Chapter 61
She gathered her long hair at the nape of her neck and fastened it with a simple hair clip, a few loose strands falling carelessly around her face, yet somehow she never looked unkempt.
She wore a cashmere dress that draped gracefully over her figure, poised and elegant. In one hand she carried a leather file folder, in the other, her phone.
Harrison rarely brought her to social functions–so rarely, in fact, that now he couldn’t even remember what Selene looked like in an evening gown.
When she caught sight of Harrison, she didn’t bother to greet him. Instead, she walked straight up the steps without a glance in his direction. After all, they were headed to the same place.
He followed behind her, his voice low and rough as it cut through the silence. “You could ask me to help. I could submit a statement to the Financial Regulatory Board, get your accounts unfrozen a little faster.”
He knew exactly how desperate her situation was, yet he still chose to lord it over
her.
Sixty million meant nothing to Harrison. But Selene needed it–needed it to buy herself a home.
She didn’t bother to turn around or acknowledge him.
His voice came again, sharper this time. “That’s a lot of money moving around. Everyone’s watching. You just got lucky, bought in before the market surged. But now, with things so volatile, the Board is looking to make an example out of someone. Someone handed them ammunition–they’re not going to let you off easy, even if they’re in the wrong.”
Selene stopped in her tracks. Only then did she turn and look at him. “So, what you’re saying is, it was your rivals who reported me to the Board?”
Harrison gave a slight, almost dismissive nod.
Selene let out a soft laugh. “If they were going to report me, you must have heard about it. But you just let it happen. You wanted to see me fall.”
For a moment, the usually composed look on Harrison’s handsome face slipped, his brow furrowing. He was always the one reading everyone else, never the other way around.
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Chapter 61
As Selene stood one step above him, looking down with clear, unflinching eyes, she saw right through him–and it made him strangely uncomfortable.
“I told you,” he said coldly, “your rich–girl privileges are over. I can give you sixty million, and I can take it away. It’s all up to me.”
“Harrison! You signed the divorce papers! You’re breaking the terms we agreed on.”
“And what makes you think you’re in any position to negotiate with me?”
The scorn in his voice was razor–sharp, pricking at Selene’s pride with a thousand tiny jabs.
Love isn’t something you can cash out.
If she wanted compensation, it was only if Harrison felt like being generous–if he decided to toss her a bone. And she was expected to bow her head and be grateful. Harrison looked at her, half amused, half contemptuous. “You’re not worth sixty million to me. Hell, you’re not even worth a decent apartment.”
“If you’re not happy, you can always take me to court. Then you’ll see what a judge thinks a housewife is worth.”
Suddenly, a name came to Harrison. “Maybe Attorney Shaw could help you. But with the way he feels about you, do you really think the court would let him represent you?”
Selene’s eyes widened in shock.
The moment she tried to break free of the Vaughn family’s cage, Harrison was already plotting how to make her pay for it.
He wanted to sink his teeth into her, to choke off her air, to force her to kneel and beg for mercy.
And now, he saw what he wanted on her face: fear.
It was fear that meant control.
Harrison went in for the kill. “I spoke to your doctor, you know. He told me about your miscarriage. Said you might never be able to have children again. Do you really think Adrian will still want to marry you?”
He thought this would devastate her. Instead, Selene let out a laugh, clear and bright.
She had lost a child. And all he cared about was whether she could bear another.
Chapter 61
“In a marriage, a man gives me either love or money. You give me neither, so get the hell out of my life!”
They sat side by side in a stuffy office as the clerk flipped through their divorce
documents.
“The paperwork’s all in order,” the clerk announced, stamping the files.
Harrison’s deep voice rumbled beside her. “Are you sure about this?
