The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 360

Mathis's brow furrowed tightly. He heard every word Caleb said, but the pieces weren't making sense together.

"What exactly does that mean?" he asked icily.

Thinking Mathis was playing dumb, Caleb sneered. "I don't care what sick games you and your wife are playing. But if you insist on putting my son behind bars, I'll drag her straight down to hell with him."

The old man abruptly hung up. Completely bewildered, Mathis immediately ordered Zane to investigate.

It took Zane exactly thirty minutes to uncover the entire truth.

Standing before Mathis's desk, Zane reported, "The girl on the yacht that night was hired by Mia Vaughn, the head of sales at Stellaride's Austin City branch, who used to answer to your wife.

"Mia practically handed the girl over to Payton. Payton had no idea your wife was the one footing the bill.

"He just thought the girl was gorgeous enough to catch your eye."

Before Zane could finish his sentence, Mathis violently swept everything off his desk in a blind rage.

"She tried to bribe me with another woman?!" he roared, absolute fury vibrating through his chest. "What the hell is wrong with her?!"

Obviously, she doesn't want you anymore, so she's pushing you off onto someone else, Zane thought dryly to himself.

But he wasn't suicidal enough to say that out loud.

Terrified his boss might commit murder, Zane hastily continued, "To be clear, neither your wife nor Payton ordered her to drug you. That was entirely the girl's own signature move.

"However, if this goes to court, your wife will be slapped with the same conspiracy charges as Payton. The Mills family is practically declaring war. If you send Payton to prison, your wife is going down with him."

Mathis stared blankly at the photo of Bianca on his screen, a physical, shredding agony ripping through his heart.

How could she be so unfathomably cruel? It wasn't enough that she didn't want him—she literally orchestrated throwing another woman into his bed.

When random businessmen offered him women, he didn't care; it was just a cheap tactic to win his favor.

But the woman he had loved violently for twelve years pulling the exact same trick? It was an unbearable, suffocating betrayal.

His heart, already shattered from missing her, was suddenly crushed by a fresh wave of blinding pain.

His voice dropped to a lethal freeze. "Payton can wait. I'm going to Stellaride. I'm going to ask her face-to-face."

Knowing how easily Mathis lost control whenever Bianca was involved, Zane cautiously warned, "Sir, your wife doesn't respond well to hostility. Please don't pick a fight with her, or you're never getting her back."

And if he didn't get her back, he was going to take it out on the entire company, tearing everyone apart for the slightest mistake.

Mathis gave a curt grunt of acknowledgment and ordered his driver to take him straight to Stellaride.

When he arrived, Bianca was still working late.

The moment Tessa spotted him, her eyes lit up. "Mr. Jagger! Ms. Baldwin is still working. Wait, didn't you bring flowers tonight?"

Another two thousand bucks a night, and she could retire by thirty.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify