The Billionaire And His Son Want Me Back by Juliette Vaughan

Chapter 78

Marissa caught a glimpse of Dominick's increasingly grim expression from the corner of her eye and felt secretly delighted. On the surface, however, she maintained a soft demeanor and said to Alexis, "Maybe Nathaniel genuinely wants to learn horseback riding?"

Alexis snorted, "What are you even talking about? Who are we kidding? We only do this stuff to pass the time and socialize. Just dabbling in it is enough. Nathaniel, that troublemaker? He's been messing around his whole life. Since when does he suddenly care about horseback riding?"

She paused, her gaze growing even more disdainful as it landed on Paisley. "Who's to say that woman isn't just trying to latch onto someone rich, all while pretending to play hard-to-get?"

Marissa quickly covered her mouth, feigning shock, and chimed in, "You can't just go around saying things like that." Though her words were aimed at Alexis, her eyes remained fixed on Dominick.

Alexis, being the kind of person who doubled down when questioned, retorted, "Oh, come on now. I may not know that equestrian champion well, but I sure as hell know Nathaniel."

And, of course, the others standing around knew Nathaniel as well. They'd all been high school

classmates, after all. Back then, aside from Marissa, Nathaniel had flirted with just about every campus queen. With his long history of questionable behavior, Alexis' claim held some weight.

Marissa blinked her large, clear eyes and looked at Dominick with an expression of innocent confusion. "Is that really true?"

"It absolutely is," Alexis declared confidently. She pointed toward a spot in the distance and said, "Don't believe me? Look over there. Just look at how close their faces are when they're talking."

Marissa and Dominick's vantage point, Paisley seemed to be leaning forward, her head slightly lowered while looking up to speak with Nathaniel. From this angle, it did appear

worse, Nathaniel was acting cutesy, his usual charm on full

sound of a wine glass slamming heavily onto the marble counter then broke the moment. "I need some air," Dominick said coldly to Julian. Without waiting for

Marissa made a move to follow him, but

a while," Julian said

be alone with Dominick or to further sow discord between him and

as much, Marissa knew it wouldn't look good if she insisted. So, instead, she nodded with a worried expression and said, "Alright... I'm just

the others exchanged confused looks. Alexis then couldn't resist asking, "Marissa,

pondered, 'That scared the hell out of me just now. Anyone who didn't know better would think I said something to piss Dominick off. But the more I think about it, the more I'm sure I didn't

But

glint in her eyes. Marissa grumbled inwardly, 'Just how much longer are you planning to stick around

for guests. One was the main entrance leading

opening to the garden at the back of the hotel the door Dominick had used when he said he was going out for

flowers during the

irritably tugged at his tie. Still feeling stifled, he unbuttoned