The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 153

She left with a resolve so cold it was almost desolate.

Julian watched Winona's retreating figure. Even wrapped in that bulky fur coat, she seemed painfully thin.

Outside the café, Yves Prescott was waiting for her.

He wore a long, double-breasted black coat and gold-rimmed glasses—on first glance, the picture of refined elegance. But when Yves looked at Julian, there was a gleam of victory in his eyes.

Winona's gaze was icy yet unwavering as she faced Yves.

"Didn't go well with him inside?" Yves asked.

"He'll never let me go," Winona replied, her voice both bitter and stubborn.

"What?" Yves wasn't sure he'd heard right.

"I want to make another deal with you," Winona said bluntly.

He hesitated. He was already planning to invest in her, she was about to divorce Julian—what more did she want to negotiate?

"I'll give myself to you for a year."

Yves blinked in surprise.

Seeing him stay silent, Winona upped the ante. "If a year isn't enough, make it two."

Yves said nothing.

"Still not enough? Three years. But you have to give me a time limit, all right?"

Yves adjusted his glasses, regarding her with a bemused expression. "You haven't told me yet—why are you selling yourself to me?"

"I need your protection."

For a moment, Yves's hand lingered on his glasses as he chuckled—more exasperated than amused.

Hadn't he been protecting her all along?

"So, your deal is: you want to file for divorce, you're afraid he'll retaliate, and you want me to help you?" Yves finally understood.

"Name your price. Anything you want, I'll agree to it. I just need to win this one fight." Winona's eyes shone with desperate determination.

"Anything?" Yves asked, a spark of amusement in his voice.

"You want me in your bed for a few years? Fine. One, two, three, even five—I don't care. As long as there's an end to it. If I know how long I have to endure, at least I have something to hope for." Her voice was so bleak it hurt to hear.

Yves finally understood.

She wanted to take down Julian.

But she hated Yves just as much.

"Even if you want to sell me off, send me somewhere I'll never come back from—I can't protest. But I need my grandmother taken care of. You have to make sure she's buried properly. And Mia—"

"Let's see," Yves interrupted gently. "Make sure your grandmother's laid to rest in the plot you bought her. Find Mia a good husband and give her a generous dowry. And your little boy—make sure he's adopted by a good family."