Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 194

Izzy wiped her tears away before she walked inside a bar. She wasn’t crying because she got hurt. She was crying because she was too angry. She wanted to hurt someone, and that someone happened to be her father–in–law. Well, she shouldn’t be calling that man her father in law. He simply doesn’t deserve it!

She had already booked a boxing session with a gym that she knew, but that wasn’t enough. She let out a sigh.

The bar was quiet, almost sterile in the daylight. No blaring music. No crowd. Just the faint hum of the refrigerator behind the counter and the flick of the bartender’s rag as he wiped down glasses. Sunlight filtered in through the windows, catching dust motes in the air. It wasn’t the kind of place meant for midday visits, which was exactly why Izzy had chosen it.

She pushed open the door with more force than necessary, her jaw tight, her eyes still burning. Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked to the counter and slid into a seat without a word.

The bartender looked up. “Something light?”

Izzy didn’t hesitate. “Whiskey. Neat.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask questions. He poured the drink and set it down in front of her.

She didn’t bother with a thank–you. She grabbed the glass and took a long drink, the burn grounding her just enough to keep her hands from shaking.

Her phone vibrated again. The screen lit up with Calen’s name.

She turned it over.

It vibrated again. Persistent. She let it ring until it stopped. Then again. Still him.

She picked it up briefly, hit “Cancel,” and dropped it back on the bar like it had personally offended her. She told him she was sick this morning. He should’ve left her alone.

She took another sip, this one slower, letting the silence sink in as her thoughts spiraled.

Olivier Horvath.

She hated the way his words replayed in her mind. The smirk on his face. The way he spoke about Liam was like he was some product of rot. Like Izzy hadn’t seen the man he became. Like Liam hadn’t clawed his way out of something foul just to breathe clean air.

She set the glass down hard.

Liam. God.

kind of father says that about his own

Liam looked that night–drunk, hollow. It made sense now. Olivier had put those words in his head. And worse, he meant them. He wasn’t just being cruel. He believed

her jaw. If Olivier had been in front of her now,

her hands. They weren’t shaking anymore.

around her grandfather’s office every chance he got. She saw him fixing up shelves or listening to her grandfather’s lectures about hard

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Chapter 194

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he’d been there. Even

Olivier, he would’ve turned into something entirely different. Cold. Corrupt. Just like the man who raised him. But he hadn’t. He grew up watching her grandfather and even his own, learning from their actions, not their mistakes.

tilted the glass and finished the rest of the

noticed the door behind her opened but was too busy on her thoughts to

interrupted her stupor. “Well, this is a coincidence,”

slowly turned, her eyes narrowing.

Frederik.

She didn’t expect that

bar? Whiskey in the middle of the day?” He chuckled and sat on the stool next to her.

none of your

right,” Frederik leaned back on the stool, his fingers tapping the counter. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect you and Mr. Horvath to be this… close. But I guess it makes sense

signaling the bartender. “I’ll have whatever she’s

narrowing. “What’s that supposed to

it clear he didn’t

snort and waved at the

continued, “But I didn’t think Mr. Horvath himself would go so far. Targeting me directly? Is he really that

does any of this have to

set the glass down. “I don’t appreciate

didn’t answer right away. She pressed her lips together, then finally spoke. “Whatever Liam