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.”

son, she’ll back my campaign in the upcoming election. Chairman Emeric is also in the loop. If I refuse, they’ll throw their support

and Mrs. Bartley

rogue in a heartbeat. “Firstly, Alston won’t have to marry the ‘simpleton‘ and demean himself. I’ll get

aligns us with the influential Ashbourne family. It’s killing two birds

a formidable reputation. I

knows that. He’s abroad for treatment and probably won’t

far more terrifying than her father!” Alston fumed, influenced by Edith’s opinions. “You might handle Frederic, but can you really contend with Evadne?

she

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. But you lost your temper in front of everyone! Do you think your father holds enough clout to challenge the Abernathy group?!”

Alston was speechless.

to please Edith. He didn’t care for her; it was all a performance, a means to an end. Yet watching her dance intimately with Aaron had stung him deeply. It felt like a betrayal, as if they were already married and he, her husband, had been publicly

Frederic. He’s known for holding grudges, and even if I didn’t speak up, he’d never allow

disappointment. “You don’t have what it

following day, Frederic, having wrapped up his engagements, inquired about the previous night’s events during his leisurely

every detail, including Suri’s lavish gift to Marilla and Aaron’s bold

alone was worth over ten million,” Dennis remarked, clearly impressed by the Ashbournes‘ gesture.

who stands where. We’ve been planning an engagement with the Bartleys, and yet they’ve shown

his pride getting the better of him. “Bought by a mere trinket? Those Ashbournes probably have a vault full of such baubles.

but Aaron is leagues better than that Bartley boy,” Dennis scoffed. “Last night, Alston had the nerve to publicly criticize you. I

grew even darker at the mention of this. The comparison between the two suitors was the last

the Bartleys? A match with the

on the armrest, his face flushed with anger. “My son marrying an Ashbourne girl and my daughter wed to an Ashbourne boy? As if my

chose to

aside his personal feelings, he had to admit that Aaron, Suri’s son,

daughter; it was all about family arrangements. But the

wasn’t an Ashbourne.

from his