Chapter 34
Anathea’s brows furrowed at Gregory’s tone. He hadn’t been all that surprised or angry when he first learned about her
out her recent
employment, so why was he getting so worked up now? It was as if he’d turned into a different person entirely.
He stared at her intently as if he could see through her and continued darkly, “Or is this another one of your dirty tricks?”
Anathea was used to hearing his accusations, and she wasn’t in the mood to explain herself. She raised a hand and shoved him
away.
“It’s none of your business. If you’re done throwing a fit, Mr. Sinclair, I suggest you leave.”
“Why should I leave? This is my room, after all,” Gregory countered, his gaze growing more suspicious as he assessed her. “I presume you’re in a hurry to get rid of me because you’re hiding some big, dark secret.”
Anathea didn’t, and she had no desire to understand the inner workings of Gregory’s twisted mind. But at that moment, her phone chimed with a new message. Gregory snatched it out of her hand before she could react.
The message was sent by Anathea’s colleague at the studio. He was younger than her and a friendly, terminal extrovert.
His text read, “Hey, Nat, don’t forget about our team–building event this Friday!”
He ended the text with an arrow–through–the–heart emoji.
The emoji was commonly used by youngsters, but Gregory’s face darkened dangerously. He grew even angrier when he recalled Xander’s remark about how Anathea had been coming home late from work recent
“So, you found a job just so you could get out there and meet new men, is that it? Have you forgotten about your role as my wife?” Gregory thundered, the grave warning underlying his tone.
Anathea stared at him as if he were an oddball. She couldn’t believe he expected her to remember her place as his wife when they were on the verge of a divorce. His warning fell flat and sounded like a bad joke.
But she didn’t feel like arguing with him, so she said, “Are you done, Mr. Sinclair? If you are, let me go.”
Her unfazed demeanor angered Gregory even more. He didn’t release her, and instead tightened his grip on her wrist.
Anathea blanched from the pain. “Let go of me right now, Gregory!”
When he refused to let go, her temper flared. She raised her left hand and made to smack him, but he easily stopped her by gripping her left wrist. He snorted and mocked, “Your wrist is so delicate, I can snap it like a twig. A weakling like you should know better than to try and strike me.”
That was when he noticed that her ring finger was bare. He grew sullen as he demanded, “Where is your wedding band, Anathea?”
As far as he remembered, she rarely took off the wedding band. But now that he thought about it, she hadn’t been wearing the
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+15 Bonus
ting when he saw her at the Sinclair residence the other day, either.
Anathea went still. She didn’t think he’d notice the ring’s absence.
“Explain yourself!” Gregory snapped, raising his voice as he fixed her with a cold, domineering look.
“I sold it!” Anathea replied just as brusquely. If he thought he could get away with yelling in her face for no reason, he was wrong.
She’d had enough of suffering in silence and bottling up her emotions.
“You sold it?” Gregory repeated through gritted teeth. A second later, he barked a harsh laugh.
Anathea suddenly stiffened. She knew Gregory was dangerous if he didn’t laugh, but when he did, he was deadly.
Her instincts roared at her to run, but before her fight–or–flight response could kick in, Gregory pinched her chin and forced her
to meet his gaze.
He hissed, “You have good spirit, Anathea. That much I’ll admit. How dare you mingle with other men behind my back and sell
off the wedding band I gave you? Are you so keen to pretend I don’t exist?”
His rage startled Anathea. Her knees were so weak, she had to press her back against the door to keep from slumping to the floor.
But she was determined to speak up for herself. “I didn’t mingle with-
She was cut off when Gregory cupped the back of her head and tilted her face upward. She felt the hard slant of his mouth against
hers, the kiss as unyielding and demanding as a violent storm.
