Ivy had never seen him lose control like this before, something almost feral in the way he moved, and it made her whole body go tight with fear.
“Let go of me, Nathaniel.
We’re getting divorced.
This is assault.”
Chloe, still standing off to the side, hadn’t expected any of this.
Jealousy flared through her and she stepped forward to intervene.
“Nathaniel, don’t do this”
“Get out of my way.” His tone came out cold enough that Chloe froze mid-step, too rattled to move any closer, humiliation and resentment burning through her.
She was standing right there, and he only had eyes for that scheming woman wearing his ex-fiancée’s face.
Watching the fury blazing in his eyes, Ivy fell back on everything three years had taught her about this man.
He was proud, unmanageable, and only ever responded to soft handling.
Wren was the only woman who’d ever thrown him off his game.
No one else came close.
Wearing Wren’s face meant she’d spent years getting away with defying him, and tonight was simply another version of the same pattern.
She had a baby to protect.
This wasn’t a fight she could win head-on.
“Nathaniel, if you need to work something out of your system, go find your girlfriend.
She’s standing right there waiting for you to notice her.
This isn’t fair to me.” Ivy tried reasoning with him.
“I’m not who you actually want.
You’re the one who said we’d end this cleanly.
I haven’t broken faith with you before the divorce is final.
Hold up your end.”
Nathaniel studied her the way a predator studies something it hasn’t decided whether to release yet.
“An agreement?”
He glanced at Chloe, pale and frozen, then leaned down and bit down on Ivy’s earlobe, dragging his mouth against it cruelly.
“Don’t forget part of your job is teaching my new girlfriend how to take care of a man properly.”
Ivy went rigid.
Catching the resentment radiating off Chloe made the moment feel even more unbearable.
He’d always been rougher with her before, and she’d always found a way to make herself pliant, useful, easy.
A good tool did what it was built for.
Now, picturing him kissing Chloe, holding Chloe, and then turning around to touch her again made her stomach turn.
Every part of me is refusing this.
“Nathaniel, can we just talk?” Genuine fear crept through her; she knew exactly how far his retaliation could reach when he decided someone had crossed him.
If she couldn’t get out of this tonight, the baby might not survive it.
Her throat tightened, tears threatening despite herself, and she looked up at him, eyes rimmed red.
“I went to see Sebastian Barrow for the company.
For both of us.
I’m the one who brought that account back in the first place.
Three years of work I wasn’t about to hand it to Desmond without a fight.”
His grip on her loosened slightly, though his stare didn’t waver.
Ivy caught the shift and kept pushing.
“And Desmond he’s your worst enemy.
He’s played both sides with me from day one.
I wouldn’t look twice at someone that two-faced if he were the last man alive.
I went with him tonight because I need to find whoever leaked those design files.”
“I already promised you and the whole company answers within a week.
This was never just about the Barrow account, it’s about finding whoever did this, cutting them out, and clearing my name in the process.” She practically raised her hand like she was under oath.
“There was nothing improper about any of it.
I swear it.”
Rationally, some part of him knew every word of that was probably true.
But the image kept looping in his head, her in that dress, flanked by two men, laughing like it cost her nothing.
Something possessive and irrational pulsed behind his temples.
“Ever since you filed for that divorce, you’ve been fearless, haven’t you.
Like you can’t wait to get out from under me.” His voice had gone dark.
He caught her chin, eyes dropping to her mouth.
“It’s a little late to start playing soft and obedient now, isn’t it?”
Ivy nearly choked on the urge to snap back at him.
Since when did this arrogant, self-contained man turn into this was he actually thinking straight, or was this just wanting to talk?
Getting away from him was the only priority now.
“I didn’t run from anything.
I kept the one promise you actually asked me to keep.” She shifted her weight subtly, letting her expression soften into the old, familiar compliance, the version of herself he was used to controlling.
Nathaniel hesitated for only a second before Chloe pushed forward.
“Nathaniel, even if she doesn’t want you, I’ll always be here.
If she’s this determined to walk away, she must have already found someone better.”
Without a word, she started undoing her own buttons, baring what lay beneath, desperate to prove she measured up.
“Nathaniel.”
“Get out of the way.” Something in him snapped entirely.
He hauled Ivy over his shoulder and shoved past a stunned Chloe, heading straight for the bedroom.
“Nathaniel!” Chloe’s eyes burned with humiliated fury.
Is he really this attached to that face?
Three years in the same bed and he’s still not tired of it?
He just hasn’t had a real taste of me yet.
That’s the only explanation for why he’d still look twice at that woman.
The struggle spilled onto the sofa, escalating fast.
Chloe tried to follow and was shut out entirely, left standing there with tears in her eyes, glaring at the door like she could burn through it.
On the same bed they’d shared for three years.
His mouth moved rough against her cheek and throat, leaving marks that stung like something closer to violence than affection.
“Nathaniel, please.
Stop.” Humiliation burned behind Ivy’s eyes.
He’d torn at her clothes with his new girlfriend standing right outside the door, grinding down what little dignity she had left, treating her like something bought and paid for.
In the middle of her despair, a dull ache bloomed low in her stomach.
Thinking of the fragile life inside her, she found strength from somewhere and shoved him off hard, voice raw and breaking.
“Get out!”
He’d never once seen her cry like this.
Something wounded and cornered, every defense raised at once, desperate to put distance between herself and the entire world.
What did I just do?
She’d only ever been a stand-in, a body he used because the real thing had run off.
What right did he have to throw away his pride chasing after her like this?
I’ve lost my mind.
The angrier he got at himself for losing control in front of her, the crueler his words became.
“I’m tired of sharing a bed with you after all this time.
Why the act now pretending to be so pure?
Who exactly are you saving yourself for?”
“Nathaniel, you’ve crossed a line.” Something in Ivy’s chest cracked open.
“You’re thinking about Wren.
Chloe’s standing right outside that door for you.
And somehow I’m still the one you treat like something you paid for.
What do you actually think women are for?
I was never yours to use.”
She pressed her lips together, humiliation burning through her, and stormed toward the door.
“I want nothing more to do with you.
Ever.”
“Wait.” Something in him wanted to chase after her, an instinct he didn’t examine but the second he stepped forward, Chloe caught his arm.
“Nathaniel, don’t scare me like this.
If she won’t take care of you, I will.
I might not be as practiced as she is, but I can learn.”
She arranged her face into something wounded and innocent, sliding a hand under his shirt, angling for whatever sympathy she could pull out of him.