Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 144

Chapter 144

The door shut behind Liam with a quiet click.

Silence stretched across the boardroom for a few moments, the tension from the meeting still thick in the air. No one moved. No one spoke. It was as if they were waiting for confirmation that what they had just witnessed was real.

Then-

“He smiled.” muttered Christopher Adler, the CFO, blinking at the door like he had just seen a ghost. He turned to the others, still processing. “He actually smiled.”

A ripple of disbelief moved through the room.

“Did you see that?” another executive, Vincent Dupont, asked, adjusting his tie. “Or am I–am I hallucinating?”

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“You’re not hallucinating,” Luca Moretti, head of legal, muttered. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, looking deep in thought. “That was a smile.”

The entire team exchanged glances.

Their CEO–Liam Horvath–the man who had spent the last few weeks tearing through everyone like a cold–blooded executioner, had just smiled at his phone. Not a smirk, not a half–second twitch of amusement, but an actual, unmistakable smile.

It was unsettling.

Christopher frowned, rubbing his chin. “Since when does he smile?”

Vincent leaned in. “Since never.”

“Exactly,” Christopher said. “So, the question is–who the hell was on the other end of that message?”

A hushed murmur spread through the room.

Liam had been in a foul mood since he returned from his last trip. No one knew exactly what had happened, but his patience had been razor–thin, his temper even worse. The Covington acquisition team had been getting the worst of it, but truthfully, everyone had been walking on eggshells.

And yet–one text had flipped a switch.

Luca tapped his pen against the table. “Who do we know that could possibly make him react like that?”

Vincent’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. “A woman, obviously.”

Silence.

executives, a woman named Lisa Laurent, leaned forward. “Do you think it’s… you know… someone special?” The CEO had been very private with his life. Many rumors surrounded him, but everyone in this room knew that those aren’t true. After all, they knew that the CEO mostly

into

It made sense.

man to engage in casual conversations during meetings, let alone be distracted by his phone. If he had actually smiled, then whoever had messaged him

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Chapter 144

it be someone from his

wouldn’t have smiled like that. He barely acknowledges his

it’s business–related. Nothing about Covington is making

in his chair. “Then

to settle

question hung in the

watch. “I mean, has anyone ever

“Not romantically, no.”

heard he doesn’t

him? There’s no way.”

he’s just good

that’s the case, then we’ll probably

door Liam had walked out of. “Unless,” he mused,

amused glances, but the curiosity

just texted Liam Horvath had managed to

when he arrived at his

you?” he asked. “If anything feels off, take the

what happened to Izzy wasn’t something he wanted, but

the moment his plane left the U.S. What worsened his mood was the fact that Izzy had to go

as he leaned back in his chair, waiting for Izzy’s response.

said, dragging out the word.

his

I might be lovesick,” she said dramatically. “Terrible condition, really. There’s

but a

yet, you

in his shoulders eased. “If you keep saying things like that, I’ll fly to

are trying

you know.”

his chair, his eyes

Chapter 166

wing and of hair

the

he’s maying to

“%ur exactly as