Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 647

Dean looked like he’d seen a ghost, every trace of color gone from his face. His hands on the table were clenched so tight that his knuckles turned bone white.

He had thought he’d planned everything out. He let Evelina escape on purpose, then tipped off a crew of thugs he’d paid to catch her. He told them they could do whatever they wanted, as long as she didn’t die.

They caught her. They tormented her from midnight until the first hint of dawn. But what Dean hadn’t counted on was the kind of hatred Evelina had burning inside. She survived. Not only that, she managed to steal one of their phones and call Claudia for help.

What Dean never saw coming was how ruthless Claudia could be, even toward her own daughter. Claudia must have realized Evelina was broken, not worth the risk of sneaking out of the country anymore. So she sent a car, told Evelina to run for it herself. Then Claudia, never one to waste a last chance, made sure to leak exactly where Emmy would be.

She was going to squeeze every last drop out of Evelina, right until the end, sending her to take Emmy down with her.

…

When Dean walked out of the police station, the tension pouring off him was enough to send anyone running. He got in his car, his anger practically crackling in the air, and drove straight to the Sparrow family’s villa.

Inside the villa, Claudia was pacing, nerves frayed.

Evelina, that useless idiot.

Everything was supposed to be set. If Emmy died, Claudia could turn everything around. But Evelina couldn’t even pull that off.

Claudia’s heart pounded, an icy sense of dread creeping up on her. She needed protection, and she needed it now.

She picked up a cup of hot tea and glided into the study.

“Ben,” she called gently, her voice as soft as she could make it, “I just haven’t had any appetite lately. I feel so anxious all the time.”

She tried a smile. “Maybe we could take a trip, just the two of us. A vacation might help.”

Ben just frowned. “With all the bad press online, I haven’t had an appetite either. I can barely eat.” He sighed. “I’m busy right now. Please leave me alone.”

Claudia bit her lip. She could feel Ben drifting away, blame building in his eyes. If she wanted to keep him, she’d have to pull out her best move.

She let her shawl slide to the floor, her black dress hugging her curves. Her fingers reached up to undo the first button at her collar.

But just as she started, the study door burst open with a crash.

The butler and a handful of bodyguards rushed in, freezing for a second at the chaos. It took all of them working together, fighting tooth and nail, to pry Dean off Claudia.

Claudia collapsed to the floor, hands clutching her throat, gasping for breath.

Ben helped her up, then spun around, eyes blazing with anger as he pointed at Dean.

“You ungrateful brat. She’s your mother. How could you do something like this to her?”

“Do you even respect me as your father anymore? Do you care about what’s right and wrong?”

Dean’s voice exploded. “She’s not my mother. I only ever had one mother.”

He glared at Claudia, his eyes bloodshot. “She’s a murderer.”

“She sent Evelina to run Emmy down. This afternoon. Ivy tried to save Emmy, and now she’s in surgery, fighting for her life.”

Dean’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. “If anything happens to Ivy, I swear I’ll kill her. I mean it. I will.”