The Billionaire Heir Fell for the Wrong Girl (Hathaway Whitmore) novel Chapter 2

After getting home, Hathaway got straight to the point. “Dad, I don’t love Jeremiah anymore. Let’s forget about the engagement.”

“Why, honey? Because Jeremiah brushed you off?” Conrad wasn’t angry. He even spoke for Jeremiah that he had been on the phone, so it made sense he hadn’t been very attentive.

Hathaway replied, “The person on the phone was a woman. They’ll soon be together.”

Conrad and Sylvia were both shocked.

But in the end, that was only a guess. Conrad didn’t ask further. He patted Hathaway’s hand and said, “Don’t overthink it, honey.”

The next day, Hathaway’s older brother, Avery Whitmore, heard about what had happened and came to talk to her.

Avery asked, “Hath, weren’t you crazy about Jeremiah? Why did you suddenly tell Mom and Dad you don’t love him anymore? Just because he upset you?”

Hathaway’s chest tightened. “Avery…”

Thinking of Avery’s terrible death in her previous life, Hathaway felt she was about to cry. She suddenly threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Seeing that Hathaway was about to cry, Avery misunderstood even more. He thought she must’ve been hurt after getting rejected by Jeremiah.

He gently rubbed her head and said, “Are you scared you can’t win Jeremiah over? Yeah, that guy is really tough. Even his parents can’t really control him.”

Avery smiled and added, “But you’ve got me, don’t you? I’ll help set up chances for you. Relax, okay?”

Hathaway could hear the admiration for Jeremiah in Avery’s voice, along with the way he spoiled her. It was completely different from the way Avery had cursed Jeremiah after the Whitmore Group collapsed in her last life.

“Avery…” Hathaway’s heart ached. She hugged him even tighter and shook her head hard. “I don’t love him anymore. Not even a little. Please, I don’t wanna get married. I just wanna stay with my family forever.”

“Hath?” Avery froze for a moment.

Hathaway replied, “Look, I’m not saying this because he upset me. I really don’t love him anymore. He’s not worth it.”

Avery didn’t say anything.

This wasn’t the first time Hathaway had been so furious that she gritted her teeth and stomped her feet, swearing she’d never love Jeremiah again. But later, she still went back to him like his biggest fan. Thus, Avery didn’t take what she said too seriously.

“You’re graduating next month. What do you want to do after that?” Avery changed the topic.

That was exactly what Hathaway had wanted to talk to Avery about today. She looked up and said seriously, “I want to join Whitmore Group.”

“Oh?” Avery smiled, his tone teasing. “So not marrying Jeremiah, but joining the company instead?”

Avery figured she wouldn’t last three days at the company before running away.

“Avery, I’m serious.” Hathaway tightened her grip on his hand.

Avery only felt that Hathaway seemed a little different today, but he didn’t think too much of it.

“OK. Let’s go with that,” Avery said, mostly humoring her. Deep down, he figured Hathaway might change her mind tomorrow. After all, her thoughts always seemed to shift with Jeremiah’s likes and dislikes.

Hathaway was happy to get Avery’s answer.

In her previous life, Jessica had become Jeremiah’s private secretary. She was known around Bayridge as a talented assistant, the kind who served him in bed.

Jessica spent every day with Jeremiah’s team. Everyone around him respected her and treated her like Jeremiah’s real woman. However, no one cared about Hathaway, Jeremiah’s legal wife.

When Jeremiah wanted to divorce Hathaway, everyone had supported it. After all, a love where two people helped each other grow naturally seemed far more precious than a business marriage that reeked of money.

Jeremiah’s friends and the core technical staff on his team all believed he’d been forced to register his marriage with Hathaway. Some even felt sorry for him.

In this life, Hathaway was firm. She would never step into marriage with Jeremiah again.

The only problem was the agreement between the Whitmore family and the Blackwood family. That was still a headache.

She knew she had to find a chance to break off the engagement completely.

*****

After Hathaway got home, the first thing she did was delete every photo on her phone that showed her wearing the pink crystal bracelet.

She even checked Avery’s phone again and again, making sure she hadn’t missed anything before finally handing it back to him.

Hathaway owned plenty of bracelets. She didn’t wear that pink crystal one often, and she’d never worn it to any date with Jeremiah. She’d only worn it to the beach twice.

She went through the social media feeds of a few people she knew. After confirming none of them had posted the bracelet, she finally felt at ease.

Still, it bothered her that Jeremiah had something of hers. After thinking it over, she decided she had to get the bracelet back.

*****

The chance came soon enough.

Jeremiah’s mother, Eleanor Blackwood, invited Hathaway to their place for dinner, and Hathaway agreed right away.

Blackwood Villa was spacious. Hathaway had been there many times before. In her previous life, after marrying Jeremiah, she’d even lived there the whole time. Thus, she knew the place very well.

The servants all knew who she was. When they saw her arrive, they greeted her respectfully. “Ms. Whitmore.”

