From Neglected Wife to CEO’s Obsession novel Chapter 91

I walked back into the private room, still in a bit of a mood. Jeffery’s seat across from me was still empty.

The girl he brought along—bright and bubbly—didn’t seem to mind at all. Even without Jeffery there, she jumped right into the conversation, her awkward Mandarin somehow making everyone laugh. She even swapped contacts with everyone, me included.

But here’s the weird part: after adding me, she didn’t go back to her seat. Instead, she stopped me, gripped my shoulders, and stared at my face like she was trying to solve some mystery.

“Wait—I remember now! You’re that…”

Her eyes sparkled, like she’d just cracked a secret code.

Before she could finish, a voice spoke up behind us. “Jimmy, quiet down. Don’t bother people.”

Jeffery was back.

Honestly, I wasn’t all that curious about what Jimmy wanted to say. I got up and followed Kailynn to the bathroom so we could touch up our makeup.

As we stood at the sinks, Kailynn nudged me with a grin. “Come on, what do you think Jimmy was about to say? My guess? Jeffery’s totally got a secret stash of your photos, and Jimmy’s seen them. This is like, childhood friends reunited after years apart. Tell me—what’s going through your head?”

She was smiling, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that her cheerful act was just that—an act.

I rinsed my hands and slowly worked lotion into my skin. “Honestly? I feel nothing.”

Kailynn snorted. “Oh, come on. You two were childhood sweethearts. You’re telling me you never had even the tiniest crush on him back then?”

Remy crushed out his cigarette and immediately lit another. Maybe it was from his fever, but he looked pale as a ghost.

He took a long drag, leaned his head back, and blew a smoke ring into the air. He watched it rise, then blew a smaller ring that floated up and got swallowed by the first.

I stared at the smoke rings, zoning out. The big one was him. The small one was me—trapped in his world and unable to break free.

He finally spoke, his voice low. “Other than me and Cindy, Avery doesn’t have anyone else. She might get jealous, but she’d never actually leave me. You all know how much she loves me. Sure, Julia hurt me back then, but she’s really sick now. I can’t just leave her—and without Julia, there wouldn’t even be a Cindy. Just stay out of it, okay? Give it half a year. By then, everything will blow over. I’ll make it up to Avery.”

That again—“make it up to me.”

One of his friends gave him a look. “It only works if Avery’s willing to forgive you. Remy, she’s not like other women. She married you even when everyone said she shouldn’t. If you hurt her, she’ll fight back with everything she’s got.”