Chapter Six
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The next morning, Elizabeth ached all over. She bore marks from the previous night’s passionate lovemaking, and she still couldn’t believe how quickly the evening had escalated.
It had not been her plan to sleep with her husband.
She had planned to seduce him and make him chase after her for weeks before revealing her identity, but being in his presence had a way of unsettling her.
She had found herself divulging her identity, then tried to slip away while he dealt with the chaos that ensued following her disclosure.
But Sebastian Moore was not a man who played by anyone else’s script.
He had shown up in her room, practically vibrating with rage and itching for a fight. And Beth had fully expected that after revealing her identity, but she found other ways to distract him from asking the hard questions.
Sex with Sebastian had been perfect and far better than anything they had ever shared during their five years of marriage. Their lovemaking had been fuelled by a fierce, unquenchable hunger that had caught them off guard.
And as she sat there in the quietness of her hotel room, Beth regretted kicking him out so abruptly. She had sent him packing before she exhausted her hunger for him.
To her frustration, no other man could rival Sebastian in the bedroom. His touch, his technique, and the relentless stamina he brought to her bed were simply unmatched.
But Beth was nothing if not stubborn. She was determined to find his replacement.
Once her revenge was complete and her point made, she would move on for good.
Glancing at the clock, she saw it was just past seven. She needed to check out and head straight to her father’s place. When she’d called him before the party, he had sounded anything but pleased about her “little vanishing act.”
He had practically demanded her presence at breakfast, and Beth knew better than to risk his ire by keeping him waiting.
After checkout, Beth took a car straight to her father’s house and when she walked in, she found her dad seated in the sunroom, enjoying his morning espresso.
“Hello, Daddy. I’m back!”
If he was shocked by her dramatic transformation, he didn’t betray a thing. Rather than comment on it, or on her sudden reappearance, he launched straight into a lecture, practically chewing her head off.
The old man was apoplectic with rage. He paced back and forth across the floor calling her emotional, rash and wildly irresponsible, loudly divulging how deeply he and Sebastian had been devastated by her disappearance over the last six months.
“Do you have any idea what you put us through?” Arthur barked, his face red with anger as he gestured wildly with his hands.
“Everyone was looking for you,” he growled.
“The police, the media, private investigators... you made a fool out of all of us. I thought you were dead in a ditch!”
Beth stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows, her arms crossed over her chest, watching her father with cool, untroubled eyes.
“You bartered me for a stake in his company,” she said flatly, cutting right through his loud tirade.
Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, his thick eyebrows knitting together.
“I chose the best possible husband for you! You were twenty-three, innocent, and obsessed with him after seeing his magazine cover. I simply made it happen.” He said, looking very proud of himself.
“But he does not love me,” Beth said. “He said so himself.”
“Well, his behaviour over the past few months proved otherwise,” Arthur countered forcefully.
“The man was nearly indicted for murder but he refused to stop searching for you!”
“I want a divorce,” Beth said.
Arthur merely scoffed in response, waving his hand dismissively as if she had suggested something entirely absurd. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Okay fine. It can wait,” Beth interrupted smoothly. “But can I move back in here in the meantime?”
Arthur paused, his grey eyes searching her face. He took in her lean frame, quietly documenting every single change in her.
Finally, he spoke, “You stupid, stupid girl,” Arthur grumbled softly as his anger turned into relief. Then, he opened his broad arms. “Come give your father a kiss.”
Beth stepped forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and Arthur held her close, patting her back with a heavy, trembling hand.
“I missed you, darling,” the old man murmured into her hair, his voice rough with emotion. “Don’t you ever disappear like that again. You nearly killed your old man.”
“I am sorry,” Beth whispered softly.
They spent the remainder of the morning together in the cosy breakfast nook, sipping tea and catching up.
Beth knew without question that she was deeply loved and cherished by him. That had never been in doubt.
And as she took in her father’s white hair and the fresh lines etched around his eyes, a small part of her conceded that perhaps she should not have been too rash. Her disappearing act had been a little reckless.
When Arthur finally left for his office, Beth seized the opportunity to launch the next phase of her plan.
Finally able to use her credit cards, she headed straight for Miami’s high-end shopping district. She drew inspiration from the fashion tips and styling lessons she had picked up during her months in Singapore and completely overhauled her wardrobe.
