Barrington looked dazed–almost hurt.
Xanthe had always been the one to take the initiative to be intimate with him. And now that he finally approached her, she called it sexual harassment?
Outside the door, Zandra didn’t dare delay any longer. She quickly called for security. Moments later, Barrington was escorted out of the building.
That night, he had barely had a moment to himself after enduring an entire afternoon of verbal beatings.
Once the BMC Global shareholders heard he’d lost the partnership deal, they all turned on him one after another. For three long and relentless hours, they bombarded him with criticism.
When the online meeting finally ended, he shut his laptop and pressed his fingers to rub his temples in exhaustion.
He had built this company from the ground up. No family fortune. No one backing him. So whenever things went south, the shareholders took it out on him.
Back when Xanthe was still around, she had always borne these things silently on her own, never letting any of the chaos reach him.
Back when Song Xanthe was around, she had quietly absorbed the brunt of it. She never let any of that pressure reach him.
But she was gone. And everything fell squarely on his shoulders.
He closed his eyes, murmuring, “Xanthe…”
Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands gently massaging his temples.
His heart leapt. Eyes snapping open, he said, “Xanthe? Is that you?!”
But it wasn’t Xanthe in front of him–it was Vionnet.
The light in his eyes vanished. His expression hardened. “What are you doing here?” Vionnet bit her lip, putting on a wounded look. “Barry, I heard you came here for business deals. I just wanted to help.”
“The doctor said my pregnancy is a bit unstable,” she added to explain, “so I figured I could also check in with the hospitals here, too.”
She thought bringing up the baby would soften him, maybe even move him.
But Barrington just let out a sharp, scornful laugh. “Then get rid of it.”
Vionnet froze. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she stared at him in disbelief. “Barry… You’re… You’re kidding, right?”
But Barrington’s eyes glinted with cold light. His voice was chilling when he replied, “Do I look like I’m joking?”
That sent a wave of dread that washed over Vionnet.
11:27 Sat, 12 Jul AMA.
The baby in her belly was her last card–her only leverage. She had planned to use it to force a marriage with Barrington–there was no way she could lose it now.
“Are you still hung up on Xanthe, Barry? But she’s already divorced you! She doesn’t even love you at all anymore!” she cried out. “I’m carrying your child. You have a responsibility to me!”
But Barrington didn’t even pity her. Instead, he let out a mocking laugh and gripped her chin with his own fingers.
“You’re trying to use a child to trap me?” he scoffed. “I don’t even want you. Why the hell would I care about a child that’s yours?”
“Vionnet, I only ever looked after you out of respect for what we had back then,” he clarified. “But you used my sympathy to manipulate me.”
“And you thought you could trap me into marriage with a baby?” He shook his head. “You really overestimated yourself.”
With a flick of his arm, he shoved her away. The force was so unexpected that Vionnet stumbled and fell to the floor.
She slumped there in a daze, her eyes filled with panic. Something about him had changed like he’d become a completely different person.
Still, she wasn’t done. She lashed out again, trying to drag Xanthe down with her.
“Even if you don’t love me anymore, Barry, you can’t love Xanthe either!”
She held her chin up as she reminded him. “Have you forgotten? She drugged you back then! And she drugged me too! How can you share a bed with a woman like that? Aren’t you afraid she’ll turn on you again?!”
She should’ve kept her mouth shut… because Barrington’s face darkened, and the next second, he slapped her hard.
The impact made her collapse and crumple to the floor.
Rage burned in his eyes. He grabbed her hair, yanked her head up, and hissed.
“It wasn’t her. The one who drugged me back then? I know it’s you!
“And you drugged yourself, too! From the beginning, Xanthe never did a thing to you. It’s you, Vionnet. You just kept framing her–again and again!
“You shouldn’t have come back. Without you, Xanthe and I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
Vionnet breath caught. Her whole body tensed, and her blood ran cold.
“Y–Y–You knew? You knew all along?”
