The Devil CEO's Contract Wife - Chapter 223: The Billionaire Might Find Love Again

Chapter 223: The Billionaire Might Find Love Again

CATHERINE

Ares King Searching for a Wife? The Billionaire Might Find Love Again.

My eyes read the headline, and it felt like shards were piercing through them. I remained frozen like a block of ice, feeling numb from head to toe.

I released a sharp, shaky exhaled, closing my eyes as if that would erase anything.

It could be a rumor.

A voice in my head said, but that was it… a voice. It’s been five years; it was only sensible that he moved on.

Yes, he should. He could already have. I mean, all this time, he would’ve found another woman ages ago, and the media only caught a whiff of it.

There’s probably some woman in his bed right now or under the shower with him, and—!

The more I conjured a terrifying amount of unwanted images, the more I feel a twist inside me, so hard it felt like my heart was gonna fall off.

God, what am I doing?

Here I was sitting in my living room late at night, scrolling through Midnight Times like it was some normal Tuesday, and this is not how my Tuesday usually goes.

I should be watching a movie or something while I help myself to a can of Coke or something.

My eyes locked with Ares’ most recent picture, and my heart raced. The same effect. I tried to tell myself things like this would fade; here I was gawking at him like I had the day I met him.

I broke focus for my sanity, reading through the comments flooding the article like ants.

User99:

Forty and still looks yummy. Damn!

User44: I’ll have his babies and more! We could create a nation, I don’t care, just give me this man!

User55: I can’t believe his ex-wife left. I mean, who could leave someone like this? Seriously!

User66: Wherever she is, I pray she burns in hell.

I scoffed, glaring at the comments already itching to type a reply.

“Fuck this.” I shut my laptop.

Why am I even doing this to myself?

It’s not like the article magically popped up in my feed. I was the one who searched for it.

“Fuck this!”

I flinched, turning my head. “Esme!”

She grinned, revealing her missing front teeth.

I looked at the clock on the wall and then back at her. “You should be in bed. What are you doing?”

“Watching you?”

I sighed, pushing off the couch, crouching to pick her up, and she wrapped her tiny hands around my neck.

“Back to bed now with you.”

“What were you doing?” she asked, stretching her neck to see.

“Asking questions after pulling this off, huh?”

“I looked for you, but I couldn’t find you.”

“So you came all the way downstairs?”

“I’m thirsty.”

I sat her down on the counter, and she rubbed her eyes. “That lasagna was fricking spicy.”

I gasped. “Esme Walker! Another no-no word out of you! Do you know what that means?” I dragged the swear jar with little coins in it close.

“You said it first.”

“Well, I’m the adult, and shitty situations—I mean stressful situations bring out stuff like that.”

She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes accusingly at me.

“Don’t look at me like that…”

She stuck out her hand. “A dollar.”

“A what?”

“You shouldn’t use the no-no words around me. That still counts.”

“Alright, as long as your coins get in there.” I took out a glass to fill it with water. I handed it to her, and she took big gulps until it was half empty.

“Better?”

She nodded, and I set the glass down on the table.

“Now bedtime.”

I brought her down, but she doesn’t move.

“Oh!” I checked my pocket to see if I could find anything in there. “Don’t worry, I think I have a dollar somewhere around. Ah! Found it.”

There goes my dollar. Remind me not to use a no-no word in front of her. I swore I was the one who had more money in there.

Satisfied, Esme nodded and hurried up the stairs, and I followed. She pushed the door open, straight to her drawer to take out a coin, and gave it to me.

“Now we’re even.” She sat on the bed.

“Come here!” I growled.

She screamed and giggled as I tickled her at the side.

“I won’t sleep now!”

“Oh, you will!”

Her wild, chaotic laughter lifted the grim over me, and I collapsed on the bed beside her. Her chest was rising and falling heavily as she stared at me with those big blue eyes, so full of life and innocence.

I tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

“Mommy?”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t I have your color of eyes?”

“Well, because you’re a fairy.”

“I know…” She sits up.

I narrowed my eyes as she got off the bed and pulled out a drawer.

“Esme?”

She ran back to me and pounced on the bed, holding up a picture, and my heart skipped a few beats.

“It looks like his. Is he a fairy too?”

“W-Where did you get that?”

She doesn’t reply.

“Esme.”

She dipped her gaze, eyeing the picture with loud curiosity. “I took it from your room. Am I in trouble?”

I gulped. “N-No… it’s just…”

There was a knock on the door, and it was pushed open to reveal Reed.

“You are back!” Esme pitched.

“Yes, I am…” he replied, grinning brightly at her before glancing my way.

I forced a smile. “Alright, lie down. Time for bed.”

~☆~

I finally put Esme to sleep; it wasn’t that hard because she was, in fact, sleepy. I swore her eyes were literally wide as saucers a few minutes ago.

I kissed her on the forehead and straightened my spine. I eyed the picture she had taken from my room. I didn’t even realize it was missing until now.

It was Ares, a picture taken by the paparazzi as he got out of the car, looking to the right as if he could see the camera pointed at him.

I had printed it out when I came across it, a few years ago. I had no idea why I did it. Like following up on Midnight Time and sticking close to anything I could get on him.

It was an unhealthy action I have scolded myself for countless times.

I need to stop this.

I told myself all I wanted now was to protect Esme and give her a good life, and the only way to do that was to stop clinging to a dark past.

Esme was my everything now, and only she mattered. The rest of it can be damned.