My Child and I Married a Billionaire

The crowd watching the drama unfold had some class, at least.

Not only did they pause the music, but they also turned off the laser lights and switched on the main crystal chandeliers for illumination.

The room fell silent, as bright as day.

Zeke Walton and Simone Vaughn stared at each other. Simone couldn’t believe her eyes.

How long had it been since Zeke had last seen her or even spoken a word to her? He finally shows up today, finally touches her, and it’s all to defend another woman?!

If her anger had already reached a boiling point, it had now exploded.

"Let go of me, you son of a bitch! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?"

Zeke Walton watched her, his face devoid of expression, his voice calm.

"And you? Do you know what you’re doing?"

"Of course I do!"

Simone Vaughn viciously wrenched her hand free from his grasp and pointed the bottle at the other girl’s nose.

"I can’t stand these green-tea bitches who go around seducing every man they see. I’m teaching this slut a lesson, what’s it to you? Is she one of yours? Feeling sorry for her?"

Zeke took half a step toward the bottle, completely shielding the girl behind him.

He knew Simone was just using this as an excuse to cause a scene. The girl was innocent.

"Who did she seduce?"

His question left Simone suddenly at a loss for words.

She paused for a few seconds, fuming, then resorted to throwing a tantrum.

"This is between me and her. What business is it of yours? There are plenty of other men here, and not a single one is getting involved in women’s drama. Why do you have to be the big hero?"

Zeke just stared at her.

Under the bright lights, her makeup was caked on. From being up so late, it had started to run slightly, giving her face a subtly blotchy appearance.

She was the esteemed and sought-after Miss Vaughn, yet she insisted on debasing herself like this.

"You can talk about anyone else, and I wouldn’t care. But not her."

Zeke’s expression was impassive, but his tone was firm.

"I’m getting involved in this today. So yeah, I’m being the hero. What are you going to do about it?"

It was like a thousand arrows piercing Simone’s heart.

As Zeke’s fiancée, being treated like this by him in public... The pain was so sharp she could barely breathe.

’I so badly want to grab him by the collar and demand to know why, why he’s doing this to me, but my pride won’t allow it.’

Simone trembled all over, desperately trying to control her emotions.

"Hah! If you’ve got the guts, then say it clearly! Is she your woman? Is that why you’re so protective? Are you two together?"

Things had already come to this, and the pain was almost killing her, but a tiny part of her still clung to the fantasy that Zeke would say no.

But Zeke never gave her what she wanted.

"Do I need to explain myself to you? Who are you to me?"

"You!"

That was it. Simone completely lost it.

SMASH! She slammed the bottle down on the center of the coffee table. Alcohol sprayed everywhere, and no one’s clothes were spared.

She pointed the broken bottle at Zeke, screaming hysterically.

"You ask who I am to you! Go home and ask your parents who I am to you! If your grandfather hadn’t come shamelessly begging my family back then, I swear to God..."

Zeke’s late grandfather and Simone’s grandfather had been good friends. While he was alive, he had half-jokingly arranged this childhood engagement for them.

’My grandfather has been dead for over ten years, and this woman is so brazen she’s actually claiming a deceased elder came "shamelessly begging" her family?’

’I swear, not just in this life, but in the next, and the one after that—for all of eternity—I will never, ever end up with this woman.’

If a man had said something like that, Zeke would have slapped him across the face by now.

He suppressed his fury, clenching his fists until they were rock-hard.

"You should be grateful you’re a woman. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be alive right now."

"Isn’t everyone curious about what’s really going on between me and Simone Vaughn? Fine. I’ll satisfy your curiosity today and clear the air once and for all."

After addressing Simone, Zeke turned to the crowd, his tone shifting to one of casual indifference.

"I don’t know who started the rumors, but it wasn’t me. I swear, I, Zeke Walton, have never liked Simone Vaughn, and I have never once considered marrying her. Not in the past, and not ever in the future. The childhood engagement was a joke our elders made when they were alive. It was fine to treat it as a gag back then, but from now on, I don’t want my name associated with hers ever again. I’m done. Has everyone got that?"

"..."

Suddenly being served such a huge piece of gossip, the crowd looked at each other, collectively reaching a new peak of awkwardness.

Simone’s face turned pale, then red, her chest heaving violently. Seeing her state, her girlfriends thought she was about to faint and scrambled to their feet to support her.

But she shoved them away.

She pointed the shattered bottle at Zeke viciously.

"Fine. You said it yourself. When your parents come to my family to beg me, I’ll livestream it for everyone to see. You’d better not regret this."

With that, she pushed past the people around her and stormed out.

Brandon Jacobs never imagined things would blow up like this tonight. Speechless, he walked over to Zeke.

He was just about to put a hand on his shoulder when Zeke pushed him away, too.

"From now on, all of you remember this: if she’s there, I won’t be. If I’m there, she won’t be."

Zeke also stormed out of the club.

Veridia was a huge city, and his family owned several properties, but at that moment, Zeke had no idea where he should go.

Overcome with boredom and restlessness, he went home.

Sure enough, just like every year, his parents had gone with friends to a mountain temple to pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

He flopped back onto his bed, bored.

But he couldn’t fall asleep. Lying on his left side was uncomfortable, and so was lying on his right.

’Maybe I’ll sit up and play some games.’ But suddenly, even gaming had lost its appeal. He was too agitated and had no desire to play at all.

After tormenting himself for over an hour, Zeke couldn’t take it anymore and dialed Amina’s number.

This time, Amina picked up quickly.

The sound of wind whistled on the other end; he could tell she was riding a scooter or bike.

Zeke asked her directly, "Where are you?"

Amina shouted over the wind, "You’re awake? I’m sorry, I lied to you. I woke up early this morning, opened the app, and got an order right away. I couldn’t just not go out, so I..."

Zeke cut her off. "I asked where you are right now!"

Hearing the strange tone in his voice, Amina felt a little guilty.

"I... What do you want?"

"I’m bored. I’m coming to find you. Give me your location."

After some back and forth, Zeke finally found Amina.

For some reason, when he saw her running out of the residential complex, still wearing that incredibly dull uniform, he felt a profound sense of warmth.

He had arrived full of anger, but the moment he saw her, it all vanished into thin air.

He took a couple of steps forward to meet her, his voice gentle as he asked Amina.

"Why were you running? Can’t you ride your bike in this complex?"

"Yeah, but it’s not a long walk, so the order is still worth it."

Amina, her cheeks flushed, shared with a look of pure satisfaction.

"Do you know how many orders I’ve done so far today? Almost 40! At this rate, I can do 150 today. Ah, I’m so happy!"

"Have you eaten breakfast? I bought some soy milk and steamed buns this morning but haven’t had a chance to eat them yet. They should still be warm. You look like you just woke up. Here, take them and eat."