My CEO Husband Says I'm Irreplaceable

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Run It Over

Luke Lockwood rushed forward and seized her arm.

"Vesper Grayson, where do you think you can run?"

His grip was terrifyingly strong, his knuckles digging into her flesh so hard that Vesper Grayson furrowed her brows in pain.

"Let go!"

"Why are you here?" Instead of letting go, Luke Lockwood tightened his grip, his voice sharp.

Harold Warner’s investigation revealed that the woman sharing Vesper’s name was none other than the eldest daughter of Northolme’s Grayson Family.

After getting some information from Thomas Sutton last night, he had immediately taken a private jet back to Northolme.

Standing in the vast airport, he hadn’t known where to find her. On instinct, he had driven to the Grayson Group building.

He had only been trying his luck and never imagined he would actually see her show up.

’Could she really be a daughter of the Grayson Family, not the orphan he had always believed her to be?’

The rage of being deceived swept over him like a monstrous wave.

Vesper Grayson’s expression was as cold as ice. "I told you to let go. Did you hear me?"

When he still didn’t move, Vesper’s anger boiled over. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

SLAP—

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the parking garage.

Luke Lockwood’s head snapped to the side, his eyes wide with utter disbelief.

The Vesper of the past had been gentle, graceful, and obedient. She wouldn’t have dreamed of hitting him; she had never even raised her voice at him.

"Luke Lockwood, we’ve broken up! You have no right to question anything I do!"

Luke’s eyes were as dark as a frozen pond. "I never agreed to it. That was your decision, and yours alone."

"You were the one who cheated. I thought you’d be dying to end this relationship!" Vesper Grayson sneered, her eyes filled with biting sarcasm. "Or are you so arrogant that you think I can’t live without you?"

"I explained it to you! What I had with her was just an act, a way for us to find some comfort! I never loved her!" Luke Lockwood growled. "The fact that this bothers you so much just proves you still love me!"

"I don’t love you anymore."

Vesper Grayson’s tone was calm to the point of indifference, an unsettlingly placid delivery that made one’s heart race.

Luke Lockwood suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders, his grip almost uncontrollably tight. "I don’t believe you! We were together for three years! If you really don’t love me, then why did you hide it from me and help me start my business using Thomas Sutton’s name? Why did you cash in the one great favor your grandfather was owed by him, just to get him to give my career his full support?"

"Vesper, I know everything now. Everything you did for me behind the scenes. I was an asshole. I was arrogant and pigheaded. I squandered all the love you gave me."

"But I do love you! I just... every time you rejected me, I couldn’t take it. That’s why I got confused and ended up entangled with Ivy Joyce..."

"I won’t hold it against you for selling half of Zephyr’s shares. Let’s start over, okay?"

Vesper Grayson listened, her face devoid of expression, as if hearing a story about someone else. Her heart was a silent, dead calm.

At last, she let out a soft, frigid laugh. "Luke Lockwood, everything you have today was a gift from me. You should be grateful I only sold half of Zephyr’s shares."

"When we got together, you knew perfectly well that I was deeply scarred by what happened that day. You’re the one who said you didn’t mind, that you’d stay with me while I slowly healed."

"But I never imagined that during our three-year relationship, which I thought was so sweet and secure, you were betraying me for two whole years."

"After getting your satisfaction from her, how could you lie beside me with a clear conscience?"

Luke Lockwood’s pupils contracted.

How could he not feel guilty and ashamed?

That was precisely why he tried so desperately to be good to her every time he came back to her side.

Luxury goods, jewelry, money, shares... He used every material thing he could think of in a futile attempt to make up for his mistake.

But in the end, she had found out anyway.

His voice was strained and hoarse. "Believe it or not, you’re the only one I’ve ever loved."

"’I’m old, you’re tired of me, you think I’m trying to force you to marry me.’ Those were your exact words to other people, Luke Lockwood." Vesper Grayson chuckled, but the sound was devoid of warmth, leaving only a bone-chilling coldness in her eyes. "I may not be young anymore, and I can’t compete with eighteen or nineteen-year-old girls, but my memory isn’t so bad that I’d forget something like that!"

A flash of remorse crossed Luke’s eyes, and he hastily tried to explain. "That was just a joke, something I said without thinking. I never really thought that."

"Vesper, try to see it from my side. What man on this earth could endure such loneliness, go his whole life without touching a woman?"

"Once Ivy Joyce has the baby, I’ll give her a sum of money and send her away for good. After that, I’ll just be with you and the child, and we’ll live a good life together."

"Didn’t you used to say that what you wanted most was to have a happy family of three with me?"

"We’re so close to having all of that. How can you go back on your word now?"

Vesper Grayson laughed as if she’d just heard the most absurd joke in the world. The low sound was filled with bitterness and disgust.

"The home I wanted was supposed to be clean, a place of complete devotion. Not one where you’re out fooling around and then bring another woman’s child back to appease me. You make me feel utterly disgusted!"

With a sudden exertion of force, she threw his hands off her shoulders and took a step back, putting distance between them.

"I’m not the one going back on my word. You’re the one who single-handedly destroyed all of my hopes."

"You’ve already betrayed me. You shouldn’t do the same to a woman who loves you and is carrying your child."

With that, she turned and walked away.

"Vesper!"

Luke Lockwood quickly moved to block her path. His gaze was stubborn to the point of obsession, tinged with a miserable, wounded look. "I’ll never love another woman for the rest of my life. Only you."

"That’s your business. It has nothing to do with me."

The bone-deep indifference in her eyes stabbed at his heart, making it ache.

"Once I’ve settled everything in Ashmore, I’ll come for you. I swear I’ll keep begging until you forgive me."

Just then, a black Bentley glided smoothly into the parking garage.

"President Hawthorne, it’s Miss Grayson."

Leon Quillan spotted the two figures in a standoff in the distance and immediately gave a low-voiced reminder.

The man, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. His deep gaze pierced through the windshield, landing directly on the scene ahead.

Vesper Grayson was locked in a standoff with a man.

When he got a clear look at the man’s face, Jared Hawthorne’s expression darkened, turning as cold as ice.

’He still hasn’t left Northolme. The man is like a ghost you can’t shake.’

Just then, Vesper Grayson turned and began to walk away quickly. Luke Lockwood immediately moved to chase after her.

A flash of chilling murderous intent crossed Jared Hawthorne’s eyes. His thin lips parted. "Hit him."

’Daring to snatch someone from his boss? This guy must have a death wish!’

Leon Quillan slammed on the accelerator, and the Bentley shot forward, heading straight for Luke Lockwood.

Sensing the danger, Luke scrambled to dodge out of the way.

The car didn’t actually hit him, but it was enough to make him lose his balance and fall ungracefully to the ground.

Tires screeched against the pavement with a piercing sound.

The window slid down slowly. Leon Quillan’s face was completely expressionless, his tone so placid it was almost disingenuous. "Are you all right, sir? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

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