Chapter 10
First, Skylar took out a little pink box. Inside was a kid’s smartwatch.
Then she lifted out a fluffy princess dress and held it against Little Bean.
Little Bean was overjoyed and hugged the dress without letting go.
“Thank you, Aunt Sky!”
Skylar then pulled out a small square velvet box and pushed it toward Audrey.
“Your birthday is coming up. I might be busy then, so I’m giving you your present early.”
“Thanks.” Audrey took it and lifted the lid with her fingertip.
The instant the box opened, her gaze tightened.
Cartier’s newest You’re My Star bracelet. Platinum with diamonds.
Exactly the same as the one Archer Hart had sent her.
Skylar proudly lifted her own wrist. The same bracelet glittered there, scattering shards of light.
“Bestie bracelets.” She winked at Audrey. “Come on. Let me put it on you.”
With that, she picked up the bracelet and fastened it around Audrey’s wrist herself.
“Thank you.”
Audrey looked at the bracelet worth tens of thousands of dollars, and her wrist suddenly felt heavy.
She half joked, “Next time, don’t spend so much. Just give me the cash.”
“This much money could pay Little Bean’s tuition all the way through college.”
Skylar didn’t take the joke. She looked at Audrey seriously.
“Audi, when you gave birth to Bean, I wasn’t there.”
“From now on, I am never letting you fight alone again.”
After a pause, she added, “I’m planning to find someone and rush into marriage with him. I’m going to piss off my dad.”
Three years ago, Skylar had loved a man. Her father had forcibly torn them apart. At the time, Skylar had fallen into depression and thrown herself into the sea.
Audrey had rushed into the water and dragged her out. Later, Audrey had stayed by her side through treatment until she slowly crawled back from the edge.
For the past two years, Skylar had been chatting passionately with a man online. Only chatting. Never meeting. But both of them seemed to have developed strange feelings. Skylar planned to marry him the moment they met.
“Don’t be impulsive. Dating is fine. Marriage is a radioactive swamp.” Audrey sighed.
“Phoenix Castillo is back.”
“He bought Zenith. He’s my direct boss now.”
The warmth on Skylar’s face froze instantly.
The air went silent for several seconds.
Then she squeezed one syllable through her teeth.
“Fuck.”
Audrey was already unsettled. She grabbed Little Bean’s backpack and wanted to leave.
“No. Phoenix has already seen Bean. I need my mom to take her away fast, or he’ll find out and fight me for custody.”
“Girl, that is called practically hanging a neon sign over the secret,” Skylar said, pressing her back down. “Relax. I’ll help you get through this round.”
…
At seven that night, Phoenix brought Audrey to a private marina.
They boarded a luxury yacht.
Audrey assumed he needed to discuss some important business on the water. But after they boarded, the yacht pulled away from shore.
“We… Didn’t you invite other people?” Audrey blurted in alarm.
Phoenix hooked the corner of his mouth and slowly approached her.
“What’s the rush? They’ll come on their own.”
Audrey ignored him. She turned away and stood by the rail to let the sea breeze hit her face.
Suddenly, a pair of large hands wrapped around her from behind.
She startled.
His low, hoarse voice sounded beside her ear.
“Audi, do you remember what you said back then? That once we had money, you’d buy a big yacht and do filthy things with me on the ocean until we lost our minds…”
Audrey’s pulse leapt.
He had tricked her out to sea?
To seduce her?
She shoved him away and snapped, “Phoenix Castillo, what are you trying to do?”
Phoenix stood on the deck, broad-shouldered and long-backed, his lean, powerful frame like a statue carved from ice.
The sharp planes of his face looked even colder in the shimmer of the water.
“Audrey Mitchell, do you regret it?” he asked, his tone faintly mocking.
Regret?
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he added, “Do you regret divorcing me? If you had held on a little longer, all of this would have been yours.”
“From now on, whatever you wanted, you would have had.”
His eyes carried smug ridicule.
But Audrey understood.
He was showing off.
And humiliating her.
“I regret it very much,” she said calmly.
“Oh?” Phoenix raised an eyebrow, as if pleased with the answer.
“I regret getting that marriage license with you. Marrying you was an insult to the sacred institution of marriage.”
Audrey enunciated every word, hatred naked in her eyes.
She had trusted him too much.
That was why she had lost so completely.
Phoenix scoffed.
“Audrey Mitchell, I hope you can stay this tough forever.”
This woman always knew exactly how to anger him.
Fine.
In that case, he didn’t need to be polite.
Before long, two men in suits boarded the yacht with their beautiful companions.
“Mr. Castillo, sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Mr. Walsh. Mr. Lloyd. This way.”
Inside the yacht’s luxurious cabin, a card game had already been set up.
The men played cards while discussing investment projects worth hundreds of millions.
Phoenix crossed his legs and pointed at Audrey.
“Pour tea.”
Audrey bit her lip, picked up the teapot, and poured tea for the powerful men one by one.
Refill the wine.
Hand over towels.
She stood aside like a soulless server, ready for orders at any moment.
She was wearing three-inch heels and had stood almost the entire night. Her calves were trembling, sore and swollen to the point of pain.
When no one was paying attention, she quietly bent one leg and rubbed the tense muscle.
The next second, a cold gaze landed on her.
Phoenix was watching her.
His brows knit. Then, impatiently, he waved a hand.
“I don’t need you anymore. Go out.”
Audrey felt as if she had been granted amnesty. She turned and left the cabin at once.
She went to a corner of the deck, took off her heels, collapsed into a chair, and let out a long breath.
Deep into the night, the yacht finally returned to shore.
After Phoenix said goodbye to the two men, the driver had already brought the car around.
He glanced at Audrey in the corner and said evenly, “Get in.”
Audrey was truly exhausted.
Physical fatigue crushed every other emotion. She leaned against the car window and fell asleep almost instantly.
The car was very quiet, filled only with the sound of steady breathing.
When the car arrived downstairs at her apartment building, she still hadn’t woken. Phoenix signaled for the driver to stay silent.
He turned his head and quietly looked at her peaceful sleeping face.
Four years of it.
How many times had he dreamed of this face?
