He Introduced Me to a Lover, and My First Love Walked In Chapter 10

He Introduced Me to a Lover, and My First Love Walked In Chapter 10

I hadn’t expected that.

But I steadied myself quickly and forced out the answer.

“Fine.”

For once, Vincent was the one who looked surprised.

“You know, other members of the Prescott family came to me too.”

“They offered to help me go after Julian. You’re the only one who came here asking me to leave him alone.”

I knew I had nothing to bargain with.

So I dropped to my knees, swallowed every last shred of pride I had, and said, “Please.”

Vincent stared at me for a long time before letting out a sigh.

“Audrey, you got lucky. Anyone else would’ve had their way with you and still gone after Julian.”

“But I don’t sleep with married women, I keep my word, and I happen to enjoy a good show. So you actually get what you came for.”

I stared at him, confused.

Vincent caught my chin between his fingers.

“Let’s make a deal, Audrey.”

“I won’t touch you. But I’ll tell everyone in our circles that you offered yourself to me to save your own skin.”

“You don’t get to explain the truth to anyone, especially Julian. If you do, I’ll hand prosecutors every piece of evidence I have of criminal activity tied to the Prescott family businesses.”

“Can you do that?”

“Of course,” I promised without hesitation.

I truly believed Julian would trust me no matter what anyone said.

Reality proved me painfully wrong.

Julian barely remembered leaving Stonegate State Prison.

By the time he came back to himself, he was standing outside a set of gates.

Through the fence, he saw me in the Ashford yard.

I was laughing freely, nothing like the person I’d been whenever I was with him.

For some reason, the sight reminded him of the last time he’d celebrated my birthday.

It had been one of the few times in the past two years when he’d treated me with any tenderness.

He’d asked me what I wanted.

Anything, he’d said. He would make it happen.

I’d answered, “My biggest wish is to leave you.”

Julian spent the next week in a daze.

In the end, he finally had a lawyer draw up a divorce agreement.

He came to the Ashford estate and asked to see me.

I agreed.

There were things Julian and I needed to say to each other.

What I hadn’t expected was for him to be the one who handed me the divorce agreement.

He gave me a strained smile.

“Audrey, I was the one who failed you.”

Now that it had actually come to this, I found myself with nothing left to say.

All I could manage was the polite response.

“It’s all in the past.”

I signed the agreement.

I’d never seen Julian’s eyes redden in front of me before.

“Audrey, do I still have a chance with you?”

I shook my head and said flatly, “Julian, let’s never see each other again.”

The story of Julian and me had begun with a setup.

Someone had slipped something into his drink at a party, planning to take advantage of him.

My own parents had drugged me too, planning to offer me up to powerful businessmen.

I refused to let that happen, so I ran.

Julian refused to play along too, so he ran as well.

We met in the middle of that absurd mess, spent one reckless night together, and each got what we needed from the other.

We married first and fell in love later.

And in the end, it all fell apart.

After I left, Julian broke down sobbing.

I didn’t look back.

I kept walking.

Evan was waiting for me outside.

The moment he saw me, he smiled.

“Congratulations on getting your freedom back, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” I said, and meant it.

But Evan had always known how to push his luck.

He suddenly leaned closer, his voice low and rough.

“Sweetheart, can I try to win you over?”

I smiled.

“You can.”