The Devil CEO's Contract Wife novel Chapter 274

Chapter 274: Uncut Attachment

Athena popped open a bottle of champagne, pouring it into the flute in front of me, the bubbles rising.

"You still haven’t answered my question," I said, getting distracted when I heard thunder, but it was barely audible, just the subtle vibration that made the windows rattle.

Athena set the bottle down and sat on the sofa, crossing her legs as she took a sip. "That’s quite the question you have there."

"Yes..." I admit, I was never someone who could ask such a thing or even think about it.

Shit has changed.

I clutched the flute and drowned everything in one go, my mouth puffing a bit before I swallowed it down. Just what I needed.

"Athena..."

"What?" she asked, almost irritated. "You think I haven’t asked myself that for years? That witch still walks this earth with her crooked legs and her vicious character, in my family home, like she dropped even a block on that place."

I didn’t realize my question had affected her.

"I’m sorry..." I said. "I didn’t mean to come on that strongly, knowing you share my frustration."

"Don’t be. I get it..." She paused, thinking for a few seconds before she resumed. "When daddy was still alive, she was protected. She bore his son, and sons are special, just as firstborns. She had a portion of power that proved that Adrian could take over when the time came. Trust me, it was enough. Ares spent his entire life building his reputation, yet he could rival that."

I nodded slowly as I took in her words.

"It was highly possible that everything was gonna go to her until Adrian came of age."

"That was why Ares needed a wife. Because of the inheritance."

"Yes, but that was just a bonus for him, though. That horny buffoon wanted you tangled in his sheets. It was a win for him."

I rolled my eyes.

"Who could have known he would bag a wife?"

I cleared my throat. "That’s why Ares couldn’t kill her. She had power, and that’s something important in the underworld."

"Power is everything, and respect resides where it is. Ares has been sharpening his knives, waiting for that moment, all while the witch was handing it to him on a silver platter."

"What do you mean?"

"She was poisoning daddy. I only found out after he died."

"What the hell?"

"Turns out she had been slipping a special concoction into his morning tea to hasten his death. Her son gets everything before Ares has the chance to find a wife."

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah... holy shit. Ares knew the entire time, he hated his guts, so it’s understandable."

I chewed the inside of my mouth. "You don’t hate him."

"He was my father. There are some things you can’t change. I was a bit of a daddy’s girl but... I never got the chance to be." She drank from her flute.

"You don’t have to beat yourself about it."

"I’m not..." she huffed. "That um... fatherly love I had the chance to experience, and it wasn’t what I thought. It was good."

I narrowed my eyes. "You did?"

"Yeah, with your gramps. He’s so sweet."

"Oh... He really warmed up to you."

"How wouldn’t he? I have charms. Your granny is lovely too, she knows her colors."

I smiled. "Yeah, she does. You should have seen the scrapbook she made for my future wedding."

"Now I wish I could have seen it!"

We both giggled, but the sound died too quickly.

"After daddy died, and you left. Ares wasn’t in the right headspace. Years passed with that witch still roaming about, still trying to dig her claws every chance she got."

"I know Ares..." I said, referring more to how he killed Elias. "It doesn’t make sense."

"Yes, it doesn’t, and I admit I thought because he wasn’t in the right mind he forgot that witch existed or something, but now I understand... I have seen it, but I didn’t wanna admit it."

"Athena?" I said softly when I saw she clutched the glass tightly.

I moved to sit next to her.

"I think he’s still attached, Cat."

My heart skipped a bit.

"It’s foolish of me to say that, but it’s the truth. He did break free from her physically, but I don’t think he ever did mentally."

I thought back to how repulsed he was whenever I touched him. He was thinking of Agatha. It must have scarred him so greatly because I knew how much it took before he could let me in.

I can’t heal from this, Catherine. Not completely... I’m broken.

Is that what he meant when he told me those heartbreaking words?

"Cat?"

I blinked out of it. "Y-Yeah..."

I leaned back on the seat, lost in thought for a second. Agatha still had a place in Ares’ mind. She knew this which why she was so cocky whenever it came to him.

"In anything that has to do with that world..."

The same world Agatha was in. I clenched my fist.

Boring and not dangerous?

"Protect him?" Athena asked, amused, but then she blinked as if finding some understanding. "And how are you gonna do that, Cat? How are you gonna protect the most dangerous man in the city? The Devil."

"Removing Agatha..." I voiced without hesitation. "Permanently."

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