happened. I don’t want to lose him, but can I really move past what he is? There are so many things banking on our relationship, my future being the biggest.
Dread curls in my stomach, my body still moving on autopilot as I climb into my car and drive to the law firm. I have to know what will happen now that I may be alone.
Without Ethan backing me, will Mr. Adair still represent me with my case?
If he doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do. I try to hold onto the hope that he won’t drop the case since we’re so far into it, but when I reach Mr. Adair’s office, I freeze in the doorway.
Jack is sitting in one of the chairs across from Mr. Adair, waving the divorce agreement I threw at him in the air.
“Mrs. Aldridge Mr. Adair finally notices me in the doorway.
My body is numb, the previous headache growing to painful that stars dance in my vision Jack shouldn’t be here. He should’ve gone to his lawyer and that lawyer should have come to speak with Mr. Adair.
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Chapter 72
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“Finally, you show up! Too busy fucking the loss to worry about showing up to appointments?” Each of Jack’s words shoves the dagger deeper into my heart.
At least Ethan never hurt you this way. The thought surprises me and so does Mr. Adair,
“Mr. Aldridge!” Mr. Adair shouts “That’s enough. Say what you’ve come to say before I have you escorted out!”
I stay standing in the doorway, not wanting to get closer to Jack who huffs in anger and stands.
“These terms are unacceptable,” he says, waving the agreement in the air for emphasis. “I deserve more than this for putting up with-
“You will agree to these terms and nothing less,” Mr. Adair announces at the same time I step forward.
Jack, you deserve nothing. Be glad that I’m willing to let you off with such a small punishment,” I anger in my body. I narrow my eyes in my best glare, mimicking how Ethan glares at people. “You charges for assault, fraud, and identity theft.”
channeling all the sucky I haven’t pressed
Both men turn to me with wide eyes full of surprise. I’m so tired of everyone walking on top of me like I’m nothing.
“This is the only agreement you will be signing unless you want me to reveal all the dirty little secrets you think I don’t know about,” I tell Jack in a low, threatening voice while showing my finger into his chest. He winces and steps back, nearly tripping over the chair he was just sitting in.
Her bluff rolls off my shoulders.
“I should get half of everything as per usual with divorce agreements.”
I laugh, the sound coming out broken and crazed at the same time.
“After all the money you’ve stolen from me, I don’t think you deserve to even breathe the same air as me. Forget the property division. You’ll get nothing if I’m still breathing. Now leave, I demand, showing him toward the door.
“You’ll regret this, Fiona. I will have what I want,” he says with a smirk. A smug little grin that tells me he wants my money and property just to see me suffer. “You’ll have to give in sooner rather than later.”
AD
