The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 102

By the afternoon, Mathis went straight to Bianca's office.

Her office was situated in a prime spot within the tech park. Along the windowsill, she had arranged a few potted frangipanis, sunflowers, and bellflowers, species native to the south.

The room was full of life, carrying a faint, refreshing fragrance when he walked in.

It was the scent she used to love burning at home.

The woman sitting before him now felt both intimately familiar and strikingly foreign to Mathis.

It was as if, for those three years, she had been wearing a mask every single day.

Bianca was both shocked and terrified by his sudden appearance. She had no idea what he was going to do to her this time.

Mona Gibbons brought in a cup of coffee for him. Mathis was surprised to see that Bianca, once a notorious coffee addict, was now only drinking water.

"You've changed a lot," he said, his voice laced with a bitter edge. It had been a long time since they had sat together this calmly.

Bianca shot him an icy glare. "If you have something to say, Mr. Jagger, spit it out. I suppose I should be flattered that I warrant your personal attention to tear me down. But I won't go back with you. If you want to ruin me, do your worst."

Everyone had to pay the price for their youthful infatuations; hers just happened to cost her entire career.

Mathis knew exactly how ambitious she was. He only meant to threaten her. He wanted nothing else right now but for her to come home.

Mathis stared intently into her eyes. "Do you hate me so much now that you don't even want your career?"

Bianca kept her face completely stoic as she corrected him. "It's not that I don't want it, it's that you refuse to show any mercy. I'm just a coder; you're the capital. I have no power to fight back against you.

You always hated me working anyway. But I refuse to be your pet anymore. If that's all, please leave. I have work to do."

Even if she could only work until the October long weekend, she wasn't going to just give up early.

Her throat tightened, and tears threatened to spill, but she fought them back fiercely. She refused to cry in front of him.

Her tears wouldn't earn his pity anyway, and she didn't want his ridiculous pity to begin with.

His entire heart belonged to Cynthia Quinn.

Mathis frowned. "Do you have to speak to me with such sarcasm? You never used to be like this."

"I used to need things from you, so I catered to you," Bianca said coldly. "There's no need for that anymore. Everything between us was always just a transactional exchange. There was never any real affection."

Mathis stared deeply at her resolute face, as if searching for an answer hidden beneath her cold exterior.

With great difficulty, he finally forced the question out. "Then why did you name your patent after me and my birthday?"