They Called Me a Gold Digger, So I Dethroned Them All Chapter 04

“Blythe, get in. I’ll drop you off at your apartment on the way.”

Hollis looked perfectly at ease, as though none of tonight’s humiliation had ever happened.

I looked at the two of them through the car window and gave a faint, bitter smile.

“No, thanks, Mr. Redgrave. Your car looks a little crowded. I wouldn’t want someone as shallow and materialistic as me taking up any more space.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Hollis’s eyes, though his voice remained controlled.

“Blythe, do you have to be so sarcastic? Maisie’s had a rough night. Of course I’m going to take her home.”

“You’re a grown woman. When are you going to start acting like one?”

Maisie leaned out of the car and timidly offered me an umbrella.

“Blythe, it’s raining pretty hard. Here, take this. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

I stared coldly at the cheap folding umbrella without reaching for it.

Maisie moved her wrist, letting the umbrella fall into a muddy puddle. She immediately looked hurt.

Hollis’s expression turned icy. He pushed open the car door, stepped out, and stood in front of me, his voice low and stern.

“Blythe Wetherell, where are your manners? Do you really have to make a scene and embarrass everyone?”

“Hollis, if having manners means giving up my self-respect, then I guess I don’t have any.”

I faced him in the wind, looking straight into his eyes without the slightest tremor in my voice.

Above us, departing guests were exchanging pleasantries on the steps. Several familiar wealthy heirs were making their way toward us.

Tobin Kersey came down the steps with a woman on his arm and let out a derisive laugh.

“Well, look at Blythe throwing a fit in public. Hollis, your fiancée acts like she’s royalty.”

Several socialites nearby covered their mouths and giggled, their whispers carrying clearly to my ears.

“She’s already been humiliated in front of everyone, and she’s still putting on that act.”

“Without the Redgraves, she couldn’t even pay next month’s credit card bill. Who does she think she’s fooling?”

Hollis composed his expression and reached for my wrist in front of everyone. His grip was firm enough to make it clear he wasn’t asking.

“Get in the car. We can talk about this at home. Stop embarrassing yourself out here.”

He made it look as though he was protecting me, but every word was another accusation.

He wanted me to lower my head in front of everyone and admit that I was nothing without him, a woman who could only survive by clinging to his wealth and status.

I wrenched my hand free and stepped back, only for my heel to slip into a puddle.

Cold rainwater splashed across the hem of my expensive cashmere skirt, leaving me looking utterly disheveled.

Maisie began sobbing in the car.

“Hollis, this is all my fault. Please don’t fight because of me. I’ll get out and walk home…”

The irritation in Hollis’s eyes deepened as he turned his cold voice on me.

“Blythe, enough. I gave you a way out, and you threw it back in my face.”

I stood there like some bitter, unreasonable woman who’d been cast aside, put on display for everyone to judge and ridicule.

Whatever faint hope I’d still been holding on to vanished completely.

I drew a deep breath and was about to speak when I heard the steady splash of dress shoes through the rain behind me.

A large black umbrella appeared over my head, shielding me from the bitterly cold rain.

The crisp scent of fir and tobacco surrounded me.

A moment later, a heavy black suit jacket, still warm from its owner, settled over my shoulders.

Stellan Arkwright stood beside me, holding the umbrella in one hand, the other resting casually in his pants pocket.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, his figure almost completely shielding me beneath the umbrella.

“Ms. Wetherell, would you like to come with me?”