The Ex-Wife He Can’t Have novel Chapter 28

Sylvia shook her head, putting on a brave face.

"Tell us what happened," Gibson pressed gently.

Sylvia looked up at Killian, dialing up the pathetic damsel routine.

She wanted Killian, and only Killian, to hear this.

Killian understood the cue.

He leaned in, his voice dropping to an intimate murmur. "Did someone upset you?"

"No. It's just... I ran into Hans in the hallway."

"Hans from Rohmbach?"

"Yeah, the one you met before."

Killian chuckled darkly. "So what? Did he cross a line?"

"No, nothing like that. But I heard my friend Jillian feeding him lies about SwiftPath AI. She was telling him our project was doomed."

Killian's features hardened into ice.

"Jillian was my best friend in college. I even introduced you two. I just can't believe she would resort to dirty smear campaigns to beat us."

Killian's voice was utterly devoid of warmth.

"She's working with Daniel now. Obviously, she's going to parrot his talking points."

"But..."

"Don't ruin your evening over someone so insignificant."

Sylvia nodded emphatically, her red-rimmed eyes blinking at him in perfect, manufactured innocence.

Saturday. The local aquatic center.

Jillian dove into the pool with a clean splash.

Thirty feet, twenty feet, fifteen feet...

The end of the lane grew closer.

She finally touched the wall, breaking the surface and gasping for air.

Her body wasn't used to this level of exertion after such a long sedentary period.

She pulled herself onto the deck and headed for the locker room to recover.

The second she walked in.

"Jillian! Fancy seeing you here."

That same grating, faux-cheerful voice. Sylvia.

Jillian turned around with dead eyes. The first thing she saw was Sylvia parading around in a swimsuit that showcased her flawless physique.

She had the kind of curves that graced magazine covers.

"Extra large."

"Oh! Yeah, you definitely can't squeeze into this. I buy my own size, so this is a small."

A chorus of snickers erupted from the onlookers.

The wet bathing suit left nothing to the imagination, highlighting every single one of Jillian's flaws.

Despite her height, her midsection was thick and heavy.

Her large bust only made her look blocky and masculine from behind.

If it weren't for her face, she would easily pass for a frumpy, middle-aged woman.

Jillian closed her eyes against the humiliation, yanked her arm free, and walked toward the exit.

Sylvia watched her pathetic retreat, raw disgust practically oozing from her eyes.

"Sylvia, are you getting back in?" a friend asked.

"Nah." Sylvia stretched lazily. "My back is killing me."

"You're too young to have a bad back. What did you do?"

Sylvia immediately feigned a blush. "Don't ask."

"Oh, I get it! Your man was going too hard last night, wasn't he?"

Jillian, standing near the door, froze mid-step.