Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 601

Soon, they were brought to the entrance of a quiet meditation room.

Inside, dozens of priests sat cross-legged, eyes closed as they chanted softly. The air was thick with the sound of prayers, reverent and still. Outside, the hallway was packed with devoted followers. Everyone knelt on cushions, hands pressed together, a hush of hope and faith settling over them.

The priest leading the way spoke in a hushed voice. “There are only two spots left inside.”

Before he could finish, Teresa grabbed Emmy’s hand and led her straight in. Without hesitation, they took the last two cushions, right beneath the towering statue of the Virgin Mary. These seats were reserved for the most honored guests. The women kneeling nearby wore silk and pearls, their elegance impossible to miss.

As soon as Teresa was on her knees, she closed her eyes and brought her hands together, her face the picture of pure devotion. Emmy let out a quiet sigh and followed her mother’s lead, palms pressed together, though her heart wasn’t really in it.

James didn’t go far. He and Andrew stood near the doorway, close enough to see Teresa and Emmy inside. Two men, both striking in their own way, standing there like they didn’t quite fit in, yet somehow drawing every eye.

Andrew watched the kneeling crowd, a gentle smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

“There are a lot of believers here.”

He glanced at James. “And you? Anything you want to wish for? Want to give praying a shot?”

James’s eyes never left Emmy’s back. His voice was cool, edged with the stubborn pride of youth.

“I don’t buy any of this,” he said. “Your fate is supposed to be in your own hands.”

Andrew’s smile grew, a little sad, a little knowing, the way older men sometimes look at the young.

“You’ll understand when you’re older. After you’ve seen a bit more of the world, you start wishing for nothing more than your kids’ safety and happiness.”

Just then, a priest arrived with a stack of new cushions, laying them out in a fresh row by the door. Andrew gave James a quick nod and went to kneel down.

James hesitated, lips pressed together. After a moment, he walked over and knelt too.

He didn’t believe in God. But for Emmy’s safe delivery, for their child’s health and happiness, he was willing to kneel, just this once. He would do anything for them, even if it meant praying to a god he didn’t believe in.

The moment he settled onto the cushion, a shadow fell over him.

“You don’t actually think she loves you, do you?”

James’s brow tightened. He turned, eyes cold as steel, and glared at the man beside him.

Dean didn’t seem to notice the warning in James’s stare. He fiddled with the rough scarf around his neck, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“She knitted this for me, you know,” Dean said, almost carelessly. “Every winter she’d give me a new one.”

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