His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus) novel Chapter 784

“Master!”

Above his head, the anguished cry of Lily tore through the silence.

Jareth’s trembling eyelids shot open, and his pupils which harbored an impending storm were constricted further.

Atop the diving platform of the swimming complex, Lily, with her hands tightly bound by coarse rope, and a gun pressed against her head by Jackson, perched precariously on the edge of the platform.

Below her toes was a terrifying drop, for the pool beneath was bone dry.

“Lily!”

Jareth's white shirt, stained with blood, was drenched in cold sweat. He took two steps forward, but Jackson aimed the gun squarely at him to force him back!

“Master, I’m so sorry.” Lily's eyes were brimmed with tears, and her voice was choked with emotion.

Jareth gazed deeply at her, unblinking, “No, you’ve never wronged me, nor do you owe anyone an apology. Lily, it’s I who have brought this upon you. I am the one who should be sorry.”

Lily’s heart clenched painfully.

She had weathered the fiercest storms by her master's side, so she feared nothing—not demons nor monsters—except for her master's apologies.

“Where’s Marilla?” Jareth’s voice was icy.

Gary leisurely picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button.

From a pitch-dark area on the left came a rumbling sound.

Jareth had his eyes swiftly turned, only to see a massive glass tank on a cart slowly wheel before him.

With a loud clang, the cart’s wheels retracted, and the intricately crafted tank settled into its designated spot.

Through the clear glass, Marilla, who was unconscious, had her wrists shackled in iron and was suspended inside. Her once-pure white dress was marred with filth and bloodstains—she was like a broken doll, violated and trampled upon, now cruelly displayed in a shop window for all to see.

In an instant, every suspicious detail in his mind clicked together.

He came to understand why Marilla was always so terrified of Edith, why she had been home-schooled for so long, too afraid to return to school, and why her nightmares were filled with words he couldn’t understand.

He prided himself on being the person who loved her most in the world.

Yet it seemed he had never truly entered the wounded landscape of her heart.

Never had he truly rescued her from that nightmarish existence.

A single tear, heavy with guilt, silently rolled down Jareth’s cheek. He struggled to control his emotions, which were on the brink of collapse, as he negotiated with the devil that was Gary:

“Gary, you simply want revenge on me, and to settle a score. Release Marilla and Lily, and you can do with me as you will!”

Gary let out a harsh laugh, “Jareth, your life isn’t as valuable as you think. I am is a businessman, and I don’t make bad deals. Make a choice, your life can only save one of them. One stays, the other goes. One lives, the other dies. The choice is yours.”