When Eleanor came downstairs and saw Hathaway, she happily took her hand and spoke in a gentle voice, “Hath, Jerry is in the study. Calvin is there too. Go talk to them. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Eleanor would take any chance she got to push Jeremiah and Hathaway together. Hathaway didn’t want to see Jeremiah, but she’d come today to get that bracelet back, so she nodded and replied, “Okay.”

Eleanor watched Hathaway go upstairs, feeling Hathaway was still as quiet as she’d been last time. Eleanor guessed that Hathaway probably had a fight with Jeremiah. But in Eleanor’s mind, Hathaway loved Jeremiah, and the two of them would surely make up.

Hathaway had just reached the study door upstairs when a deep voice came from inside. “Didn’t expect Ms. Kingsley to save you at a time like that. So? How are you going to thank her?”

“Marry her. How’s that?” Jeremiah’s cool voice answered.

“Wow, dude, you fell for her that fast?” Calvin sounded surprised. Then he asked, “What about Hathaway?”

Jeremiah replied without hesitation, “A spoiled princess like her isn’t my type.”

Hathaway’s heart clenched hard when she heard that, but she didn’t feel too sad. After all, loving him was something from her previous life.

What she felt more than anything was shock. These past few days, she had wondered who had ended up stealing her credit. She wanted to know if it was Scarlett or Jessica.

Now, after hearing this, Hathaway finally knew the answer. It was Jessica again.

‘I stepped in and changed things, but the ending still didn’t budge,’ Hathaway thought. ‘Turns out Jessica and Jeremiah are meant to be together.’

Hathaway had come today for her bracelet. She had no desire to keep listening, so she turned and left the study.

While Jeremiah was still inside, Hathaway slipped into his bedroom and started searching. She opened drawer after drawer but found nothing. She searched the cabinets and the place under the pillow, yet she still found nothing.

She was careful with everything she touched, putting each thing back exactly as it had been.

At last, Hathaway’s eyes landed on the safe. Yet she figured Jeremiah wouldn’t really lock up a bracelet in there.

There was another possibility. Jeremiah might’ve already returned it to Jessica.

Once that thought came to her, Hathaway felt there was no point in looking anymore. Even if she found it and took it away, it would only make Jeremiah suspicious.

With that in mind, she was about to leave the room. Then she heard footsteps outside the door.

Hathaway had been married to Jeremiah for years, so of course she knew those steady, unhurried steps belonged to him. And he was walking straight toward the bedroom.

In an instant, panic hit her. She quickly looked around and then rushed into the closet to hide.

Luckily, she knew this room well. The closet was big enough to easily hide her.

But the moment Hathaway hid inside, Jeremiah’s scent filled the closet. It made her anxious and unsettled.

Before she could think too much, the bedroom door opened.

She heard Jeremiah walk toward the desk by the window. She didn’t know what he did there, but then his footsteps suddenly moved toward where she was hiding.

Hathaway covered her mouth and didn’t even dare breathe.

She froze in place, thinking Jeremiah had found her.

Her mind raced through many excuses, but she couldn’t come up with a reasonable one if Jeremiah opened the closet and saw her inside.

Sweat slowly broke out across her forehead. For a moment, she felt like she was done for today.

‘I shouldn’t have put myself in this mess,’ Hathaway thought.

“Jerry.” A voice called out to him just then. Jeremiah’s black leather shoes stopped only a few steps away. Hathaway could tell it was Lorenzo’s voice, Jeremiah’s younger brother, who was still in college.

Lorenzo said, “Mom said dinner is ready. Let’s go downstairs.”

Jeremiah replied, “OK.”

Soon after, two sets of footsteps gradually moved away. Only then did Hathaway get out of the closet, still shaken. Her face was pale, and her legs felt weak.

She turned back to straighten the clothes hanging inside and then wipe the spot where she’d crouched with her sleeve. After making sure no one could tell she’d hidden there, she finally went downstairs.

Jeremiah’s father, Reginald Blackwood, wasn’t home. Eleanor asked Hathaway to sit beside Jeremiah, but Calvin Harper was already seated next to him.

Hathaway didn’t move over. Instead, she chose the seat beside Lorenzo. Jeremiah only gave her a cold glance and said nothing.

Eleanor looked a little surprised, but she didn’t comment. She only thought the two of them must be fighting.

Still, in the past, even if Jeremiah gave Hathaway the cold shoulder, she would’ve sat beside him anyway.

Calvin seemed to notice it too and looked at Hathaway more than once.

With Eleanor and Lorenzo at the table, they had dinner in a quite relaxed mood.

After dinner, Hathaway went home. In her past life, she would’ve clung to Je

After getting home, Hathaway got straight to the point. “Dad, I don’t love Jeremiah anymore. Let’s forget about the engagement.”

“Why, honey? Because Jeremiah brushed you off?” Conrad wasn’t angry. He even spoke for Jeremiah that he had been on the phone, so it made sense he hadn’t been very attentive.

Hathaway replied, “The person on the phone was a woman. They’ll soon be together.”

Conrad and Sylvia were both shocked.