Fated Marriage Spoiled by My Ice Billionaire novel Chapter 10

They finally finished that endless dinner, and Isabelle was stuffed. She'd knocked back way too many glasses of that 1982 Lafite.

The two of them headed down to the underground parking garage, and Gary insisted on driving her home, but Isabelle shut that down.

"Don't bother. You've got that business trip tomorrow, and I've got plans anyway. Just remember. I like things clean. Don't get the car dirty."

Those words—"don't get the car dirty"—carried a hell of a lot of weight, and they stabbed straight into her own heart.

Isabelle barely held back from saying something way worse.

She'd had a few drinks, sure, but she wasn't drunk enough to lose control. She stayed rational because she remembered exactly what she was trying to accomplish here.

Gary did what he was told and took her car keys.

"Isabelle! I love you!"

Gary stuck his head out the car window, and he actually sounded serious when he said it.

Isabelle almost believed him. She pressed her lips together in a small smile but didn't say anything back.

Love was cheap. Everyone could say it, and everyone did.

Looking back on the past few years, she had to admit they'd loved each other once, but that was all it was—once upon a time.

She watched him drive away in her car until he disappeared from view, and then her eyes went blurry and tears started streaming down her face.

She sobbed quietly, and the tears just kept coming like a fountain she couldn't turn off.

"Bitch! Trash!" she hissed through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low.

The pain in her chest felt like someone was taking a knife and slowly cutting her open, and the blood was spreading everywhere, seeping through her entire body drop by drop.

She leaned against the wall and cried until she couldn't catch her breath, tears running down her face.

She didn't know how long she stood there, but eventually, it felt like she'd cried herself completely dry.

Isabelle pulled herself together and reached back to smooth down her hair, but when she turned around, she saw Damian standing by the elevator watching her.

She quickly looked away and frantically wiped at her eyes, trying to hide the tears from him.

Damian stumbled toward her, his eyes unfocused and his whole body swaying like he might fall over any second. "Isabelle?"

He squinted at her like he was too drunk to see straight, and his rimless glasses made him look cold and refined even in this state.

Isabelle turned her face away so he couldn't get a good look, but he just leaned down and stared right at her anyway.

"I knew it was you..." He nearly lost his balance and almost fell.

Isabelle caught him just in time and held him steady. "Mr. Cross..."

Her voice came out hoarse and shaky from all the crying.

She let out a sigh, wondering how she'd managed to run into all this bad luck at once.

Her boyfriend cheated on her, her best friend stole him, and now she'd slept with her boss.

Who the hell could deal with all that?

"You've been crying?" Damian clearly couldn't stand up on his own, and Isabelle was practically holding up half his weight.

"No, I just got something in my eye." Isabelle didn't want to get into it with him. "Mr. Cross, where's your car? Give me your keys."

She helped him over to the wall so he could lean against it, and then she started checking his pockets.

His jacket pockets were empty, and she didn't dare go for his pants pockets because she might accidentally grab something she really didn't want to touch.

"Didn't drive." He tilted his head and stared at Isabelle's red, puffy eyes and her pink nose.

Isabelle didn't know what to do with him, so she frowned and muttered under her breath, "How the hell do you get drunk off wine at a restaurant? Your tolerance is that bad? Are you closing deals by sleeping with people or something?"

She pulled out her phone and called Brian, still cursing. "Brian, where are you? Mr. Cross is wasted."

Brian replied, "Girl, do you know what time it is? I'm off the clock."

She shot back, "No shit, you think I don't know you're off? I'm off to? You're his assistant, so are you gonna take care of your boss or not? Because I'll just leave him here if you're not coming."

Isabelle was already dealing with enough crap and didn't have anyone to vent to, and now she had to clean up this mess too. She'd been trying to avoid Damian as much as possible, but somehow she kept running into him.

Brian sighed, "Where are you?"

"The Grand Palace, basement level," Isabelle said.

There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Put Mr. Cross on the phone."

She sighed and walked back over to Damian. "Your assistant wants to talk to you! Tell him to come get you!"

Isabelle grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand around the phone so he wouldn't drop it.

Great. Just great.

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