My CEO Husband Says I'm Irreplaceable

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Why Didn’t You Tell Me?

Luke Lockwood’s dark pupils constricted, a hint of panic flashing in their depths.

"Vesper, you said that no matter what mistake I made, you would give me one chance!" He pulled a handwritten agreement from his pocket and held it out to her. "You can’t just give me a death sentence."

Vesper Grayson’s gaze swept over it coolly.

Memories she had deliberately sealed away came flooding back, catching her off guard.

On Luke Lockwood’s twentieth birthday, she had painstakingly prepared a feast and baked a cake from scratch. As he blew out the candles, he had stared at her, his gaze scorching, and demanded a promise.

A promise that no matter what mistake he made in the future, she would forgive him unconditionally, just once.

They had been more in love than ever that year, and she had agreed without a second thought. Luke Lockwood had even gone so far as to find a pen and paper and watch her write it all down.

She signed it and left her thumbprint.

She had once believed their love was pure. They had weathered the toughest times together, so she thought that even if he did make a mistake, it wouldn’t be unforgivable.

But she never, ever imagined that Luke Lockwood would dare to cheat on her.

Seeing her silence, Luke Lockwood’s voice grew hoarse. "Vesper, we were so in love. You said you would stay with me forever. Does none of that count anymore?"

All eyes in the company lobby turned toward them.

Vesper Grayson didn’t want this disastrous relationship to become fodder for office gossip.

"Come with me."

She strode toward the coffee shop across the street, and Luke Lockwood scrambled to keep up.

The moment the door to the private room closed, Vesper Grayson’s expression turned glacial. "I gave you a chance. You’re the one who threw it away. This promise became void the moment you chose to betray me."

"When?" Luke Lockwood’s heart clenched as his eyes locked onto her.

"The day I got back from Varden, I spent the entire night at Repulse Bay. I kept trying to convince myself that if you just came back, I’d pretend nothing had happened and forgive you." She paused, her tone bone-chillingly cold. "But you didn’t."

Seeing the color drain from Luke Lockwood’s face, she let out a derisive scoff.

"That night, you were probably in bed with Ivy Joyce, weren’t you? You were so sure I was helpless and alone, that I couldn’t leave you. You used the fact that I loved you to stab me in the heart without a second thought!"

"It wasn’t like that..."

"It wasn’t?" Vesper Grayson’s eyes shot daggers at him. "You openly defended another woman, trampled all over me, and lied to me again and again. Did you think I was an idiot? That you could just sweet-talk me and I’d fall back in line?"

Her tone sharpened abruptly. "Luke Lockwood, I’m not your mother. I have no obligation to coddle you!"

"I didn’t mean any of it. I only said those things because I was scared of losing you."

"Scared of losing me?"

"Yes!"

Vesper Grayson’s laugh grew even colder. "You’re not scared of losing me. You’re just used to me giving you everything without holding anything back. Now that no one is putting you on a pedestal, you’re just not used to it. At the end of the day, you’re nothing but a selfish, self-absorbed hypocrite!"

"No, I love you!" he suddenly gripped her hand, his desperation making him lose his composure. "If I didn’t love you, why would I have restrained myself and been faithful to you all this time?"

"You were really faithful?" Vesper Grayson yanked her hand back, her eyes brimming with derision.

Her stare made his chest ache. "Vesper, you can’t just void it on your own! That doesn’t count!"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Vesper Grayson scoffed. "I gave you another chance. I told you to fire Ivy Joyce to prove you weren’t lying to me. And what was the result? You agreed to my face but did the opposite behind my back. Surely you haven’t forgotten that?"

She picked up the agreement from the table and, right in front of his eyes, slowly tore it to shreds.

It was as if she were personally crushing their laughable and cheap past.

"No..."

Luke Lockwood lunged for the pieces, but he was too late.

He could only watch as the scraps of paper fluttered into the trash can, never to be reassembled.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as pathetic as a dog abandoned by its master.

"I have a boyfriend now. He gets jealous easily and doesn’t like me getting tangled up with an ex. I hope we never cross paths again."

Vesper Grayson stood up and turned to leave.

Just as her fingers touched the doorknob, Luke Lockwood suddenly seized her from behind, holding her in a death grip.

"Vesper, how could you be with another man? How could you leave me and throw away what we had?" He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his cold tears seeping into her collar. But Vesper Grayson felt nothing but disgust, not even a ripple of her former feelings.

She struggled desperately, but his arms were like iron clamps, squeezing so tightly she could barely breathe.

After struggling for a few moments, Vesper Grayson’s anger reached its peak.

She lifted her foot and viciously stomped the heel of her high heel onto his leather shoe.

The instant Luke Lockwood cried out in pain and loosened his grip, she spun around and slapped him hard across the face.

"What’s done is done, and a mistake is a mistake. There’s no room for regrets. Stop being so desperate and try to leave with a shred of dignity!"

But Luke Lockwood grabbed her hand, pulling it back toward his own face.

"Vesper, hit me. As long as it makes you feel better, you can hit me as much as you want!"

’It seemed he hadn’t heard a single word she’d said from start to finish.’

The frustration in her chest solidified into a block of ice. Vesper Grayson’s eyes became utterly frigid.

"Hit you? I’d feel disgusted just touching you," she said, her voice chilling. "I must have been blind to have fallen for a hypocrite like you."

She turned to leave, but his voice, low and sinister, came from behind her.

"Does this new boyfriend of yours know that you were once cornered and assaulted by a group of men, that you almost didn’t get away?"

Vesper Grayson froze mid-step.

She slowly closed her eyes, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles turned white as she suppressed the rage surging through her chest.

Thinking he had her cornered, Luke Lockwood’s tone turned callous.

"Vesper, come back to me. I’m the only one who doesn’t mind your past. I’m the only one who truly loves you."

Vesper Grayson turned around slowly, her eyes as cold as stars, and every word she spoke was a dagger.

"Luke Lockwood, it was never my fault that I was hurt. The fault lies with those animals who laid their hands on me, and with trash like you who takes my scars and keeps rubbing salt in the wound. People like you are the ones who deserve to die!"

The nightmares, the shadows, and the self-doubt that had once trapped her—she had long since shattered them with her own hands.

Her heart now was harder, clearer, and stronger than ever before.

No one would ever use her past to hold her hostage or hurt her again.

Luke Lockwood’s face was ashen. His lips moved. "I... I didn’t want to hurt you... I was the one who helped you get through that dark time, you..."

"Wrong."

Vesper Grayson cut him off, her voice cold, her gaze frank and fearless. "I conquered my own demons. I gritted my teeth, endured that darkness, and walked out of it on my own."

"You did help me, but I repaid that debt a long time ago."

"Without me, you’d still be that same poor boy with big ambitions and nothing to show for it."

The truth was a slap in the face, laced with ice, striking the most shameful and hidden of his sore spots with perfect accuracy.

He had always believed he’d earned his current status and prestige through his own talent and ability. He never imagined that it was Vesper Grayson who had been supporting him from the shadows, paving his way, and lifting him to the heights he now enjoyed.

"Why didn’t you ever tell me who you really were?"

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