Wife You Discarded is a Billionaire's Crush novel Chapter 23

"Who wants your chance?" Liliana retorted.

She snatched the fallen towel to cover herself, her cheeks flushed with anger. Her crystalline eyes, now blazing with a quiet fury, stared at Cedric as if he were the enemy.

Just last night, he had been with Sylvia in his office lounge. How could he come to her now, so shamelessly, and expect her to just fall into bed with him? She couldn't understand him. If he loved Sylvia so much, why not just divorce her and marry Sylvia? Did he enjoy the thrill of cheating, of having it both ways?

A dozen possibilities flooded her mind, and not a single one made it acceptable for him to ever touch her again.

A vein throbbed in Cedric's neck. He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in. He looked like a lion poised to attack, ready to devour her if she provoked him any further.

"Cedric, you want to sleep with me… Is it because you don't want the divorce?" Liliana's voice trembled, her heart pounding.

She wasn't sure why she asked. Part of her wanted him to mock her, to push her away for good. But another, smaller part held onto a sliver of hope.

She hoped he would admit it—that he didn't want to let her go. That he'd made a mistake, that he would cut ties with Sylvia, that he… wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"What does sleeping with you have to do with the divorce?" The veins on the back of his hand stood out, his knuckles white.

"Everything," she said without hesitation.

The fire in Cedric's eyes slowly died down. "Stop lying to yourself, Liliana. You've gone too far."

In their two years of marriage, she had never resorted to such tricks. This was the first time, and her clumsy attempt at playing hard-to-get was pathetically transparent. He had his needs, yes, but he could control them. It was time she had a rude awakening.

With that, he straightened up and walked away. The bedroom door opened, and a draft of cool air swept through the room, dissipating the charged atmosphere.

She called a ride-share, and nearly two hours later, she arrived back at Juniper's apartment. She kicked off her shoes and walked inside, stopping abruptly after a few steps.

Juniper's living room didn't have a television. The main wall was painted a cool gray, facing a projector. Pinned to the center of the wall was the photo of Cedric and Sylvia.

Juniper, who had been dozing at her desk, shot up when she saw Liliana. "You're finally back! I've been up all night working on Operation: Expose the Mistress!"

Liliana's eyes widened. She stared at her friend, at a loss for words. "Expose… the mistress?"

"Don't talk. Just listen." Juniper pointed at Sylvia's picture. "I saw her yesterday, and I knew right away there was something off about her. So I did some digging, and boy, did I find something."

Liliana's gaze was fixed on the photo. She had to admit, she was curious about Sylvia's background.