Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1124

“Lincoln. Jian. Shu.” Mercedes spat out the name, each syllable sharp with resentment.

If she and James hadn’t fought back then, if she hadn’t left everything behind for her career, the woman standing next to him now, the one he looked at like she was his entire world, would have been her. It should have been Mercedes. Not Emmy. Who even was Emmy anyway? Just someone who picked up the man she had left behind.

The more Mercedes thought about it, the more her anger simmered. She stared at the black phone in her hand, her fingertip gliding over the screen. A reckless urge pushed her to open James’s contacts and block Emmy, maybe even delete her completely. James had always let her get away with things. Even if she deleted Emmy, he probably wouldn’t even stay mad.

With that thought, Mercedes braced herself and tapped at the screen. She entered the password. Wrong. Tried again. Still wrong. Before she could try a third time, the break room door swung open.

James stepped in, his eyes sharp and cold, locking onto her. No, not her—his phone. That look in his eyes was icy, almost wild, like a wolf guarding its territory.

“What are you doing with my phone?”

Mercedes’s hands shook as she put the phone down on the table. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear, forcing a smile she didn’t feel.

“N-nothing… I was just looking at your lock screen, that’s all. Nico, the girl on there… is that me?”

James’s brow pulled tight. He crossed the room in a few long strides and snatched the phone from the table. Looking down at the screen, he saw the cartoon drawing—a couple, clearly in love, from his first date with Emmy. He’d even hired an artist to make it.

“That’s my wife.”

Mercedes’s smile froze, then she raised an eyebrow. Emmy? No way. She’d seen Emmy’s profile at Janus Sphere Technologies, and the woman in that photo had a short, chin-length bob. The girl in the drawing had long, flowing hair, bright eyes, a playful confidence that looked a lot more like her. And she’d had her hair that way for years.

James always seemed cold, but underneath it, he was sentimental. He held onto the past. Mercedes convinced herself even more. He was just lying to her face. He was still bitter because she was the one who walked away for her career. Of course he wouldn’t admit it.

She took a step closer, tilting her chin up, a knowing smirk playing on her lips.

James took a step back, putting space between them, his expression even colder.

“This place is a dump. You’re a star. You wouldn’t last a night here.”

With that, he picked up his phone and made a call.

“Sixth, bring two guys and drive Mercedes back to Cloudville. Right now. Don’t wait.”

Mercedes’s face fell. She couldn’t believe James was being so inflexible. But then she caught the hard set of his jaw, the way he was making sure she’d get home safe. Her frustration faded. He said he was kicking her out, but really, he just didn’t want her driving alone at night. Typical James, always pretending not to care.

In the end, Mercedes was escorted out, just like that.