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.”

agree to hand Marilla over to her 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 behind my rival. Tell me, would either of you do differently?”

clenched his jaw, and Mrs. Bartley was

a heartbeat. “Firstly, Alston won’t have to marry the

the influential Ashbourne family. It’s

“Dad, aren’t you oversimplifying things? The Ashbournes have a formidable reputation. I find Emeric even more daunting than Frederic!”

ill, everyone knows that. He’s abroad for treatment and probably won’t last two years. I’m not

CEO is his daughter Evadne! In my 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 with Evadne? She’s the actual

forget, she has Thaddeus backing

“You think if it weren’t for Suri’s proposal, you’d have any chance of securing this marriage? Look at the mess you 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

Alston was speechless.

watching her dance intimately with Aaron had stung him deeply. It felt like a betrayal, as

He’s known for holding grudges, and even if I didn’t speak up,

it takes to marry into their world. Give up

about the previous night’s events

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

alone was worth over ten million,” Dennis remarked,

with the Bartleys,

“Bought by a mere trinket? Those Ashbournes probably have a vault full of such baubles. Emeric probably has a

Bartley boy,” Dennis scoffed. “Last night, Alston had the nerve to publicly criticize

comparison between the two suitors was the last thing he

seen how Aaron truly feels about Marilla. Why don’t we call off the engagement with the Bartleys? A match with the

his face flushed with anger. “My son marrying an Ashbourne girl and my daughter wed to an Ashbourne boy? As if my children have no other prospects but those Ashbournes!” he fumed,

wisely chose to

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

down that Alston had no real affection for his daughter; it was all about family arrangements. But the way Aaron looked at Marilla, with such genuine affection, couldn’t be just for show.

Aaron wasn’t an

from his