Bride of Retribution: Aloof Billionaire's Dominant Game

Julian Carter looked at Alexander King standing there in a daze, a faint cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

”It seems that your security measures need some improvement in your territory,” he maintained his cool demeanor as he spoke, looking at the fresh white marigolds scattered on the large bed. Alexander gave an awkward smile. The night outside was deep, and the soft white moonlight spilled into the bedroom, making the scene even more eerie.

What could he say? Such a thing happened under his watch; he could only investigate it as soon as possible. Alexander felt that Joshua Hughes’ patience had reached a limit and could explode at any time.

”Where’s Joshua?” Joshua Hughes should be fine; he had always been skilled, but his absence here worried him a little.

”The boss’s wife seems to be really scared,” Julian Carter squatted on the floor, examining the wedding photo closely, not missing a single detail.

If the boss suffers a minor injury, it’s not a big deal since he’s a tough man, but if the boss’s wife gets hurt, that would be deadly.

Alexander’s heart sank. He silently thought to himself that things had indeed turned bad. If something happened to Avery Jane, would she vent her anger on Nora Thompson as well? It seemed like it would be quite a mess.

The string of incidents was becoming overwhelming. And this damn Julian Carter, following Joshua Hughes, had even picked up seventy to eighty percent of his mannerism in speaking and acting, making one want to punch him. The bothersome things were enough already; couldn’t he just explain how these things happened?

Julian Carter stood up, walked to the bedside, and picked up one of the marigolds. At this time, white marigolds were a rare sight.

”Without a room card and password, no one could get in here at all.” Alexander was pondering in his heart, but everything seemed like fate. He worried for Joshua Hughes; it seemed like some things Joshua always wanted to avoid but couldn’t escape from. Seeing this scene, he wondered if it was a setup from fate—to eventually take Avery Jane away from his side.

Julian Carter had a chilly smile on his lips: ”Let’s split up and take action. You check all the surveillance, and I’ll find out the origin of these things.” Keeping things from troubling the boss was an assistant’s duty, and they had to deliver results to Joshua Hughes as soon as possible, or else he might as well quit.

In the property management office, all the footage had been edited out. How could the videos from those few minutes in the elevator just vanish? Alexander’s back started to sweat slowly; his gaze was heavy as he looked at the two security guards.

”Aside from the residents living here, who else came in today?” To enter this neighborhood, one must first register, and then the security would confirm with the resident if they had invited anyone before letting them in.

:”The guests today weren’t many, just five, all registered. Also, the owner of the fifteenth floor ordered some furniture this afternoon, and seven workers came to move it in.” The security guard carefully checked the registration; it was indeed the fifteenth floor, which had a new resident who seemed to be a famous celebrity.

:”How many went out?” Alexander frowned. It must be among these seven outsiders; how else could those things be smuggled in? With a bunch of marigolds and such a photo, it was impossible for the security here not to have any impression.

:”When they left, they were all sitting in the back of the big truck. We didn’t count how many exactly.” The security answered in a low voice, daring not to look at Alexander, whose face must have been unsightly.

------------------------------Separator-------------------------------

The person on the bed was still in a deep sleep, perhaps due to the injection she had received, she didn’t even turn over, staying as quiet as a painting.

Joshua Hughes lay beside her, looking at her. His heart felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on it, heavy with helplessness—he had, after all, to face such a situation. Just as human strength ultimately couldn’t stop death from approaching every day.

In fact, from the moment one is born, they begin to move towards death, just as from the moment he started deceiving Avery Jane, the day the deception would be exposed was already destined.

He could not see his own eyes, otherwise he would discover that from the first time he saw her, the consistent lust, possessiveness, and desires had turned into deep affection, tenderness, reluctance, heartache......

A line from a song suddenly popped into his head: ”Somebody asked me what is so good about you that I can’t forget after so many years, even the spring breeze cannot surpass your smile, those who haven’t seen you wouldn’t understand...”

Avery Jane, I have realized your beauty. Will you realize my heart? With a deep and long sigh, dense with sadness, impossible to dissolve......

