The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 263

Though she was enveloped in Julian's coat, Winona could still hear the cacophony of voices from the media scrum. "Let me go!" she said, pushing against his chest. "I don't need you to protect me! I'm not afraid of them! Please, let me go!"

She didn't want his protection. She couldn't remember when she had started to see him as a stranger, but his touch felt alien now. His embrace, which she had once craved, now felt suffocating.

The difference between love and the absence of it was a vast chasm. When she had loved him, she had longed for his hugs, his kisses, his presence beside her in bed. She had wanted to be the delicate woman nestled in his strong arms.

But that love was gone. Now, the mere brush of his hand made her skin crawl.

Winona pushed against him with all her might. Julian could feel her revulsion, her desperate need to get away from him. When he had been the one to treat her with disgust, to ignore her, to act as if she were less than human, he had never imagined what it would feel like to be on the receiving end.

Now he knew. It was a terrifying, humbling feeling. A primal urge to hold on tighter, to possess her, rose within him the more she tried to push him away. He suddenly realized that while he had allowed himself endless indifference and cruelty toward her, he could not accept the same from her.

And so, no matter how hard she struggled, he held her tighter.

The questions from the reporters continued to fly.

"Mr. Nicholson, are you publicly defending a homewrecker?"

"Mr. Nicholson, what does this mean for your fiancée?"

"Isn't Mr. Nicholson unmarried?"

Frank slammed his fist on the bed in frustration. "It was my mistake," he said, looking at Teague and Henrietta apologetically. "After I took Winona, I should have finished the job right then and there. I never imagined she could be so brazen! Even under this much public pressure, she's still flaunting her relationship with Julian. She has absolutely no shame!"

Henrietta's eyes filled with hateful tears. "She never had any shame, Mr. Frank! You don't know, Winona has always been shameless!"

Frank closed his eyes, his face a mask of fury. "I see her true colors now. My only regret is that I didn't kill her when I had the chance. Ah…"

If he could turn back time, he thought, he wouldn't hesitate to end Winona's life. In that moment, Frank had completely forgotten that she had saved him, that she had spared him from a prison sentence.

Also watching the video with mounting fury was Felicity, who was at the construction site.