The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 38

The crowd began to chant, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Mathis's tone remained cool and composed. "Not appropriate with the child here." He stood, scooping Lamont up with one arm while taking Cynthia's hand with the other, and led them out of the hall.

Cillian walked over to Bianca, his eyes full of concern. "Are you holding up okay?"

Bianca's face was a mask of perfect serenity. "I'm completely fine," she said softly.

Simon walked up just behind them. He glanced at Bianca and said quietly, "Some people aren't worth your heart."

Bianca gave him a small nod. "Thank you for your concern, Dr. Jennings."

The second she got into her car, her phone buzzed. It was Xanthe, sounding positively radioactive with anger.

"That tramp is already flexing on social media! She posted a picture claiming that mutt Mathis personally put a matching couple's bracelet on her. Tell me it's not true!"

"It is," Bianca replied evenly. "They put them on at the party."

Hearing the subtle strain in Bianca's voice, Xanthe rushed to comfort her. "Bianca, please don't let this break your heart. If you're pissed off, just take his credit card and max it out on something insane."

"I'm not heartbroken. Whatever they do has nothing to do with me anymore. I have to go, I'm hanging up."

When Bianca finally got home, a text from Payton Mills lit up her screen: [You saw it for yourself today. Mathis has publicly acknowledged his son. They're getting married soon. What exactly is the point of dragging this out and refusing to divorce him?]

Bianca realized she didn't need to gather any more evidence of Mathis's infidelity. She immediately blocked the annoying pest.

Then she blocked Cynthia. Then she blocked Mathis.

Finally, she added Mathis's phone number to her blacklist. It wasn't like they had anything left to say to each other anyway.

She texted Xanthe: [You don't need to update me on whatever Cynthia is doing anymore. I'm perfectly fine living in my own world.]

Xanthe called her right back, soothing her for a long time until Bianca's voice sounded steady and normal again before finally hanging up.

Sitting in the quiet of her apartment, holding her phone, Bianca let the tears fall silently for a few minutes.

Bianca rubbed her temples, stressed. "My phone broke, and it had really important files on it. The shop said they can't recover the data. Do you know any experts who might be able to help?"

Miles shook his head. "Data recovery protocols are incredibly strict these days; you can't just bypass them easily. I don't think I can help you with this."

"I understand."

During her lunch break, Bianca rushed to the repair shop, only to have the clerk tell her, "Your husband's assistant came and picked it up."

Bianca felt the energy drain out of her body. She had no idea what kind of psychotic game Mathis was playing now.

Hadn't he spent the entire morning working in Cynthia's office like usual?

She didn't even want to contact him to ask. If the data was gone, the phone was practically useless to her anyway.

When she returned to Progenix, her old phone was sitting squarely on her desk. She snatched it up and tried to unlock it, but the passcode had been changed.

She hesitated for a second, then typed in Mathis's birthday. It unlocked.