Chapter 118
No.1
By late afternoon, the violent Aspen blizzard finally broke. The howling wind died down, leaving the sky a bruised, freezing,deep indigo.
Elisa stood in front of the mirror in her suite. She had taken painkillers to dull the throbbing in her spine. She pulled on a conservative, long-sleeved black wool gown. The high neckline hid her pale skin, and the heavy, flowing skirt perfectly concealed the massive, purple bruising blooming across her lower back. She looked like she was attending a funeral.②
She grabbed her small clutch and opened the door.
Simon stood in the hallway, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked like a perfectly tailored ghost.②
"Miss Wilder," Simon said smoothly. "Mr. Chambers is waiting for you in the private garage. Please follow me to the service elevator."
Elisa's brow furrowed. The main entrance of the chalet was grand and easily accessible. Taking a service elevator to the basement was how they moved luggage, not guests.
She didn't argue. She followed Simon down a narrow, uncarpeted back corridor, stepping into a metal freight elevator that smelled faintly of industrial cleaner.
No.2
The doors opened into the cavernous, concrete underground garage.
A massive, armored black Maybach sat idling in the center of the space. Thick white exhaust plumed into the freezing air.
Simon opened the heavy rear door.
August sat in the far corner of the back seat,swallowed by the shadows. He was wearing a flawless black tuxedo. A lit cigar was clamped between his fingers, the cherry glowing bright red in the dark.
Elisa climbed inside. She slid across the leather bench, pressing her shoulder hard against the opposite door, putting as much physical distance between them as the car allowed.
The heavy door slammed shut, sealing them inside the soundproof cabin. The Maybach smoothly accelerated, climbing up the winding, ice-covered mountain road.
The air inside the car was suffocating. The smell of
No.3
rich tobacco and August's cedarwood cologne mixed into a toxic cloud.
Elisa stared out the tinted window at the passing snowbanks. The silence stretched until it felt like a physical weight on her chest.O
She turned her head. She looked at August's perfect, arrogant profile. A cold, mocking smile touched her lips.
"Is this how the great August Chambers travels now?" Elisa asked, her voice slicing through the quiet hum of the engine. "Sneaking his legal wife out through the basement like a thief in the night?"
August took a slow drag of his cigar. He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, not bothering to look at her.
"It is a basic security protocol to avoid unnecessary complications," August replied, his voice flat and bored.
Elisa let out a sharp, genuine laugh. It held no humor.
No.4
"Complications," Elisa repeated. She turned her body slightly, locking her dead eyes onto him."You mean you didn't want to walk through the lobby and risk your JHU fan club seeing you with the 'bottom-feeder' you just publicly disowned."
August's fingers twitched around the cigar. He didn't answer.
Elisa leaned forward slightly, her analytical brain dissecting him with surgical precision.
"You play the devoted, protective fiancé in front of Allena to feed her ego and your own sick hero complex," Elisa stated, her voice dropping to a lethal,freezing whisper. "But the second the sun goes down, you drag me into a car to parade me in front of your mother and the family board."
August finally turned his head. His dark eyes locked onto hers, burning with a sudden, violent warning.
Elisa didn't flinch. She kept pushing the blade in.
"Because next week is the Al Summit and the Aethel merger announcement," Elisa continued,hitting the exact nerve she knew drove his every action. "You are terrified. If a messy divorce scandal breaks right now, the Chambers Group stock price will tank. The board will question your stability. You don't want me here, August. You are just too much of a coward to face the financial consequences of your own pathetic sex life."
No.5
The temperature in the Maybach plummeted to absolute zero.
Elisa had just ripped off his mask of absolute power, exposing the terrified, capital-driven coward underneath.
August violently crushed the lit cigar into the crystal ashtray built into the door.
He lunged across the leather seat. His dark eyes locked onto hers, burning with the lethal intensity of an apex predator whose territory had just been breached. His massive, uninjured left hand shot out,clamping around Elisa's jaw. His long fingers dug painfully into her fragile cheekbones, the heat of his skin searing against her cold flesh. At the exact same moment, his burned right hand instinctively clenched into a tight, violent fist.The pristine white bandage stretched and a fresh drop of dark crimson blood seeped through the sterile fabric. A sharp hiss of pain escaped his lips, but the fury in his eyes completely overrode the physical agony. The physical force of his movement pinned her back against the cold glass of the window,stealing the oxygen from her lungs.
"Women who think they are smarter than the men who own them usually end up with nothing, Elisa,"August growled, his voice vibrating with a terrifying,suppressed violence.
His grip tightened. "Your only job tonight is to sit at
that table, smile, and play the obedient wife. If you do anything to embarrass me in front of my family,I will make sure you never see a single dime of your precious settlement."
No.6
Elisa was forced to look up into his furious eyes.Her jaw throbbed under his crushing grip.③
But there was no fear in her black eyes. Only a deep,bottomless pity.
She violently jerked her head to the side, breaking his grip. She rubbed her jaw,her expression turning to stone.
"Don't worry, August," Elisa whispered coldly. "I want this disgusting play to end just as badly as you do."
The Maybach slowed. It turned off the mountain road, passing through massive, wrought-iron security gates.
A sprawling, modern fortress of glass and dark stone appeared in the snow. The Chambers family Aspen estate.
The car stopped at the grand entrance. Simon opened the door.
No.7
August stepped out first. He adjusted the cuffs of his tuxedo, instantly burying his rage. He turned
back, offering his arm to Elisa with a flawless,sickeningly perfect smile, ready to begin the show.②