At that moment, a sharp, icy wind cut right past Cassius, chilling him to the bone.
The night was silent, the cold slicing through the darkness.
Hex.
The name—one he hadn’t heard in forever—drifted out of the gloom, as if carried on a bitter wind from some distant, blood-soaked battlefield. But hearing it now, it crashed through Cassius’s chest like a tidal wave, shaking him to his core.
The voice was familiar, but for the life of him, he couldn’t place it.
“Who are you? One of CLOUDTOP's old crew?” Cassius spun around, instantly on guard, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Bro…” Evadne’s heart leapt into her throat the second she saw his face go pale.
“Well, Hex, you sure are good at forgetting people.”
Ian’s voice was cold, taunting—each word striking Cassius’s nerves like a viper’s bite. “Looks like, in your world, only Aubrey ever mattered. The rest of us? Just shadows in your royal presence.”
Cassius staggered back, realization dawning. “Wait… Ian?!”
Panic clawed at him from the inside out. The darkness seemed to close in, the walls of the night pressing tighter and tighter, threatening to crush him.
Aubrey was the love he’d tried to bury—a wound across his heart he never dared touch. But right now, fear was winning out over heartbreak, because—
The sudden call from an old lieutenant. Chasel not coming home on time…
A surge of dread jolted through Cassius’s veins.
Ian let out a cold, humorless laugh. “Sorry, Hex. Didn’t mean to interrupt your little romantic getaway.”
“You’re with Chasel? What the hell do you want?!” Cassius’s fist clenched so hard his knuckles went white.
“I want Dr. Bright to see you for who you really are.”
Ian’s laughter turned vicious, seething with hatred. “You already destroyed Ethan. He died never forgiving you. And there’s no way I’m letting someone as good as Dr. Bright fall for your lies again.
Every time I see Dr. Bright’s face, I think of my brother’s corpse. I can’t help it—I just want to drag him out of the fire you put him in.”
Cassius’s vision went red. He was hanging by a thread. “Ian! I know you’ve hated me all these years, but if you want revenge, come for me! Leave Chasel out of this!”
Ian scoffed. “To you, he’s just a stand-in. Don’t act like you actually care. Isn’t it funny? Playing the devoted lover in front of me?”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus)