Chapter 714 Never Show Your Face to Me Again 1
It was past midnight, and the city's neon lights were fading into the dark.
A sleek black limousine rolled to a stop in front of the club. The door swung open and a small entourage stepped out. At the center, framed by the others, was a young woman in a white cocktail dress. She was strikingly beautiful, her long bare legs gleaming under the streetlights.
Elliot remembered those legs—how they had once been wrapped around him until the first light of morning.
Back then, he was young, hot-blooded, and relentless.
Molly Lavien.
Elliot's gaze was cold as it settled on his former lover—no, his former con artist. She had gotten what she wanted. She was a star now. And he... he had stopped believing in love the day she sold him out for a million dollars. Looking at her now, all dressed in white with that innocent face, he felt nothing but disgust.
His stare was bold enough to draw the attention of the staff. One of them frowned. "Sir, no photographs, please."
Molly's assistant stepped forward, hand outstretched, demanding to check his phone.
Molly glanced over, her eyes following the commotion. And then she froze. It had been years since they last met—back when they were both young and unguarded. Now, he was a man, sharp-edged and commanding.
Her lips parted. "Elliot..."
The assistant didn't hear her. She was used to throwing her weight around, hiding behind Molly's celebrity status. Searching some stranger's phone was nothing to her. Elliot didn't flinch. He kept his eyes on Molly as he handed the phone over without a word.
No passcode. The screen lit up instantly.
The wallpaper was a photograph—an eighteen-year-old Molly, kneeling on a hotel bed in lingerie, hair damp, eyes smoldering.
The assistant's voice was still sharp. "Figures. A man like you, carrying around filth like this—"
She stopped mid-sentence. Her face drained of color. She knew exactly who was in that photo.
Elliot took the phone back without looking at her. He stepped forward until he was standing over Molly, his shadow falling across her pale face. His voice was low and glacial, each word cutting like glass.
"I believe I told you never to show your face to me again. Did you forget? Or are you short on cash and back to selling yourself?"
Molly's lips trembled, but no sound came out. The assistant shifted beside her, ready to speak, but one look at Elliot's expression silenced her.
At that moment, Jacob emerged from the club with a group of people. His eyes flicked from Elliot to Molly, and something in his gaze said he understood.
"Let's go home," Jacob said simply.
Elliot didn't move. His eyes never left Molly.
Jacob glanced toward Serafina.
Serafina, Elliot's sister-in-law and one of the few people who could speak to him without fear, stepped forward. She touched his arm lightly, her voice soft and coaxing, "Elliot, let's go home. There's cake waiting. Mom, Dad, and Abigail are all there."
Only then did Elliot shift his weight.
But before he turned away, he gave Molly one last look. His voice was cold, but there was something darker beneath it. "I wonder, Molly. Has there ever been one moment in your life—just one—when you regretted what you did?"
"I haven't!" she blurted out, too quickly, as if afraid that hesitation might betray her.
Under the neon glow, she was no longer the dazzling star adored by fans. In Elliot's eyes, she was stripped bare, her poise shattered. She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze.
He was not the boy she once knew. And she no longer had the courage to really look at him.
Any woman in the world might have a chance with him—any woman but her. Molly knew she never would again.
He hated her.
That was why he had made that photo his phone's wallpaper. Why he left his phone unlocked, letting anyone see it. Four years ago, she had been his treasure. Now, she was his warning.
The Windsor family left together.
A single tear slid from the corner of Molly's eye.
Her assistant stepped closer, still stunned. "Wasn't that the CEO of the Windsor Group? And the man with him—his brother? They look so much alike. Molly... did you used to date someone from the Windsor family?"
She couldn't be mistaken. That photo had been taken after sex.
Just then, something tightened deep inside Molly.