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CHAPTER 23
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2021-07-23 10:00:10That voice came out of nowhere, from the pool of darkness at the far end of the terrace. A familiar voice, one he didn’t want to hear ever again. Demetrios strolled out of the darkness, like a snake slithering towards a possible prey. His voice was taunting, grating.
“Are you already missing her, big brother?” Demetrios continued with a grin on his lips.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Nikolas asked and his voice was terse, demanding.
A new emotion was taking over, fueled by a rush of adrenaline that had come the moment he’d heard his brother’s taunting voice. An emotion that tensed and coiled in every muscle of his body.
“Oh, come on, Niko! Don’t tell me I’m trespassing?” Demetrios responded drawlingly. “Are you going to call your security guys and ask them to throw me ou
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His mother’s expression changed. He couldn’t tell what she thought, but he couldn’t care less.“Oh, Niko… I’m so very sorry,” she whispered. Mixed emotion speared in Nikolas. His mother would be happy now… Happy to think she’d saved herself five million euros! Happier to think her precious son had been saved from the hideous fate of having to marry a woman he’d got pregnant and who would be the worst wife for him.“Celebrate, mother,” Nikolas said. His tone was harsh and cruel. His eyes lasered into hers, and her face paled.“Celebrate?” Calista said the word as if it had no meaning. But of course, it had meaning for her! It meant her precious son was safe. Blin
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His voice was low, urgent. Insistent. Somehow, though her mouth was suddenly as dry as a bone, Cheryl forced herself to speak.“There is nothing more to be said. You should get into your fancy car and go as far away from me as possible.” Cheryl’s voice grated out through a throat that had closed completely. His hand slashed negation.“Absolutely not. Not even by a long shot. There is still so much more to be said between you and me! That’s the reason I’ve been searching for you. That’s why I’m here, in front of you. It wasn’t all said, Cheryl. The most important part got left out. I was so devastated with what you threw at me, I let you go. I let you leave me. I should never have done that. Never! I should have told you then! But I didn’t realize… I didn’t realize that…&rdquo
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She wasn’t sure what she said to the sales assistant, didn’t register that the woman had nodded and gone through to the storeroom. Registered only that a hand like steel had gripped around her wrist.“What did that woman just call you?” Cheryl rested her eyes on Nikolas’s face, where all she could see was blank stupefaction and disbelief.“Um… She called me ‘Dr. Richards’,” she replied in an expressionless voice. “Because that’s who I am, Nikolas. I got my Ph.D. last year… the year my father died. He was a senior research fellow at the university, and I’ve just taken up a research post in his former department, guided now by my old colleague, Dr. Maria Shell.” His eyes were on her, quite blank.
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He tried to say something, but Cheryl stopped him. “No… It’s my turn to talk now and you’re going to hear me out right until the end,” she added starting to feel a little tired, physically and mentally. “I know I’m not very good at talking about the stock market and brokers, and funds and charities, and whatever you, rich people, consider important subjects in a conversation. That I’m out of my league here. Still, I think, even for a reclusive, a bookworm like me, I never was so bad. I never embarrassed you. But I never actually thought… that you of all people, saw me in this light… as a brainless whore.” Another ragged intake of breath scissored through her lungs. “That a man like you, someone I thought so highly of, would be the one kicking me down to the ground again. Now I’m done.” Nik
