Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 177

“Where’s my phone?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Here.” James handed it over right away. “Charged it for you.”

Emmy glanced at the screen, surprised to see it was already past four in the afternoon.

Other than a couple of spam texts, the only message was from Abriella that morning.

[Awake yet? Call me when you’re up! I have insane gossip for you!]

Emmy didn’t have the energy to reply, so she just put her phone away.

James was already at her side with a steaming bowl of soup. “Have a little, then maybe lie down for a bit?”

“No more lying down. I’ll eat in the living room.”

She tried to get up, but the second her feet touched the floor, her legs gave out. She plopped back onto the bed, defeated. “Forget it. Just bring it here.”

James chuckled and dragged a chair over, sitting right across from her. “I’ll feed you,” he said, voice low and teasing. “You worked hard last night.”

Emmy’s face went bright red. “Shouldn’t you be the one exhausted? I barely moved—”

She reached for the spoon, but her arm felt weak and shaky, making her wince.

Suddenly, it hit her. She stared at James, mortified, her cheeks burning even hotter.

James’s eyes sparkled with laughter, but his tone was gentle. “You had it tougher than I did.”

He scooped up some soup and held the spoon to her lips. “Eat, then rest a bit more. I’ll go check on Mom for you, don’t worry about anything.”

Left with no choice, Emmy opened her mouth.

The pumpkin soup was warm, sweet, and just what she needed.

She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she finished two bowls in a row.

After eating, she got up to go to the bathroom. James automatically reached out to help.

“Hands off!” she snapped, smacking his hand away. “I’m not that helpless!”

Emmy shuffled to the bathroom. As she passed the full-length mirror, she froze.

Then she caught herself. What was she even thinking? Planning for the next time? It was a one-time thing. She’d just helped him out because he’d been drugged.

Thank goodness it was only this once.

She couldn’t even imagine what it’d be like if she really ended up as James’s wife, expected to do this all the time… No way.

Emmy patted her burning cheeks, trying to snap out of it.

She grabbed her phone and called Abriella.

“My dear Ms. Lincoln, are you that busy? Took you long enough to call me back.”

Emmy cleared her throat. Just thinking about what she’d actually been “busy” with made her blush again. At least Abriella couldn’t see her face.

Trying to sound normal, she said, “Yeah, we just got our first payment from Vista Corporation, so I’ve been keeping an eye on things.”

“Workaholic!” Abriella teased, then her voice turned gleeful. “You have to hear this gossip, it’s priceless. Evelina got caught with a male escort last night!”

Emmy’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what?”