When the first ray of morning light shone through the window, into the bedroom, Avery Jane slowly opened her eyes, her head pounding.

The man beside her was asleep, his large hand possessively encircling her waist. The morning light fell on his face, his thick eyelashes covered his eyes, his brows gently furrowed with a hint of trouble, under his handsome nose were his thin, sexy lips. When he spoke, his deep, magnetic voice was always accompanied by a hint of musk that was enticing. But, had they become like this?

Yesterday’s memories flooded in like a tide, one wave after another, seemingly never-ending. How should she face him now? The photo hung just like that in their room, the man in the photo tender and passionate, exactly the groom of her dreams. He finally turned around. Actually, he wasn’t in her dreams; her dreams were all her subconscious. Those were remnants of her memory, beginning to awaken slowly, like seeds covered by the winter cold beginning to sprout when spring arrived.

She had many fears. She feared not being able to recall, and also feared remembering. She feared she didn’t really love Joshua Hughes, that what she felt for him now was just an illusion. She feared there would never be a man in her life again who she wanted to lean on like this. Her pale fingers gently lifted, tracing his outlines slowly in the morning light......

”What are you thinking?” Joshua Hughes opened his eyes; he had been awake for a while, having awakened when she tried to gently move his hand. But he had kept his eyes closed all along.

His deep voice, like aged wine, intoxicating, Avery Jane had a faint smile at the corner of her mouth: ”Thinking about how you will explain to me, Joshua Hughes, you are not my groom, you lied to me........” The legend of the Hughes Family she had heard of before, all the women in the company would talk about this family, and the men within it. Joshua Hughes was the most talked-about one.

Joshua Hughes gazed at her; today her performance surprised him—neither crying, nor fear, nor any way he imagined it. Yet, that made him worry even more.

”Avery......” He just opened his mouth, and Avery Jane’s gentle fingers like white jade gently pressed against his lips.

”Let me speak.....” She lay back quietly; the warm air under the covers made her reluctant to leave.

”Joshua Hughes, you are someone who wants to marry a wife chosen by your family. So here, ten women have lived before. I am the eleventh one, or maybe not only. However, Joshua Hughes, I believe you have at least a bit of fondness for me, at least more than those women before. That is why you kept me by your side, is that it?” As Avery Jane spoke, she closed her eyes, not daring to look at anything around, afraid of seeing any traces left by the women before her, which would be unbearable for her.

”Joshua Hughes, I will give you this one chance, just this once, tell me everything exactly as it happened. Then I’ll forgive you for lying to me. If it’s too difficult for you, I won’t need a title. Just when I’m here, you can’t find other women. If one day you fall for someone else, then tell me, I definitely won’t entangle with you, I’ll leave on my own.” Avery Jane didn’t know how much courage she had to muster to say these words. Maybe she would soon remember, or maybe for the rest of her life she would only have fragments of memory, but she couldn’t resist the voice from the depths of her heart—this man’s broad chest makes her want to lean on it until old age, until the very moment death arrives.......

Joshua Hughes looked at her, his eyes turning red. He wished he could just tell her everything. Tell her it was he who cut off the sponsorship for Lucas Yates’ laboratory, and he who forced her to strip and lay down with him, disregarding her dignity. He wished to tell her that when he went into the operating room, he used Lucas Yates’ cornea, and that her amnesia was all because he had done the most inhumane thing to her.

But he couldn’t say it, his entire throat as if overgrown with thorns, even breathing hurt. The world Avery Jane imagined wasn’t anything like this; she could never imagine the reality being so hideous and unbearable. She couldn’t imagine he was a cruel and violent devil. Her heart was like the most pristine patch of snow on the mountaintop, sparkling under the sunlight. She never even held anything against his past that sounded ridiculous to the extreme, drifting from one woman to another. She never asked for much, yet he couldn’t answer anything, couldn’t say a word.......

Avery Jane closed her eyes, listening to his strong and powerful heartbeats, waiting for him to talk to her. But as seconds ticked by, it remained quiet, only the intertwined breathing in the air was audible.

How could he speak of everything from the past?