Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 676

He strode straight over to Emmy, his eyes fixed on the angry red mark swelling on her cheek. Anger burned in his chest. He could feel it pounding, wild and hot, threatening to break loose and tear down whatever self-control he had left.

James stopped right in front of her. He lifted his hand, but his fingers just hovered in the air, too afraid to actually touch her injured face.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

His voice was so tight it almost didn’t sound like him. Every word was heavy, packed with pain and barely contained fury.

Emmy could only stare, frozen by the storm she saw in his eyes. She shook her head, dazed and silent.

James gently took her hand. His tone dropped to a quiet rumble. “Let’s go.”

“James?”

Shelly’s voice broke the moment. She looked at him, disbelief written all over her face.

“What are you doing here… She… she’s your wife?”

The idea hit her like a jolt of electricity. For a second, she felt dizzy. Her youngest son, the one who’d always seemed so cold, so distant, the one who never cared about any woman… now looked frantic, almost desperate, all for one woman. It could only be—his infamous wife. No one else could matter this much.

James finally turned, his face carved from stone, eyes sharp and cold as ice as he stared at his mother.

“You owe me an explanation.”

“If you don’t have one, I’ll make sure my wife gets justice, my way.”

Shelly’s face went pale. It all crashed down on her at once. She hadn’t just misunderstood her husband. In front of him and her son, she’d let someone slap her own daughter-in-law. What the hell had she been thinking?

“James!” Jared got to his feet, frowning, voice edged with blame. “Your wife is Ms. Eincoln? Why didn’t you tell me something so important?”

James looked over, his eyes full of contempt and distance.

“And why do you think you deserve to know?”

Jared’s face went stiff, the color draining away.

James said nothing else. He took Emmy’s hand and turned to leave.

But Emmy suddenly stopped, planting her feet like she was rooted to the spot. She looked up at him—this man in a firefighter’s uniform, at once so familiar and yet so much a stranger now. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Every bit of effort, every careful plan—now it all felt like some ridiculous performance for his amusement. Was this just a big game to him? Was he entertained by keeping her in the dark?

“Ms. Eincoln, please, it’s not what you think,” Tyler finally broke in, seeing how tense things had gotten. He tried to smooth things over for his brother. “James didn’t tell you who he was because he thought it might be too much for you to handle. He didn’t want to scare you.”

That only made Emmy feel worse. Scare her? Did he really think she was that weak? That just knowing his identity would send her running? What a pathetic excuse.

She was done. Didn’t want to hear another word.

Emmy pushed past James and walked out, her head high.

“Emmy, wait!”

James’s heart dropped. He shot Tyler a cold look.

There were so many reasons he’d kept his secret. It was never as simple as that. But now, thanks to his brother, it sounded like he really did see her as some fragile little thing who couldn’t handle the truth.

How could he explain himself now?

He took off after her, desperate not to let her slip away.