She picked out stunning, daring pieces that she would never have dared to wear just a few months ago, filling her luxury bags with bold cuts, sharp tailoring and eye-catching colours.
Beth felt beautiful, sexy and comfortable in her own skin and it showed in the pieces she walked away with. She was in full revenge mode, keen on making every single person who had ever whispered behind her back eat their own words.
Later that evening, Beth arrived at an ultra-exclusive South Beach restaurant. For her date with Julian, Sebastian’s friend.
In truth, she didn’t want him in the slightest, she just wanted to toy with his emotions and punish him for the mean words he’d said about her in the past.
Beth looked stunning. She wore a burgundy tiny pleather skirt that stopped at her thighs and paired it with a black sheer lacy top that left little to the imagination.
Her long, toned legs were fully on display and her generous cleavage was perfectly framed by the delicate black lace.
She was dressed specifically for the male gaze, presenting a package designed to drive any man wild. Beth was convinced that she was going to net Julian and afterwards, she planned to parade him before Sebastian.
What could possibly be a better form of revenge than picking her husband’s closest friend and flaunting their affair in front of him?
She wanted the entire Miami social scene to witness Sebastian’s humiliation. Once that was done, she’d drop Julian, but not before making him feel used and discarded.
Julian wasn’t getting a single kiss, nor would she offer him even a crumb of real affection. She was going to make him yearn for her, make him fall head over heels in love with her, and then discard him like trash.
Beth sat at her reserved corner table, nursing a gin martini, so deeply engrossed in plotting her upcoming moves that she did not notice her date approaching until a broad, tall frame was towering over her.
She caught a whiff of a familiar fragrance. Pistachio, sandalwood and lemon.
Her heart stopped. She would recognize that distinct scent anywhere in the world.
“Sebastian,” she spat out, refusing to even raise her head from her glass.
“Yes, dear wife?” his deep, smooth voice purred above her.
Beth raised her chin, her eyes flashing with fury as she took in the sight of him. Sebastian stood there looking infuriatingly handsome in an unbuttoned charcoal suit jacket, a smug smile playing on his lips.
“No. Absolutely not,” she spoke vehemently. Without another word, she grabbed her purse, stood up and stormed right out of the restaurant.
Sebastian turned on his heel and rushed out moments later, his long strides easily closing the distance between them as she reached the crowded sidewalk.
“Elizabeth!” he called out.
Beth spun around, pointing a manicured finger directly at his chest. “We are done, Sebastian. Do you hear me? We are done!”
“Don’t be unreasonable,” Sebastian said, stepping closer to her, his hands tucked casually into his suit pockets.
“Unreasonable?” Beth let out a harsh laugh that drew the attention of several passers-by.
“You were forced to marry me Sebastian. You said it yourself. You don’t need to wait for five years, you are now free! Free to go marry whoever you like and free to pick whoever you deem perfect to carry your precious children!”
Sebastian stopped moving. His smug expression vanished replaced by regret. “I’m sorry,” he murmured softly, his voice rough and genuine.
Beth sneered.
“What do you want?” Sebastian asked. “For me to grovel and beg for your forgiveness?”
“That would be a start!” Beth shot back, crossing her arms tightly, daring him to get on his knees and grovel.
To her surprise, Sebastian did not offer a clever comeback or an excuse. Instead, right there on the busy sidewalk, in front of dozens of wealthy patrons spilling out of surrounding venues, the powerful, arrogant CEO of PayVault dropped straight down onto his knees on the concrete.
A collective gasp echoed from the surrounding crowd. Onlookers immediately slowed their pace, pulling out their phones and whispering frantically as they recognized the high-profile tech tycoon with a missing wife, kneeling at the feet of a mysterious woman.
“I am sorry I was an asshole,” Sebastian declared loudly, his eyes locked onto hers, totally unbothered by the growing audience.
“I am sorry I had a vasectomy a week before our wedding without telling you.”
The crowd gasped, as they began connecting the dots.
Beth stared down at him, her heart pounding faster. She couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her. Sebastian Moore, the all-powerful man who was accustomed to having everyone bend to his will, was grovelling at her feet on a public street.