Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 206

CHAPTER 154 PART 2

Ives Abbott swept in like a hurricane, her designer dress somehow both expensive and slightly disheveled, her makeup perfect despite the wild energy radiating from her presence. And behind her, moving with the calm confidence of someone who owned every space he entered, walked Marcus Steel.

The room fell silent. Music still played, but conversation died instantly.

Elize’s heart lurched painfully in her chest. She hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. Hadn’t prepared herself for the way his mere presence seemed to shift the atmosphere, making everyone else feel smaller and less significant by comparison.

Marcus’s dragon eyes swept the room with clinical assessment before landing briefly on Elize. His expression revealed nothing-not concern, not interest, not even recognition beyond basic acknowledgment of her existence.

That casual indifference hurt worse than any insult.

“Surprise!” Ives announced, her voice carrying theatrical excitement. “I brought my boyfriend!”

The statement detonated like a bomb.

Simeon actually choked on her drink. Brandon’s jaw dropped. Madison looked between Ives and Marcus with complete disbelief.

“Your what?” someone stammered.

“My boyfriend,” Ives repeated, looping her arm through Marcus’s with possessive confidence. “Marcus Steel. Isn’t he gorgeous?”

Marcus’s expression shifted to mild irritation, but he didn’t immediately pull away or contradict her. That small hesitation sent Elize’s thoughts spinning in dangerous directions.

“Ives, you can’t be serious,” Simeon found her voice first. “You just broke up with Wesley Hartford like three days ago. And now you’re dating-”

“Someone who actually deserves me,” Ives finished smugly. “Unlike Wesley, who was pathetic. Unlike Atlas, who was controlling. Marcus is a real man. Strong. Decisive. Utterly unbothered by what anyone thinks.”

“I’m standing right here,” Marcus said quietly, his tone suggesting this was not the first time today Ives had made this claim.

“I know!” Ives beamed up at him. “That’s why I can brag about you properly. Right in front of you. Because you’re confident enough not to get embarrassed by compliments.”

Several people in the room exchanged glances that clearly said: Is she insane?

But Elize’s mind was racing down a different track entirely. Ives Abbott. The Abbott Family. Miguel Abbott’s obvious deference to Marcus. The supreme card. The wealth. The power.

It all suddenly made terrible, perfect sense.

Marcus wasn’t just some nobody who’d gotten lucky. He was connected to the Abbott Family. Maybe even being groomed as their future son-in-law through Ives. That would explain everything-the money, the influence, Miguel’s fear of offending him.

Which meant the woman from last night-the one on the video call who’d made Elize feel so inadequate-was either Marcus’s wife before the Abbott arrangement, or…

1/3

+25 Bonus

Or he was cheating.

On both women.

The thought ignited something cold and sharp in Elize’s chest. Not quite anger. Not quite jealousy. Something closer to vindictive satisfaction at having found a flaw in the man who’d seemed so utterly above reproach.

“Your boyfriend,” she heard herself say, her voice cutting through the nervous chatter. “That’s interesting, Ives. Because I’m pretty sure I saw Marcus on a video call with another woman just last night. A very beautiful woman who he seemed quite intimate with.”

The room went silent again, but this time the quality of the silence was different. Hungry. Anticipatory.

Ives’s smile didn’t waver, but her grip on Marcus’s arm tightened. “Oh? And who might that have been?”

“I don’t know,” Elize said, meeting Marcus’s eyes directly for the first time since he’d entered. “But she didn’t look like she knew about you, Ives. In fact, she looked like someone who thought she had an exclusive claim on Marcus’s attention.”

Marcus’s expression remained perfectly neutral, but something flickered in his dragon eyes-not guilt, but calculation. He was assessing her. Deciding something.

“Her name is Quinn,” he said calmly. “She’s my wife.”

The bomb that had been ticking since Ives’s announcement finally exploded.

“Your WIFE?” Ives’s voice cracked. “You’re married? You told me you were married, but I thought-”

“You thought what?” Marcus’s voice was cold now. “That I was lying? That it didn’t count? Or did you just not care?”

“I-” Ives’s confidence crumbled visibly. “I thought maybe you were separated or-‘

“We’re very much together,” Marcus interrupted. “Happily. Which I made clear to you earlier today. Multiple

times.”

Elize watched this unfold with a mixture of vindication and confusion. She’d expected Marcus to lie. To dodge. To manipulate his way out of being caught.

Instead, he’d just… told the truth. Destroyed Ives’s claim without hesitation. Stood there completely unbothered by the scandal his honesty would cause.

“So what are you doing here with Ives if you’re married?” Simeon asked the question everyone was thinking.

“I’m here because Ives told me Atlas Lancaster plans to crash this party and hurt Elize,” Marcus said bluntly. “I came to prevent that. Ives tagged along because she’s stubborn and annoying.”

“Hey!” Ives protested, though her voice lacked its earlier confidence.

“It’s true,” Marcus continued, ignoring her. “You’ve been following me around all day like a lost puppy. Declaring yourself my girlfriend despite being told repeatedly that I’m married. Making up stories to get my attention. It’s exhausting.”

The room collectively winced. Several people looked away from Ives’s reddening face.

But Marcus wasn’t done. He turned to Elize, his dragon eyes boring into hers. “And you. Using information from last night to try to expose me in front of these people. Why? Revenge for being rejected? Jealousy that Ives was claiming what you couldn’t have? Or just vindictive spite?”

2/3

Elize felt her face flush hot. “I was just-

+25 Bonus

“Being petty,” Marcus finished. “I get it. I humiliated you. Rejected you. Made you feel small. So you wanted to return the favor. Fair enough. But here’s the truth-I don’t care. My wife knows where I am. Knows why I’m here. There’s no secret to expose because I’m not hiding anything.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify