Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1313

Emmy leaned in, her voice calm and steady. “Mercedes is like this because she never learned to stand on her own two feet. She met Jamie when her world was falling apart, and when he was gone, she latched on to you, the man who looks exactly like him. It’s just human nature, grabbing onto whatever you can when you’re drowning. It really has nothing to do with anything you did.”

She paused, her eyes clear. “And honestly, even if she hadn’t fallen for you, Jamie’s been gone for years. Sooner or later, Mercedes would have found someone else. That’s not betrayal. It’s just... life goes on. The living have to keep moving forward.”

James finally reacted. He raised his head, his voice coming out rough, like it hurt to speak. “She could love anyone. Anyone at all. Just not...”

He couldn’t say the rest, but Emmy didn’t need him to. She already knew what he meant. Just not him.

With a tired sigh, Emmy let her thoughts drift. Feelings never made sense. Mercedes loving James was both an accident and the most predictable thing in the world.

She didn’t argue anymore. Instead, she quietly picked up her phone and typed out a message.

Mercedes, we should talk.

Mercedes had already laid her pain and jealousy bare. Now Emmy had to show where she stood. She needed to make sure Mercedes understood—some lines simply shouldn’t be crossed. No matter how deep her feelings for James ran, he had a family now. It was time to set those feelings aside and stop using Jamie’s name as an excuse to shatter what they had built.

She sent the message, then tossed her phone onto the couch and turned back to James.

In just a few minutes, something in him had shifted. The guilt in his eyes faded away, replaced by that cold decisiveness Emmy knew so well. He let go of her, picked her up gently, and set her down on the sofa.

“I need to make a call,” he murmured.

Phone in hand, he walked to the window and dialed a number. Emmy watched from the sofa, chin propped on her hand.

A few seconds later, his voice came out flat and emotionless. “From now on, pull every bit of support for Mercedes’s career. All of it. No more resources, no PR, no financial backing. Cut everything.”

After what felt like forever, James finally broke away, his forehead resting against hers. Their noses touched, breaths mingling as if that tiny space between them was the only world that mattered.

Emmy’s lips were warm and a little swollen. She smiled shyly, voice barely above a whisper.

“Should we go to the bedroom?”

But James only held her gaze, desire burning in his eyes. His answer was a low, rough murmur.

“Why not try right here?”