Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Yvette’s jaw twitches, but she doesn’t break eye contact. Man, if she weren’t involved with Ava, I’d like her a lot. Ready to put the final nail in her coffin, I add, “I know she paid off your school loans and got into huge shit for it. According to what I read, her parents changed the terms when that happened. I also know she has been moving money into an offshore account to pay for your studio.” I pause to lean in. “And, off the record, you are so talented. I love your work, and I want to buy one of your goose vases for my mom. She’d love it. Maybe you can give me one as my wedding present to Quinn.”
“Wow, you’re a lot.”
“I am aware,” I say simply, nodding. “Now, as to why we’re meeting. It’s in both our best interests for this marriage to never happen.”
She snorts at that. “Ava won’t let him go,” she seethes, and I see such hurt in her baby blues. She doesn’t want them together. “She has him by the balls.”
“Maybe so. But I think if you help me, we can end this and both get the people we want.”
Yvette shakes her head, and it surprises me when her eyes turn glassy. “You don’t know Ava like I do. She won’t back down. She wants her money. She needs it for us to be free of all the demands her parents put on her. She wants to love me freely.”
“And I can help you.” Her eyes become so hopeful, my stomach clenches. “Money isn’t an issue. I can take care of that.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“I will pay her the amount of her inheritance if she leaves him be.”
She scoffs. “You’ve got twenty million lying around.”
“I mean, it’s in a bank, but yes,” I say matter-of-factly. Then I point to myself. “Genius hacker.” Her eyes widen when she realizes I’m serious. “We can both have the people we love.”
A tear slips out, running down her cheek. “She won’t go for it.”
“Why?”
“Because she loves her parents and wants their approval. Quinn gives her that, and she can keep me on the side.” My brows knit, but before I can counter that, she asks, “Can you just be on the side for him?”
“Fuck no,” I spit, my eyes narrowing. “I’m not meant to be in the shadows. I belong next to him, and I know my worth. You should too if you truly love her and she truly loves you.”
Yvette looks away, pressing her lips together before she brushes her fingers along her cheeks to catch her tears. Her voice is small as she whispers, “You don’t understand.”
“I do,” I stress, watching her as her body shakes with a sob she’s trying so hard to keep in. “Talk to her.”
“I’ve tried,” she snapped. “She won’t listen to me.”
“Then she doesn’t love you.”
She blanches at that, a glare overtaking her face. “She loves me with her whole heart.”
“If she did, she wouldn’t be marrying Quinn.” Her eyes flash with anger at his name, and I love that she doesn’t like this situation either. I can use it to my advantage. “What I can’t find is why he’s doing this.”
She chuckles at that. “He didn’t tell you?”
I try not to, but I glare at her, my brows furrowing deeply. “I know that he got the job with Dr. Abrams because of Ava.”
She nods slowly. “Yeah.”
I wait for more, but she doesn’t give it to me. Asshole.
“Will he lose it if he doesn’t go through with it?”
She laughs, the sound so much softer than her features. “He’ll lose more than that.”
“How so?”
Yvette stares at me, looking like she holds the power when she holds not a damn thing.
I do.
“He’ll lose his right to practice,” she answers, and I scrunch up my face.
“What? Why?”
She almost looks evil as she grins at me. I thought I liked her. That’s changing very quickly. “Quinn had a hard time the year you left, and since Ava had already taken all the classes he was taking, she gave him all her work. All he had to do was copy and paste. She also took all his tests for him since everything was online when the world shut down.”
Fucking Quinn. I bite the inside of my cheek. “How can she prove that?”
“We have videos, and we have him on tape thanking her and agreeing to the marriage for that reason. He said she didn’t need to split the inheritance with him because she was there for him when he was broken.”
And stab, stab, stab—right in my heart. I try to school my features, but it doesn’t work. I grimace. I could kill him. He has a hacker as the love of his life, and he couldn’t call me? I would have changed all his grades, but instead, he got involved with these two cunt bags!