“How dare you seduce my son after taking fifty million from me!”
Cassidy’s slap wasn’t enough–she grabbed a fistful of Niamh’s hair, desperate to unleash all her fury on the young woman.
“Mom, that’s enough! Stop it!”
Julian rushed over, prying his mother away before she could do more damage.
Niamh’s cheek was already marked red, her hair and dress a complete mess.
And it wasn’t just Cassidy who’d shown up from the Neville family, half their relatives and friends had come along too, crowding into the beach house.
To them, finding Julian and Niamh alone together in a seaside villa was as scandalous as catching them in bed.
In an instant, Niamh was branded the homewrecker–everyone’s favorite villain, the temptress luring a married man.
Julian and Susy weren’t officially married yet, but their engagement was old news. As far as the guests were concerned, Julian was already the Fraser family’s son–in–law.
What made it all worse was that Niamh herself was married.
And her husband was Jonathan.
Julian managed to stop his mother from hitting Niamh again, but that was all he could do. The Neville family’s security staff quickly pulled him away, leaving Niamh standing alone.
She lingered in front of the villa, looking utterly disheveled–her hair tangled, her thin dress clinging to her in the cold, salty wind rolling in from the ocean.
It was the dead of winter, and all she had was the same cocktail dress from earlier. At least it had dried by now
Julian had returned her phone–it still worked, amazingly enough.
Whether that counted as a small mercy or just another cruel joke, Niamh wasn’t
sure.
She didn’t call Jonathan.
Instead, she bought herself a coat and a scarf at a convenience store, then booked
14.00 Sour
Chapter 333
a red–eye flight back to Aldenville.
When Jonathan’s private jet had flown out to Blackspire, Niamh had been sitting
beside him.
On the return trip to Aldenville, it was Marina at his side.
Despite Jonathan’s people scouring the city, Daniel was nowhere to be found. Later, word came: Daniel had been killed in a fight on a smuggler’s boat.
“Daniel’s dead. You don’t have to worry anymore,” Jonathan told Marina as the plane sliced through the clouds.
“As long as I have you, Jonathan, nothing else matters–dead or alive.” Marina rested her head on his shoulder, her smile sweet and satisfied.
The trip to Blackspire hadn’t made Niamh disappear as Marina had hoped, but it still felt like a victory–at least she was back with Jonathan again.
As for Niamh…
Marina closed her eyes, unable to hide the gloating smile curling on her lips.
Ever since that night–when she’d called Niamh, only for Julian to answer–Jonathan hadn’t reached out to Niamh again.
Niamh hadn’t called him, either.
As the plane cruised high above the clouds, Marina drifted off to sleep on Jonathan’s shoulder. He quietly unlocked his phone, switched to airplane mode, and scrolled through his messages.
The latest was from Prescott:
Mr. Thomas, Miss Rivers and Julian are no longer together. Miss Rivers booked a flight on her own.
Jonathan deleted the message without a second thought, as if erasing every trace of Niamh from his world.
Niamh’s last–minute ticket meant a terrible flight schedule; by the time she landed in Aldenville, it was well past midnight.
She made her way back to the old house on Trinity Lane, exhausted in body and spirit, and collapsed onto her bed.
The ordeal in Blackspire haunted her even now.
Even at home, where she should have felt safest, sleep brought only nightmares.
14.29
In her dream, Daniel kidnapped her, then sold her to traffickers in Marisola. There, she was forced into prostitution, and her first client was Julian.
Unable to bear the humiliation, she killed herself. Her soul drifted free, only to witness Jonathan and Marina exchanging their vows at a lavish wedding.
