CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me

Chapter 206 - 166: A Ten-Million Gamble

Julian Donovan suppressed the fire raging in his heart and hauled her up from the bed, forcing her to face him. "Tell me what the hell happened."

Something must have happened. He refused to believe she was with him just for revenge.

She fought with all her might to hold back her tears, determined not to show her true feelings in front of him. "Nothing happened! Julian Donovan, how can you be so arrogant? Did you really think I’m madly in love with you?"

’So this is what acting is like.’ It didn’t take any training. As long as you were determined enough to become a certain kind of person, you could succeed—just as she was succeeding now. Because she was determined to sever all ties between them, she could be this ruthless.

He remained silent, his lips pressed into a thin line. His handsome face was taut, and it was clear the anger coursing through him had reached its peak. But out of consideration for the feelings between them, he hadn’t yet erupted.

His stare nearly made her burst into tears. Unable to bear it any longer, she stood up to get out of bed, intending to leave the bedroom. He rose and grabbed her, saying only one sentence, "Naomi Shaw, do you dare to look me in the eye and say you don’t love me anymore?"

In that moment, despair crashed over her like a tidal wave, nearly destroying her.

She stood there with her back to him, her hand still in his grasp. She could feel it trembling slightly as he held on tightly. Biting her lip hard, she lowered her head, enduring the ache in her chest. Then, she turned to face him, looked into his ink-black eyes, and spoke nonchalantly, "Julian Donovan, I don’t love you anymore. Who do you think you are? There are plenty of men in this world better than you. Sean Donovan is one of them!"

With that, the atmosphere between them finally dropped to a freezing point.

The last glimmer of hope in his eyes vanished. The hand gripping hers so tightly went slack and fell away.

He staggered back a step, his voice thick with self-loathing. "Naomi Shaw, so... Sean Donovan is the one who’s really in your heart now!"

She took a step back as well, the corner of her mouth curling into a cold smile. "That’s right."

Having said her piece, she lost all courage to face him. She turned to bolt from the room, but he violently yanked her back and threw her onto the large bed.

His fury finally erupted. Pinning her beneath him, he raised a hand and viciously gripped her chin. "So, you plan to dump me and run off with him to live happily ever after, is that it?"

His handsome features were contorted with rage. Before she could say a word, he stared down at her and let out a low, chilling laugh. "Fine, Naomi Shaw. I’ll give you what you want!"

His gaze suddenly turned sinister and cold. She had never seen such viciousness in him. He said, "But both children belong to me. From now on, I forbid you from even laying eyes on them."

She opened her mouth in a panic, ready to protest. ’Her children were her life. Especially Joy—she had never been apart from her. To be forbidden from seeing them... she would rather die!’

But he gave her no chance to protest. The moment she opened her mouth, he crushed his lips to hers in a rough, biting kiss. It felt like he was trying to devour her lips. A searing pain spread even to her tongue, which didn’t escape its terrible fate as he sucked and bit at it. By the time he finally released her, her brain was hazy and starved for oxygen. He whispered a cold threat in her ear, "You can take the matter of the children to court, but you know you can’t possibly win against me."

The tears she had held back for so long finally streamed down her face. She pounded on him, crying, "Julian Donovan, you can’t torture me like this..."

He smiled gently as he wiped the tears from her face. "If you want to see them again, you’ll stay obediently by my side. And I can pretend today never happened."

This only made her cry harder. No one could possibly understand her unspeakable pain; she had to bear it all alone.

But did torturing her like this not pain Julian Donovan as well? What other choice did he have? She had completely disregarded his feelings for her. His only bargaining chips were their two children. If he didn’t threaten her like this, how else could he make her stay by his side?

But he hadn’t expected her to be this resolute, to be willing to give up even their children. As she struggled beneath him, crying endlessly, all of his feigned viciousness evaporated. His heart ached as he lowered his head to kiss the tears from her face. "Naomi, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Don’t cry. I never wanted to hurt you like this... I just want you to stay by my side..."