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.”

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.

his jaw, and Mrs. Bartley was at a

this arrangement is nothing but beneficial for us!” Mr. Bartley lounged on the couch, legs crossed, transforming from a dignitary to a rogue in a heartbeat. “Firstly, Alston won’t have to marry the ‘simpleton‘ and demean himself. I’ll get what I want without owing the Abernathy group any favors, freeing

secures my campaign financing and aligns us with the influential Ashbourne family. It’s killing two birds

interjected, “Dad, aren’t you oversimplifying things? The Ashbournes have a

won’t last

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 power behind the Ashbourne

not forget, she

Alston as he shouted, “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

Alston was speechless.

Yet watching her dance intimately with Aaron had stung him deeply. It felt like

me make this clear: you’ve completely ruined your impression with Frederic. He’s known for holding grudges, and even if I didn’t speak up,

in disappointment. “You don’t have what it

up his engagements, inquired about the

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

gift alone was worth over ten

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

trinket? Those Ashbournes probably have a vault full of such baubles. Emeric

Bartley boy,” Dennis scoffed. “Last night, Alston had the nerve to publicly criticize you. I wonder what’s eating

this. The comparison between the two suitors was the last thing he wanted to contemplate.

A

with anger. “My son marrying an Ashbourne girl and my daughter wed to an Ashbourne boy? As if my children have no other prospects

wisely chose to remain

aside his personal feelings, he had to admit that Aaron, Suri’s son, was a far superior match for his daughter than

no real affection for his daughter; it was all about family arrangements. But the way Aaron looked

Aaron wasn’t an Ashbourne.

buzzed, startling him from his