Substitute Bride: Utterly Pampered by Her Billionaire Husband

Chapter 1437: You’re Only Brave Enough to Act Tough in Front of Me

Warren Thatcher glared at this uninvited intruder who’d suddenly barged in and cursed on the spot, "Who the fuck are you? Got a death wish or what?"

Ethan Barnes’s gaze landed on Celeste Linden; he didn’t spare Warren a single glance. The corner of his thin lips hooked up in a half-smile, half-smirk. "Only a few days apart and you’ve managed to make yourself this pathetic? Useless."

Celeste was speechless. So he rushed over here just to say that to her? Even if he wanted to humiliate her, could he at least pick a better time?

Ethan was already standing in front of Celeste, looking down at her from above. "I told you long ago to get a divorce. Now look at you, your own husband and his side piece did this to you. I really look down on you."

Celeste curled her fingers. "Ethan, you came all this way just to yell at me? My business is none of your concern!"

"Heh, you only dare act fierce in front of me," Ethan sneered.

Celeste, "..."

Warren, off to the side, was already dumbfounded. He’d been mixed up on the streets long enough to have seen all kinds of men, but he’d never seen anyone like Ethan.

Did this guy even know what he was doing? This was a kidnapping, a hardcore one.

But from the moment this man walked in, he hadn’t looked at him straight once. He’d just completely ignored them and walked right up to Celeste, treating them all like air. That was basically the biggest kind of contempt and humiliation.

"Kid, where the hell did you crawl out from? You tired of living?" Warren stepped forward to shove Ethan.

But he didn’t even manage to touch him. Ethan reached out, grabbed Warren’s extended hand, and with an easy twist—crack—the sound of bone snapping rang out.

"Ah—"

Warren screamed in agony, his arm broken.

The other men in black were stunned. They immediately pulled out their guns and aimed them at Ethan. "You, hands up, or we’ll shoot you dead right now!"

The words had barely left his mouth when no one even saw how Ethan moved. He’d already chopped down, snatched the gun from one of the men in black, and fired without hesitation.

With several deafening bangs, the men in black dropped one after another, all injured, clutching their wounds in agony as blood gushed out.

Ethan twirled the gun in his hand and let out a faint, lazy laugh. "Playing with guns in front of me... who’s the one with the real death wish?"

Just then a lot of people rushed in—they were all Ethan’s men. They quickly subdued the group of men in black.

"King Hayden, are you alright?" one of his subordinates asked in concern.

King Hayden?

Hearing that name, Warren’s pupils shrank as he sucked in a sharp breath. King Hayden—this man was...the legendary King Hayden?

Of course Warren had heard Ethan Barnes’s name before; he just never imagined he’d run into the famous King Hayden here of all places. Damn it, how had his idiot little sister managed to provoke a big shot like this? She was going to get him killed!

Warren’s face went ashen; he knew that falling into Ethan’s hands meant he was as good as dead.

Someone came over and untied Celeste. She struggled to stand, but she’d been bound too long; her hands and feet were completely numb. The moment she got upright, her legs gave out and she went straight down toward the floor.

Just when Celeste thought she was about to have some close, intimate contact with the ground, a strong arm suddenly shot out and wrapped around her slender waist. Above her head sounded Ethan’s cold, cool voice. "So damn useless."

Celeste immediately tried to pry his hand off and even snapped back, "You’re useless! Your whole family’s useless!"

Ethan tightened his hold on her soft waist and lifted her into his chest. "You get mad when I call you useless? Fine, let me rephrase—are you trying to throw yourself into my arms?"

"..." Celeste didn’t want to waste more breath on him. She just wanted to push him away, but his strong arm was solid as an iron band. He even pressed her against his chest, and with that little bit of rubbing and shifting, it really did look a whole lot like she was throwing herself at him while pretending to resist.

"Ethan, let go of me, there are people everywhere!" Celeste frowned.

Ethan simply reached out and swept Celeste up in a bridal carry.

The sudden vertigo made Celeste cry out in surprise. She hurriedly threw her arms around his neck.

Heh.

Ethan arched a sharp brow and let out a low laugh, clearly in a very good mood.

Celeste instantly yanked her hands back, refusing to hold onto him. "Put me down, I’ve got legs, I can walk on my own."

Ethan ordered, bossy as hell, "Put your arms around my neck."

"No."

"Say no again and I’ll toss you out." Ethan even made a show of getting ready to throw her.

Celeste was so scared she immediately wrapped her arms back around his neck.

Just then his subordinate asked, "Boss, how do we deal with these people?"

Warren was trembling all over and dropped to his knees with a thud, begging for mercy. "King Hayden, please, I’m begging you, spare me. I didn’t know I’d flooded the Dragon King’s temple. If I’d known it was you, even if someone lent me the guts, I wouldn’t have dared touch you!"

Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Throw him out and feed him to the dogs."

Warren felt a sudden warmth in his pants; he’d literally peed himself in terror.

Celeste spoke up at that moment. "Don’t deal with him yet. Keep him alive."

This Warren and Flora Thatcher were clearly in it together; she had to keep Warren around.

"Alright, Celeste, I’ll listen to you. Then we’ll spare his dog life for a few days."

...

Celeste went to the hospital for a full-body checkup. There had been sleeping pills in that glass of milk; she’d only suffered some minor injuries.

In the corridor, Celeste ran into Flora Thatcher, who was also there for a checkup, with Dominic Reynolds and Dominic’s parents accompanying her.

Flora clutched Dominic’s arm, refusing to let go. "President Reynolds, my stomach doesn’t feel right. Is there something wrong with the baby?"

Dominic’s face was blank. His mind was on Celeste. The police should have made it there by now; she must’ve been rescued.

But when he thought of how determined Celeste had been to divorce him—so cold and heartless—he felt another wave of irritation.

Dominic tried to pull his arm back. "The doctor already said your baby is fine. Stop whining."

"But my stomach really doesn’t feel right. President Reynolds, I’m scared. Stay with me, don’t go." Flora was mentally calculating the time; Celeste should have been taken care of by her brother by now. At this point, she had to keep Dominic firmly by her side.

Dominic’s parents were very concerned about the child in Flora’s belly. "Dominic, Flora’s a pregnant woman now, and the baby in her belly is your child. You’re not going anywhere. Stay here with Flora."

"Exactly. This is our eldest grandchild, your first kid. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong."

Dominic frowned. Just then he looked up and caught sight of Celeste up ahead.

Flora and Dominic’s parents followed his gaze and saw Celeste too; the looks on their faces all shifted in different ways.

Dominic immediately yanked his arm free and walked toward Celeste. "angel..."

Very quickly, Dominic’s steps faltered, because a tall, handsome figure stepped out from behind Celeste—Ethan appeared.

Ethan reached out and draped a coat over Celeste’s shoulders. "What are you looking at?"