His Ex Wife Is A Billionaire

Above his head, the anguished cry of Lily tore through the silence.

Jareth’s trembling eyelids shot open, and his pupils which harbored an impending storm were constricted further.

Atop the diving platform of the swimming complex, Lily, with her hands tightly bound by coarse rope, and a gun pressed against her head by Jackson, perched precariously on the edge of the platform.

Below her toes was a terrifying drop, for the pool beneath was bone dry.

“Lily!”

Jareth’s white shirt, stained with blood, was drenched in cold sweat. He took two steps forward, but Jackson aimed the gun squarely at him to force him back!

“Master, I’m so sorry.” Lily’s eyes were brimmed with tears, and her voice was choked with emotion.

Jareth gazed deeply at her, unblinking, “No, you’ve never wronged–me, nor do you owe anyone an apology. Lily, it’s I who have brought this upon you. I am the one who should be sorry.”

Lily’s heart clenched painfully.

She had weathered the fiercest storms by her master’s side, so she feared nothing–not demons nor monsters–except for her master’s apologies.

“Where’s Marilla?” Jareth’s voice was icy.

Gary leisurely picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button.

From a pitch–dark area on the left came a rumbling sound.

Jareth had his eyes swiftly turned, only to see a massive glass tank on a cart slowly wheel before him.

With a loud clang, the cart’s wheels retracted, and the intricately crafted tank settled into its designated spot.

Through the clear glass, Marilla, who was unconscious, had her wrists shackled in iron and was suspended inside. Her once–pure white dress was marred with filth and bloodstains–she was like a broken doll, violated and trampled upon, now cruelly displayed in a shop window for all to see.

“Madam!” Lily’s tears burst forth.

“Marilla!”

Jareth’s eyes reddened as he roared; the tension in his mind was nearly breaking.

He sprinted forward, pounding the thick glass with clenched fists, kicking and elbowing it, but the glass was so sturdy that not even a crack appeared.

Inside, the girl remained with her eyes closed.

“Quit yelling, the glass is soundproof, and she can’t hear a thing.” Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Gary weighed the remote in his hand, “Your darling wife just fainted. After all the beatings and torment, who knows when she’ll come to senses? Don’t you know how to cherish someone? Jareth, you really should be thanking me. If it weren’t for me, would you have known about the dirty tricks your dear sister was pulling behind your back? Would you have known that your precious wife has been bullled by her since middle school?

And surely you didn’t know that Alston was under Edith’s orders when he decided to marry this girl. That boy has been lusting after her since they were young. The reason the Abernathy girl has been spiraling into madness over the years is all thanks to them.

The sister you’ve cherished for years turned out to be the villain behind the suffering of your beloved. Hahaha. Jareth, you must be regretting it now, right? You must feel like vor

so–called affection is a joke,

and wish you could just end yourself, don’t you?”

A tsunami of agony nearly executed Jareth on the spot!

In an instant, every suspicious detail in his mind clicked together.

He came to understand why Marilla was always so terrified of Edith, why she had been home–schooled for so long, too afraid to return to school, and why her nightmares were filled with words he couldn’t understand.

He prided himself on being the person who loved her most in the world.

Yet it seemed he had never truly entered the wounded landscape of her heart.

Never had he truly rescued her from that nightmarish existence.

A single tear, heavy with guilt, silently rolled down Jareth’s cheek. He struggled to control his emotions, which were on the brink of collapse, as he negotiated with the devil that was Gary:

“Gary, you simply want revenge on me, and to settle a score. Release Marilla and Lily, and you can do with me as you will!”

Gary let out a harsh laugh, “Jareth, your life isn’t as valuable as you think. I am is a businessman, and I don’t make bad deals. Make a choice, your life can only save one of them. One stays, the other goes. One lives, the other dies. The choice is yours.”