His Ex Wife Is A Billionaire

Chapter 762

In the dead of night, Mr. Bartley summoned Alston to his study. Mrs. Bartley was already there, her presence a clear sign of the gravity of the discussion about to unfold.

“What? Call off the engagement?!” Mrs. Bartley shrieked in disbelief. “Timothy, are you out of your mind? The news has already spread like wildfire. I have the ladies from the country club practically fawning over me, showering me with gifts because our Alston is set to marry the Abernathy heiress!”

Her eyes blazed with the scandal of it all. “With the wedding just around the corner, you drop this bombshell on me. How am I supposed to show my

ace around them after this?”

“Dad! What’s going on? Why cancel the engagement?!” Alston, his face flushed with anger, recalled the evening’s humiliation. “Marilla had the audacity to hold hands with Mr. Ashbourne and dance with him right in front of me. I’ve been embarrassed already, and now you want to call off the wedding altogether?”

Edith had painted Marilla as a simpleton. But what sort of fool dares to flirt with another man in front of her own fiancé, to be so intimate in public?

The thought of it was maddening. He wanted to make her pay, to make her regret her indiscretion.

“If your dignity comes at the cost of my future, then I say your pride is a small price to pay!” Mr. Bartley’s words were shocking, his impatience written all over his face.

“What are you saying?!” Both mother and son stared at him, bewildered.

“Haven’t you seen it tonight? Aaron has fallen for that ‘simpleton‘,” Mr. Bartley said, sipping his tea with an air of self–satisfaction. “Suri approached me in confidence, asking me to break off the engagement.”

Chairman Emeric is also in the loop. If I refuse, they’ll throw their support behind my rival. Tell me,

jaw, and Mrs. Bartley was at a loss for

legs crossed, transforming from a dignitary to a rogue in a heartbeat. “Firstly, Alston

us with the influential Ashbourne family. It’s

things? The Ashbournes have a formidable reputation. I find Emeric even

knows that. He’s abroad for treatment and probably won’t last two years. I’m not afraid of

eyes, that woman is like a banshee, far more terrifying than her father!” Alston fumed, influenced by Edith’s opinions. “You might handle Frederic, but can you really contend

not forget, she has Thaddeus backing

made tonight, acting like a cornered animal in front of Mr. Frederic. I’ve taught you better! Even if it’s an act, you have to maintain your composure.

Alston was speechless.

a means to an end. Yet watching her

clear: you’ve completely ruined your impression with Frederic. He’s known for holding grudges, and even if I didn’t speak up, he’d never allow his daughter to marry

head in disappointment. “You don’t have what it takes to marry into their world. Give up on that

engagements, inquired about the previous night’s events during

including Suri’s lavish gift to Marilla and

has been incredibly generous with our Miss Marilla. The welcome gift alone was worth over ten million,” Dennis remarked, clearly impressed by

with the

Ashbournes probably have a vault full of

night, Alston had the nerve

this. The comparison between the two suitors was the

call off the engagement with the Bartleys? A match with the Ashbournes would

an Ashbourne girl and my daughter wed to an Ashbourne boy? As if my children have no other prospects but those Ashbournes!” he fumed, his pride

to

personal feelings, he had to admit that Aaron, Suri’s son, was a far superior match for his daughter than the Bartley lad. And not just in terms of

was all about family arrangements. But the way Aaron looked at Marilla, with such genuine

only Aaron wasn’t an Ashbourne.

from