I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis novel Chapter 86

86 Meet the Parents

Icould feel every single set of eyes on us.

Ashton was….well, Ashton.

He looked like a walking piece of art.

But not just beautiful.

Dangerous–beautiful.

Like one of those hyperrealistic 3D paintings of a cliff.

Stare too long and you start to feel the drop,

Me? I wasn’t bad either.

Maybe a little less angelic than him, but definitely more than presentable.

But I could tell it wasn’t the looks that had frozen the room.

It was the way I was linking arms with him–easy, intim

, completely unselfconscio,

Thanks to our multiple rehearsals (which, fine, had paid off), we didn’t look like

We looked like the real thing.

I could practically see the thought bubbles forming above every head:

‘Isn’t that Mirabelle Vance?‘

‘Wasn’t she engaged to Rhys Granger?‘

‘Didn’t she cause a scene at the last Laurent event?‘

‘How is she not blacklisted?‘

But the main headline was clear:

‘What the hell is she doing with Ashton Laurent?‘

The whispers started immediately.

We reached the centre of the room.

Ashton gave the crowd a slow once–over.

Then came the look.

The kind of look that said: ‘What are you staring at? Mind your own business.‘

It was as if he’d flicked a switch.

The air snapped back to life.

Whispers cut off.

a

party fling.

Then, after a second of stunned silence, the conversations resumed, but the topics had shifted.

Everyone went back to pretending they weren’t dying to know what was going on.

Eyes still flicked our way, though.

Then, from the edge of the room, a man stumbled over.

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Handerome, if yra squinted and ignored the wine bigat and under ve bags.

This expression was all confusion and shock

His mouth opened like it had forgotten how to form words.

You you said you were bringing your wife. This is her?‘

Ashton didn’t miss a beat. That’s right.”

The man looked like someone had just umplogged his brain.

Everyone here knew I’d been engaged to Rhys Granger,

The Grangers had only just clawed back their wedding invite, and now–barn–I was here, allegedly married to Ashton Laurent, like it was no big deal.

1 recognised the man, but to be sure, I turned and whispered, ‘Your father?‘

Ashton nodded. ‘Reginald Laurent.‘

Reginald’s hand went to his chest like he was physically restraining a heart attack.

His face was turning an alarming shade of crimson. ‘Ashton, how could you–how could you marry-

I beamed at him and stuck out my hand. ‘Mr Laurent, it’s so lovely to meet you!‘

He froze.

Even his eyes stopped blinking.

Was he about to faint?

‘Mr Laurent,‘ I said again, layering on my sweetest fake–innocent smile. ‘I brought gifts for everyone. I’ll have the driver bring

them in shortly.‘

His face turned an even deeper shade of maroon.

For a second, I honestly thought he might combust.

His Adam’s apple bobbed–up, down, up again–like he was trying to swallow a dozen questions at once, all of them jammed up

in his throat like rush–hour traffic.

Ashton frowned. ‘Mirabelle put a lot of thought into those gifts. The least you could do is say thank you.‘

Saying thank you to me was clearly the last thing on Reginald’s mind

His face had gone from red to a deeply worrying purple. ‘I–I didn’t know…‘

‘You didn’t prepare any gifts?‘ Ashton cut in, voice sharp. ‘Even after I told you I was bringing my wife here today?‘

He let that word hang for effect.

‘Cash will do. At least then I won’t have to worry about you handing Mira something useless. There are five of you in your family, so two million each should be a good start.‘

Reginald’s eyes bulged.

I was half worried he was about to burst a blood vessel.

‘Five? And what do you mean “your family“?’ Reginald’s voice cracked like an old floorboard. ‘It’s six, including you. Aren’t you my son? Aren’t you supposed to be one of us?‘

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Chapter 86 Meet the Parents

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‘Now you’re calling me your son?‘ Ashton arched an eyebrow. ‘Well then, since your son just got married, sta

he

giving a wedding gift? And since you skipped the engagement one let’s ruake up for lost time. Four million each shot d do it.‘

Reginald was trembling.

Rage or shock–1 couldn’t quite tell.

But I did know this: he wouldn’t make a scene.

Not here.

Ashton had briefed me beforehand.

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