I Choose Him, Your Worst Enemy novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79 Come Back, Then

**Finished

Joanne’s words had put out the fire on Wynette’s end, and the crisis at her company was officially defused. But the damage wasn’t gone. Supplier after supplier had pulled out, leaving Jewell Group in a painful lull.

The biggest headache of all was the fashion show. Jewell Group had already committed to it long before any of this mess began.

When Liam took over Jewell Group, he’d cut out the vendors who’d been working with the company for years and replaced them with his own picks.

Those picks were supposed to supply the fabric for the show.

And now every last one of them had cancelled.

The show was right around the corner, and finding new suppliers in just two weeks was no small task.

Jewell Group was in full–blown chaos from top to bottom.

Since the moment Wynette decided to come back, she’d been walking from one storm straight into another.

She knew it, though. This was the first real battle she had to face after cutting ties with the Shepherds.

She worked overtime with Shirley until eleven, and by the time she dragged her exhausted body down to the ground floor, every step felt heavier than the last.

She hadn’t expected to find Noah waiting at the bottom.

He looked awful. His face was drained of every drop of color, a startling, sickly white.

The moment he spotted her, Noah’s body swayed as he stumbled forward. “Wynette,” he managed. “We need to talk.”

Wynette looked at his face and told him only, “You should see a doctor first.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. Noah had been on the receiving end of a serious punishment.

And there was exactly one person in the world who could reduce Noah Shepherd to this state: Adam, the old patriarch himself.

Here was how it had all gone. After Adam had Justin and his wife brought back home, he’d sent word for Noah to come back, too.

The second Noah stepped through the door, Adam’s cane came crashing down on his knees, and he crumpled right to the floor before the old man. What followed was the kind of old–fashioned family discipline Adam reserved for real offenses.

Even when his skin split and bled, Noah didn’t make a single sound. He gritted his teeth and held his kneeling position, and the moment Adam’s attention wandered, he slipped out.

2:20 pm p pp.

Chapter 79 Come Back, Then

Finished

He’d asked around and found out Wynette was still at the office. He drove straight there, located her car, and planted himself beside it to wait.

He waited for over three hours.

Scenaville had a real chill in the air by now, and the night wind had teeth. Noah stood there in nothing but a thin dress shirt, trembling against the cold.

“You’re worried about me?” Noah’s voice rang with delighted surprise, and he rushed forward to close the distance between them.

Wynette’s smile was winter–sharp. “I just don’t want tomorrow’s headline to read ‘Shepherd heir collapses outside Jewell Group headquarters‘ and drag the company’s name down with him.”

That was the honest truth.

Worried about him?

She almost laughed at the very thought. She’d sooner lavish her concern on a stray dog by the road than waste a single drop of it on someone like him.

The fragile joy on Noah’s face vanished.

He pushed himself toward her anyway, every step powered by sheer stubbornness, his face a haunting, sickly white.

He met her eyes, and his voice shook. “Wynette, I’ll admit it. I neglected you because of Lorelei. I had no idea what she was doing behind your back. I know I was wrong. I’m completely done with her. Can you forgive me?

“I never wanted to end things with you,” he pressed. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll head to city hall and make it official. I’ll give you a grand wedding to make up for it all. I swear it.”

Even now, even after everything, Noah genuinely believed Wynette was just throwing a fit. He was completely certain she still loved him.

He still believed marriage would be enough to anchor her back to his side.

He’d done a lot of soul–searching during this time and had accepted, finally, that he was the one who’d gotten it all wrong.

He was prepared to spend the rest of his life making it right.

2:20 pm Ppp.

It finally dawned on Noah that Wynette was far less simple than she’d ever appeared, and that realization only made him want her back more fiercely.

Wynette found the whole thing almost laughable. “I can handle every one of those problems without you. Noah. And just so you know, there are people who want to invest in Jewell Group right now.” She tilted her head. “Want to guess whether I’ll say yes?”

“You mean Adriel.” Noah let out a short, dismissive laugh. “You won’t. When the Jewells were in trouble, the Gallaghers couldn’t put enough distance between themselves and your family fast enough. They even took shots at you on their way out. You hold grudges. You won’t forget that.”

He knew Adriel had been spending time with Wynette lately, and Adriel had even goaded him about it once, right to his face, announcing his interest in Wynette like it was something to crow about. Noah couldn’t pretend that hadn’t rattled him.

2:20 pm

ppp.

Chapter 79 Come Back. Then

Finished

But he knew Wynette’s temperament, and he knew what the Gallaghers had done when her family was at their lowest. She’d never agree to work with them.

He was sure of that much.

Wynette studied him in silence, then let a cold smile settle on her lips. “Oh, so you do know I hold grudges. Then what makes you think that after you betrayed me, again and again, I’d choke down my revulsion and come running back to you?

“Noah,” she said, “being too sure of yourself isn’t a virtue. And right now? I think Adriel’s pretty wonderful.”

Something sharp and fearful crossed Noah’s face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She and Adriel… has something actually been happening behind my back?

Wynette said nothing. She just let her gaze drift away from him, a cold and quiet smile on her lips. It was all completely deliberate.

She’d planted the seed of doubt right in the center of his chest, and she already knew it would grow.

She walked away without looking back, leaving Noah rooted to the spot with his thoughts unraveling into chaos.

20

2:20 pm Ppp.