Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 7

Teresa stared at her daughter, startled and speechless.

Emmy held her mother's cool hand and spoke quietly, “Mom, you should keep an eye on Dad from now on. Especially with money—household expenses, the company’s finances, anything like that. Ask about things, get involved. No matter what, it’s always better if you have some money of your own.”

Teresa wasn’t naïve.

Her daughter’s meaning was obvious.

She replayed her husband’s odd behavior from earlier and put it together with things she’d noticed before. Suddenly, she felt like she couldn’t breathe, her chest tight with anxiety.

“Emmy, I understand,” she said, her voice rough.

When Emmy got back to her room, she locked the door behind her.

According to her grandfather’s will, she had shares in Starlight Corporation. But there was a catch—if she wasn’t married by twenty-five, her parents would manage everything for her. If she was married, she’d get forty percent of the control herself.

In her previous life, she’d married Dean the very next day and gotten what was hers. But now the wedding was off, and Dean was out of the question.

That meant she needed to find the right person to marry, fast—before Cooper or Dean could get their hands on her inheritance.

With that thought, Emmy grabbed her phone and scrolled to her friend Abriella’s messages.

[Abriella, are you there?]

She barely hit send before her phone rang. Abriella’s voice was a mix of panic and pure gossip.

“Emmy! The group chat just exploded. Everyone says Dean showed up at your house, called off the wedding, and now he wants to marry Evelina? The girl who’s been staying with you? Is that actually true?!”

Emmy rubbed her temples. “Yeah, it’s true.”

“No freaking way!” Abriella practically shouted. “Is he insane? He’s dumping you for some fake phoney? The guy must be blind!”

“I told you, Dean only acts like a gentleman. Underneath, he’s a snake. Shady, jealous, just not good enough for you! You never listened to me!”

Abriella kept going, letting out all her anger about Dean in a rapid-fire rant.

Emmy felt her eyes burn.

“But I promise you, he’s a good guy—so much better than Dean, who’s all show and no substance.”

Emmy couldn’t help but smile at Abriella’s enthusiasm.

“Could you set up a meeting for us?” Emmy asked.

“Absolutely! I’ll get on it right now. But Emmy, are you really sure about this?”

“I’m sure.” Emmy’s voice was calm and steady. “I need this marriage.”

Abriella went quiet for a few seconds, then her tone turned serious. “Emmy, is Dean calling off the wedding really hitting you that hard? Just promise you’re not doing this out of spite or because you’re upset…”

“It’s not about that,” Emmy said, cutting her off gently. “I know exactly what I’m doing. I’ll explain everything later. Just help me set up the meeting, as soon as possible.”

“Okay, I’ll message you the time and place as soon as I get it set up.”

Abriella was as efficient as always. The details popped up in Emmy’s inbox that same night.