CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me

Chapter 203 - 164: Undercover (2)

After she finished speaking, she turned and stepped off the stage. Julian Donovan instinctively moved to stop her, whispering her name in agony, "Naomi..."

At the sight, Caleb Rhodes shot a look at Lillian Huxley, who was sitting beside him. Lillian Huxley nodded, stood up, and hurried after Naomi Shaw. Caleb then went onto the stage and grabbed Julian Donovan, who was about to give chase, urging him in a low voice, "Julian, you know exactly who’s here today. You have to think of the bigger picture. I’ve already asked Lillian to go check on her!"

With such a grand occasion and so many distinguished guests, Julian Donovan couldn’t leave now. What just happened was humiliating enough. If he wanted to establish a foothold in Wincastle, his only choice was to see today’s ceremony through.

Julian Donovan’s already grim expression darkened further, but he didn’t move. Caleb Rhodes was right. ’Besides,’ he thought, ’we’re not in any state to see each other right now.’ Thinking about her strange behavior since last night, he was certain something must have happened to her. ’It’s best if we both cool down before we talk again.’

With that, he turned back to face the audience, his calm, composed expression returning to his face. ’Who was he? He was Julian Donovan, a man who had weathered every storm imaginable. He was always rational and composed... if only it hadn’t been her.’ "My apologies, everyone. The two of us just had a little spat. The ceremony will continue!"

He spoke with a faint smile, but deep down, his heart was filled with a stabbing pain.

The moment Naomi Shaw turned away, tears were already streaming down her face. She covered her mouth as she ran off the stage and bolted for the exit. Tears blurred her vision, and her high heels and long skirt caused her to stumble, until she finally fell hard onto the cold marble floor of the hotel lobby.

’I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!’

’I’m sorry, Julian!’

She sat there on the floor, weeping, repeating those words over and over in her heart.

A pair of slender hands reached out and helped her to her feet. Wiping away her tears, she saw it was Lillian Huxley. Willow Summers had followed her out as well, and quickly draped Naomi’s overcoat over her shoulders.

Lillian Huxley sighed, her bright eyes fixed on her. "Naomi, what’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?"

"Yeah, what on earth is going on?"

Willow Summers chimed in, "I have to say, Naomi, the way you treated Donovan today in front of all those people... you really put him in an impossible position!"

Willow Summers was always outspoken. She had seen the raw pain on Julian Donovan’s face and in his eyes from the audience, and her heart ached for him.

’They were such a perfect couple. How did things suddenly fall apart like this? What was this drama all about?’

Naomi Shaw pulled her coat tighter, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said to them indifferently, "Nothing’s wrong. It’s just like I said earlier—I stopped loving him a long time ago. And if I didn’t choose a grand occasion like this, how could I ever get my revenge and truly hurt him?"

Lillian Huxley looked helplessly at the cold mask Naomi had put on. "Naomi, we may not have known each other for long, but we know you’re not that kind of person..."

’She was a kind and gentle person, a simple person. She wasn’t capable of such a deep, calculated plot against Julian Donovan. She was just like them, a simple, genuine girl. She only knew how to love with her whole heart, not how to scheme to get what she wanted or to inflict pain.’

But before Lillian Huxley could finish, Naomi Shaw cut her off sharply. "You don’t get to decide what kind of person I am! Thank you for your concern, but I hope we never see each other again!"

Her ruthless, almost fierce words left both Lillian Huxley and Willow Summers stunned. Without another glance at them, Naomi clutched her coat tightly and rushed out of the hotel.

She hailed a taxi and climbed in, then collapsed into the back seat and burst into tears. To her surprise, the driver handed her a pack of tissues. His voice was full of apology. "Miss Shaw, I’m sorry you had to go through that..."

She stopped crying abruptly. As she looked up at the driver, her tears began to fall even harder. "Why is it you again!"

Last night, after picking up her and Julian Donovan’s clothes from a shop, she had hailed a taxi to go home. The ride had been completely normal—the driver was steady, and traffic was light. When they arrived at the entrance to the community where Julian’s villa was located, she paid the fare. But before she could get out, a man pulled open the front passenger door and got in. Naomi, sitting in the back, assumed he was just in a hurry for a ride and moved to exit the car. But with a sharp CLICK, the driver locked the doors.

She jumped in fright, but then the driver turned around and held out his badge for her to see. "Hello, Miss Shaw. I’m Captain Thomas Dalton of the Wincastle Anti-Drug Division."

’The Anti-Drug Division?’

She was utterly bewildered. The captain then gestured to the man who had just gotten into the passenger seat. "This is Ivan Warren, from Interpol."

The man turned and greeted her politely. "Hello, Miss Shaw."

"H-Hello. May I ask what business you have with me?"

She grew even more confused. ’The Anti-Drug Division? Interpol?’ Someone with her personality could never have gotten mixed up in such a mysterious and dangerous line of work. ’Could it be Julian? Did Julian do something wrong?’

At the thought, her heart clenched. Ivan Warren spoke with a grave expression. "I’m under orders to come to Wincastle and apprehend a major international drug lord hiding in this city. We’re hoping you’ll cooperate."

"A drug lord? How could I possibly help you?"

’As far as she knew,’ she thought, ’although Julian was involved in the underworld, he never dealt with drugs. That much was obvious from years ago, when he banned opium cultivation in the Argent Triangle Region.’

Ivan Warren took a photograph from his pocket and showed it to her. "This is the most-wanted international drug lord currently being pursued by both Syanese police and Interpol. His specialty isn’t cultivating opium... it’s manufacturing methamphetamine."

When Naomi Shaw got a clear look at the handsome man in the photograph, her face filled with astonishment. "Sean Donovan?"

’How could that be? Isn’t he the Pharmacist?’ Besides, in her mind, drug lords were supposed to be vicious and menacing. She simply couldn’t associate the handsome, mild-mannered Sean Donovan with such a label.

Thomas Dalton picked up where Ivan Warren left off. "You must be aware of what happened a few years ago, when Julian Donovan banned opium cultivation, cutting off the drug supply from the Argent Triangle Region." Naomi Shaw nodded. Of course she knew. Because of it, he had been hunted by drug traffickers, constantly coming home covered in wounds. Dalton continued, "Ever since that incident, everyone in the underworld has turned to this mysterious drug maker for their supply. No one knows where he’s hiding or what his background is. He’s extremely mysterious, low-key, cunning, and utterly ruthless. The police have had him under surveillance for three years, but we’ve never found evidence of his drug manufacturing, nor have we located his production base. Many of the undercover agents the police sent in were discovered and brutally murdered by him."