Boss, Your Ex-Wife is Unreachable Now! novel Chapter 8

Willow strode ahead, barely glancing at Xander or Alistair as she passed. She walked straight on, her steps brisk enough to stir the air behind her.

Alistair frowned, his gaze involuntarily following that light, determined figure.

Was it just his imagination, or did she look noticeably healthier? There was color in her cheeks now, and the tired shadows he'd seen before had vanished from her face.

Had something gone wrong with the process? Was the divorce not finalized?

But he'd prepared all the documents himself—personally double-checked every detail. It shouldn't be possible.

Still puzzling over it, Alistair looked up just as Beasley emerged from the building.

His eyes landed almost immediately on the divorce papers in Beasley's hand.

So it was done after all. Then—

Suddenly, it clicked.

Willow must be putting on a brave face, too proud to let herself fall apart in front of them. That's why she walked out so cool, as if nothing could touch her.

But no matter how long she pretended, it wouldn't change a thing. Without the title of Mrs. Windsor, she was just a so-called novelist scribbling billionaire fantasies online for gullible teenage girls. In reality, she was nothing.

Xander, seeing Beasley come out, hurried to meet him with respectful eagerness. "Mr. Windsor, will you be heading back to the office now?"

Beasley glanced down at the divorce certificate in his hand. For once, his cold and distant expression softened, just a little. "The meeting's at ten, right?"

"Yes, but as you instructed, I've already asked VP Farris to stand in for you," Xander replied.

Beasley nodded and said nothing more, striding toward the exit. Xander immediately fell in step behind him.

With his job done, Alistair had no reason to follow. He watched respectfully as Beasley got into his car, then headed to his own vehicle—though not before quietly making an international phone call from the driver's seat.

*

Dr. Redmond was a giant in the academic world, with students and admirers everywhere. Though the birthday dinner wouldn't begin until six and wouldn't even be held at the Redmond house, well-wishers had been arriving with gifts since noon.

By the time Willow arrived at two, the garden was already bustling with guests.

Some of them she recognized—like the young woman marching toward her now, bristling with indignation.

"What are you doing here? Do you really think you belong at Dr. Redmond's birthday party?"

Evelyn Windsor's sharp voice cut through the garden before she'd even reached Willow.

Willow paused, her hands steady around the box she'd chosen for Dr. Redmond. She regarded Evelyn calmly—her ex-sister-in-law.

Evelyn was Beasley's cousin, the only daughter of his uncle, and the undisputed darling of the Windsor family.

After all, the Windsors had few children. Beasley was the sole son of the main branch, and Evelyn, the only daughter of the second. Both of them had grown up as the family's pride and joy.