The Firefighter Returns as a Quintillionaire King novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ben appeared at Lisa’s side, his expression carefully crafted into wounded innocence. “Lisa, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He touched her arm gently, possessively. “Is this man bothering you?”

“This man is her husband,” Mia said coldly. “And who exactly are you?”

“I’m Ben Marshall, Lisa’s business partner and… close friend.” Ben’s smile was sympathetic as he looked at Alex. “Alex, I understand you’re going through a difficult time right now, but taking it out on Lisa isn’t fair. She’s been nothing but patient with you.”

Alex let out a harsh laugh. “Patient? Is that what you call abandoning me in a burning building?”

“That’s not what happened, and you know it,” Lisa snapped. “I was going to send help-”

“But you were too busy commandeering every doctor in the city to take care of your ‘business partner’s’ paper cut.”

Ben’s face hardened slightly. “I was seriously injured. I needed medical attention.”

“You had a scratch on your arm,” Alex said flatly. “I had smoke inhalation and a crushed leg. But sure, you were the priority.”

“You’re a trained firefighter!” Lisa’s voice was shrill now. “You knew how to handle the situation! Ben was a civilian, scared and hurt. He needed me!”

“And your husband didn’t?” Mia interjected, staring at Lisa with undisguised disgust. “Your husband, who nearly died saving you, who lay injured and alone in a hospital while you played nurse to another man-he didn’t need you?”

“Stay out of this!” Lisa whirled on her. “You don’t know anything about our marriage!”

“I know enough.” Mia stood up, matching Lisa’s height thanks to her own impressive heels. “I know that Alex is a good man who deserves better than whatever this is. And I know that if I had a husband like him-loyal, brave, caring-I’d never treat him the way you’re treating him.

!!

Lisa’s face was purple with rage. “Alex is not a good man! He’s jealous, petty, narrow-minded, and completely unreasonable! He punched Ben in the face for no reason!”

“No reason?” Alex’s voice was cold as he finally spoke. “I came home to find another man half -naked in my apartment, drinking coffee in my kitchen, and you expected me to just smile and shake his hand?”

“Ben was staying there for medical reasons!” Lisa practically shrieked.

“In our home. In the guest room that’s ten feet from our bedroom. And you expected me to play nursemaid to your lover.”

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“He’s not my lover!” Lisa’s hands were shaking with fury. “Why can’t you get that through your thick skull? Ben and I are friends! We work together! That’s all!”

“Friends don’t look at each other the way you two were looking at each other just now,” Mia observed coolly. “Friends don’t hold hands over champagne. Friends don’t book entire hospital floors for each other while their spouses lie injured and alone.”

Ben stepped forward, his expression wounded. “Alex, please. You’re better than this. You’re hurting Lisa with these baseless accusations. She’s done nothing wrong. She’s been trying to help me through a traumatic experience, and all you can do is throw jealous tantrums like a child.”

Alex looked at Ben-really looked at him. The expensive clothes, the perfect hair, the practiced expression of injured innocence. This man had slept in Alex’s home, been cared for by Alex’s wife, and was now standing here acting like Alex was the villain in this story.

Something inside Alex snapped. But instead of anger, he felt a cold, detached clarity.

“You know what?” Alex said, his voice eerily calm. “You’re right, Lisa. I am narrow-minded. I’m so narrow-minded that I actually expected my wife to prioritize her husband over her ‘ business partner.’ I’m so petty that I thought vows like ‘in sickness and in health’ actually meant something.”

“Alex-”

“I’m so jealous and unreasonable,” Alex continued, his voice getting stronger, “that I believed my wife when she said she loved me. When she promised to be faithful. When she stood in front of our friends and family and swore to honor and cherish me.”

“I have honored you!” Lisa insisted.

“Really? Is that what you call it?” Alex leaned back in his chair, his expression hard. “You left me to die, Lisa. You chose him over me. And now you’re angry because I had lunch with a

woman who actually appreciates that I saved her life?”

“That’s not fair-”

“Fair?” Alex laughed bitterly. “You want to talk about fair? Fine. I’m narrow-minded for having my own social circle? For having a friend who wants to thank me? Then you’re a hypocrite for spending every waking moment with Ben while demanding I have no contact with any other woman.”

“That’s completely different!”

“How?” Alex stood up, bracing himself on his crutches. “How is it different, Lisa? Because you say so? Because your relationship with Ben is ‘professional’ while mine with Mia is suspicious? You can have a man living in our home, but I can’t have lunch with someone?”

Lisa’s mouth opened and closed, no words coming out.

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“You’re treating me like a prisoner,” Alex said coldly. “Like someone who needs to be monitored and controlled. You want me to have no life, no friends, no connections outside of you. And yet you refuse to give me the same basic respect and fidelity that any marriage requires.”

“I have been faithful!” Lisa’s voice cracked slightly.

“Maybe physically,” Alex said quietly. “But emotionally? You checked out of our marriage a long time ago, Lisa. I was just too blind to see it.”

D

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