I was half-dead on the couch, scrolling through dog videos for inspiration, when soone started pounding on the door.
I didn’t order food. Yvaine wasn’t coming tonight.
And you needed a building pass just to get on my floor, so that left...
Sighing, I opened the door.
Yep. Rhys Granger, looking like soone had pissed in his Cristal.
‘Nope,’ I said imdiately and went to slam it shut.
He shoved a foot in. ‘You dodging now? I’ve got sothing to say!’
‘Say it. Then leave.’
‘If you married that guy just to spite , you win. Fine. You win. I’m here now. You got what you wanted.’
I laughed. ‘You think I got married to piss you off?’
‘Didn’t you?’ he said, jaw tight. ‘You’ve been into since we were kids. You don’t just flip a switch and stop. Everything you’re doing right now is just a ga.’
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I folded my arms. ‘Rhys, the day you let my darling sister crawl into your lap at that bar was the day I stopped liking you. Yeah, I used to be an idiot. But I’m not anymore. So let make this crystal clear.’
He blinked.
I leaned forward.
‘I. Am. Married. I have a husband. A real one. Not a maybe-one-day-if-you-behave placeholder. You and I? We’re nothing. I don’t love you. I don’t even like you now. Got it? Is that enough closure for you?’
Rhys just stood there, shoulders slumped, mouth half-open.
Good. Let it sting.
His breathing went weird, like soone had stuffed a sock down his throat.
‘No. No way. You can’t not love .’ He sounded like a broken chatbot. ‘You marrying Ashton Laurent? That was the real joke. You think the heir to the Laurent empire’s actually gonna fall for you? Maybe he played along for now ‘cause you blackmailed him or whatever, but once he cos to his senses, you won’t even know what hit you before you’re out on your arse—or dead.’
I looked up at the ceiling, praying for patience.
Why the hell did I never notice how exhausting it was just talking to Rhys?
I’d said what I needed to say.
I wasn’t wasting another breath.
‘Do not co back here,’ I said, then turned and slamd the door—
Well, I tried to slam it.
Except his foot was still in the gap.
There was a solid ‘crunch’.
Followed by the kind of scream that made my neighbours probably reach for their phones.
‘AAAAAHH!! My foot!! Mirabelle, are you trying to murder ?!’
I glanced down.
His polished leather shoe had a dent, but I didn’t see blood or bone fragnts.
‘Move it,’ I said coolly. ‘Or next ti I’ll snap the whole damn thing.’
‘No!’ Rhys gritted his teeth and clung to the doorfra.
He grabbed my wrist hard and yanked out into the hallway. ‘You think you can just shut the door on ? I’m not done talking!’
‘Let go of !’ I twisted, tried to pull free, but his grip was vice-tight.
I could feel it pressing straight into the bone. ‘Rhys! You’re hurting , you lunatic!’
He didn’t reply. Like he’d gone full zombie mode and couldn’t hear .
Worse—he started dragging towards the lift. ‘You’re coming ho with !’
‘The hell I am! Let go!’
I was debating if kneeing him in the groin was worth the trip to the police station when the lift let out a cheerful ‘ding’.
Ashton strode out, pulled up short at the sight of us, then picked up his pace.
He was right in front of in a matter of seconds and landed a punch straight into Rhys’s face.
Rhys made this choked-up sound, sowhere between a yelp and a dying pigeon.
Then Ashton grabbed his shirt collar with one hand and clamped down on Rhys’s wrist with the other.
Yanked him clean off like peeling off a cheap sticker.
‘Who the fuck are you?!’ Rhys gasped, hunched over like a kicked bin.
He looked dazed, probably couldn’t see past the cartoon stars circling his head.
Ashton’s voice ca down like a guillotine: ‘Lay a hand on her again, and I’ll kill you.’
Rhys spat out a mouthful of blood.
He tried squinting up at the newcor’s face.
I knew the mont he’d recognised Ashton, because he flinched.
And I couldn’t bla him.
Even I was a little scared.
Ashton had delivered his threat in a perfectly calm voice, and sothing told he’d have no trouble carrying it out.
Rhys, for all his puffed-up ego, couldn’t even stand straight.
Panicking, he backed away a step and shouted, as if volu could make up for his lack of balls, ‘Mirabelle is my fiancée! What I do with her is none of your business!’
That last part ca out about three decibels softer than the rest.
Even Rhys himself didn’t believe it.
Ashton took a step forward.
Rhys scrambled back farther.
Ashton parked himself right in front of like a six-foot human wall.
‘Mirabelle is my wife. You show up at my place in the middle of the night harassing her, and you think that’s got nothing to do with ?’
Rhys swallowed. Loud.
I could hear it from behind Ashton’s shoulder.
Even when he straightened up and tried to match Ashton’s height, he still had to tip his chin just to make eye contact.
‘You didn’t marry her willingly, right? If she’s got sothing on you—pictures, whatever—I can help. She blackmailed you, didn’t she?’
Wow. Willow Granger really had him out here reading off a script.
They’d convinced themselves I’d sohow blackmailed Ashton into marrying .
What did they think I had on him? Dick pics? The nuclear launch codes?
I poked my head out from behind Ashton. ‘You are delusional.’
Gently, Ashton nudged back.
The next second, his fist connected with Rhys’s other cheek. Dead centre.
Now his face was finally symtrical. Swollen on both sides like a rotten lon.
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