From Neglected Wife to CEO’s Obsession novel Chapter 22

He dodged my question with a couple of throwaway lines, never really giving me an answer.

That just made me more curious about who Julie actually was.

I thought about asking a friend to look into her, but honestly, it didn’t seem worth the trouble. As long as she didn’t mess with me or Cindy, I didn’t care. Whatever went down between her and Remy was his problem, not mine.

On Julie’s third night with us, I went to check on Cindy’s room.

Cindy’s always been a restless sleeper. She kicks the blankets off every night. When I peeked in, her bed was empty.

Julie’s room was right across the hall, the door half open. Inside, Cindy was curled up against Julie, sound asleep. Julie had one arm around her, hand resting gently on Cindy’s hip, their foreheads nearly touching. The scene was so warm and close, it didn’t look like a nanny and her boss’s kid. It looked like mother and daughter.

I didn’t interrupt. I just sat on the sofa for a while, letting my thoughts wander in the quiet.

The more I thought about it, the clearer it was: Julie wasn’t simple.

From the very first day, when she barged into the bedroom Remy and I shared without even knocking, she was sending me signals—some subtle, some not so much. But I was too wrapped up in my own grief to care.

What was she after? My spot?

It figured. Remy was rich, successful. Thompson Corporation had taken off with the tech boom, and now he was basically at the top of the business world at Georgia Bay. Girls after him was nothing new.

But that wasn’t my business anymore. I was over it.

After a while, I stretched my stiff arms and got up to head to my room for some real sleep. That’s when Julie showed up, moving like a ghost in the hallway.

She wasn’t even wearing a nightgown—just a sleep bra and a tiny pair of panties.

I’d noticed she was thin before, but without clothes, it was almost shocking. Skin stretched over bones, not an ounce of softness. From one woman to another, there was nothing attractive about it. Honestly, it was a little unsettling.

She shuffled past, half awake, probably heading to the bathroom.

“Julie, could you get me a glass of warm water?” I asked.

She jumped and clutched her chest, looking around like she’d seen a ghost. When she spotted me on the sofa, she let out a shaky breath, annoyance all over her face. “Seriously? Why are you sitting in the dark in the middle of the night? Trying to soak up the moon or something? You scared the daylights out of me.”

“Yup. Gotta get a head start on my mystical powers, you know. Someone has to keep the monsters away.”

She caught my meaning and her face darkened for a second, but she quickly forced a smile—one of those practiced, flirty ones.

Julie really was pretty. If she put on a little weight, she’d be stunning.

She went to the kitchen and came back fast with a glass of water, putting it on the table next to me. “Here’s your water, ma’am. Drink it slowly,” she said, every word exaggerated.

“If you’re so worried, you could go check on her. No need to just stand here and fret,” I said, my voice dry as dust.

Remy snapped back to his usual cool self, ignoring my sarcasm. “Avery’s the one who’s hurt. If this happens again, I won’t be so nice.”

Julie actually flinched at that.

No matter how much I said I was fine, Remy insisted on dragging me to the hospital. The doctor gave me burn ointment, and by the time we got back, the sky was starting to lighten.

I could walk just fine, but Remy insisted on carrying me inside, grinning like it was his reward for the night.

He set me gently on the bed and grabbed the ointment, clearly planning to put it on for me.

I stopped him. “That’s not necessary. The burns are all easy to reach. I can do it myself.”

Give me a break. The guy who used to avoid touching me like it was the plague suddenly wanted to put ointment on my inner thighs? Not happening.

Back when I wanted him to touch me, he wouldn’t. Now that he wanted to, I wasn’t about to give him the chance.

I took the ointment to the bathroom and carefully dabbed it on every burn. The coolness was instant relief.

When I came out, Remy was still awake. I couldn’t help but poke at him. “Didn’t Julie say she got burned too? Aren’t you going to bring her some ointment?”