The Ex and Her Riches novel (Gwendolyn and Maverick)

Whitney clenched her fists, as her already sour mood worsened further.

Though she tried to restrain herself, she couldn’t help exploding in the end. “Charles Newton, am I a terrible person to you? You always insult me and put me down no matter what I do. If you really think I don’t match up to your status, why did you marry me back then? You should have approached a wealthy family’s daughter like Jessamyn.”

Charles eyed her with a strange look. “What’s wrong with you? Did you experience trouble at work? Why are you lashing out at me for that?”

After a short pause, he realized something and added, “You’re getting bold, huh? Did you just call me by my full name?”

He reached out and pinched Whitney’s cheek, exerting some force as if punishing her.

The faint pain aggravated Whitney’s anger, and she slapped his hand away.

Her reddened eyes were misty with tears as she said, “You’re taking advantage of my affection for you and bullying me as much as you like. Yes, I like you now, so I’ll bear with it. But if I stop liking you in the future, I won’t allow you to pick on me again!”

Hearing that, Charles frowned. As he scrutinized her aggrieved expression, he was perplexed.

The pair stared at each other for a long time before Charles finally broke the silence and asked, “What is up with you? You’re so confrontational today. I was just joking; how is that bullying you?”

Whitney grew increasingly distressed as she listened to Charles, bitterness spreading in her heart. She pointed at her face and retorted, “You pinched my cheek, and it’s red now. You don’t think that’s bullying me?”

We’re married. Even though I’m only his wife in name, he should keep his distance from other women. No wonder he comes to my company every day lately; it turns out he’s here to meet his lover. He just picks me up because I happen to work here.

At that thought, Whitney felt suffocated. She bit her lip hard and lowered her head, trying to process the scene she had just witnessed.

Clueless about what was going on in her mind, Charles gazed at her cheek and noticed it had indeed turned red.

The rosy color on her face, along with her grumpy pout, made her look adorable.

Arching his brow, Charles was once again overcome with the urge to tease her. “There’s no mirror in front of you. How do you know it’s red? Maybe it turned red because you’re mad.”

“I know it’s red because it hurts,” Whitney grumbled and turned her face to the side while quickly wiping her eyes.

Charles paused upon noticing her actions. “Are you crying?”

“No!”

It’s obvious from her nasally voice that she’s crying.

his face closer. “I’ll let

around at

being offended

you get back at me if I really

“No.”

unmanly of me to get back at her after asking her to

as Charles was thinking of that, Whitney plucked up her courage

“Ow…”

his brows and hissed in pain as annoyance surged

strong. His face had gone numb from

did you pinch me so hard?” he demanded, his low

in time. At the sight of the dark red mark on Charles’ face, she immediately felt

strength I can use?

After all, he did promise not to

urge to take revenge. “So, can you tell

tattletale or

one made me upset at work, and I’m not

the car and driving

bother

a word, the atmosphere turned so tense that one could cut through it with

and watched the streets fade past her

earlier continued

long deliberation, Whitney realized she might have crossed the

want more from it. Now, she

of her efforts to hold herself back, she still ended up asking, “Who was the woman you

“What woman?”

the insignificant episode from earlier. It was only when Whitney brought it up that he thought back on it and

Logistics department?

Logistics department?

tried to recall the faces of the colleagues in her department

from the logistics

“I don’t remember.”

attention to what the woman was saying, let alone