CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 176 - 148: Love Is Perfect with Him (Part 2)

However, she didn’t tell him—someone else did.

She had just finished speaking when his phone rang. She didn’t know what the caller said, but his face suddenly darkened, a deep anguish washing over it. Then, he hung up and stormed out.

The pained look in his eyes as he left made her heart ache. She quickly got up and said to Joy, "Joy, be a good girl and play by yourself for a minute. Mommy’s going to go check on Daddy!"

Joy nodded earnestly. She must have noticed that her daddy was upset, too.

Naomi Shaw stood and chased after him, finally catching up to him in the hospital’s underground parking garage. Seeing that he was losing control and about to get in his car to drive away, she rushed over and threw her arms around him. "Julian, how can you drive when you’re this emotional?"

Julian Donovan stopped reaching for the car door. Looking defeated, he leaned against the car and let her hold him. "Naomi," he said, his voice desolate, "how could she be that kind of person? How could she be so despicable? I thought she was just ruthless, but I never imagined she..."

Julian Donovan trailed off, unable to continue. The call had been from Wendy Lowe. Wendy Lowe had laughed smugly over the phone. "Julian Donovan, I didn’t realize you could be so ruthless, treating Juliet Jennings like that!"

He snorted but said nothing. Wendy Lowe continued his sinister laughter from the other end. "In fact, what you’re doing to her now is still too merciful! Did you know? Back then, all I had to do was give her a little hint, and that very night, she climbed into my bed! Heh heh, it was never about her being forced to leave you because of the ’casting couch.’ She was just so vain that she made up an excuse to dump you!"

A blow like this wasn’t fatal to Julian Donovan, but it was enough to make him despise himself—despise that he had ever fallen in love with a woman like Juliet Jennings. Especially since Wendy Lowe had also said that he wasn’t her only man. Apparently, she would find a way to seduce anyone who could even slightly help her acting career, using her body to trade for the roles or glory she wanted.

’How could this be?’

’How could this be?’

’The first woman I ever loved was that despicable? And for a woman like that, I hurt Naomi Shaw for so many years.’ His heart was a maelstrom of regret, anguish, guilt, and remorse, tearing him apart. ’Wendy Lowe was right. The punishment Juliet Jennings received was far from enough. I want her dead, to never be reincarnated!’

He tightened his arms around her slender frame. "Naomi, I’m sorry, so sorry. I deserve to die! I really do!"

Naomi Shaw had already guessed from his words what was causing him so much guilt and self-blame. She raised a hand to gently rub his back, comforting him. "Julian, don’t blame yourself. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with someone when you’re young..."

But Julian Donovan wouldn’t listen. He stubbornly pressed his forehead against her shoulder, his voice filled with pain. "Naomi, I’ve made you suffer so much all these years!"

He once thought love was like a moth to a flame: falling for someone, going crazy for them, going wild for them, and disregarding everything else.

But reality later taught him that love was this: being able to hold each other tenderly after enduring countless hardships together.

Naomi Shaw didn’t say anything more, simply letting him hold her and allowing his turbulent emotions to slowly subside.

Julian Donovan knew why Wendy Lowe had called him after what he’d done to Juliet Jennings. He wanted to use the truth about Juliet to crush him emotionally. After all, discovering a woman he once loved was so vile would be a massive blow to any man, let alone a woman who had also caused his family’s ruin.

Holding her tightly, feeling the tenacious strength in her slender frame, his emotions gradually settled. He was grateful for this gentle woman who had stood silently behind him all these years, offering him tender comfort and unyielding strength, whether he was impoverished and destitute upon first arriving in Thailos, or after he had achieved success and become the head of the Thailos Mafia.

He was grateful she was always there.

Grateful she had borne him children.

Grateful that she loved him.

Grateful that she let him love her, even if he was still on probation.

Naomi Shaw felt the panic and turmoil in his heart. The parking garage was vast and quiet. Cars entered and exited occasionally, but as if unwilling to disturb the deeply embracing couple, they all seemed to slow down, doing their best not to make a sound.

Julian really wanted to take Naomi Shaw for a drive to clear his head, but considering their precious princess, Joy, was still in the hospital, he had to give up the idea. He released her from their kiss and murmured an invitation, "After Joy’s injury has healed, let’s leave Joy and Dylan with my mom. What do you say we go on a trip, just the two of us?"

A trip with both kids as a family of four would be lovely, but right now, what he wanted most was to be alone with her. He wanted to understand her more, to devote more of his love to her and her alone.

As for the children, they would have plenty of time to spend with them later.

Naomi Shaw protested from the comfort of his arms, "Why not bring them? I can’t bear to leave the children..."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and nibbled playfully at her earlobe. "Because they’d be major third wheels. For instance, when I want to kiss you, or when I want you... I’d have to hold back!"

Naomi Shaw’s face flushed as she pushed him away. "Can’t you think about anything decent for a change!"

He tilted his head with a smile, his dark eyes brimming with adoration. "Something decent?"

"Then quit the Donovan Group, okay?"

His tone was dead serious. He couldn’t stand her working under Sean Donovan for even one more day. He couldn’t even bear the thought of it.

Naomi Shaw bit her lip, hesitating. "Julian, don’t force me..."

Although a series of recent events had made her wary of Sean Donovan, she had never really thought about resigning from the Donovan Group. In her mind, business was business, and personal matters were personal matters.

Julian Donovan was displeased. "Fine, don’t quit. The Donovan Group will be mine sooner or later anyway!"

’It seemed he would have to accelerate his plan to acquire the Donovan Group, if only for her sake. Once the company belonged to him, it wouldn’t matter where she was working.’

"Arrogant!"

Naomi Shaw chided him with a smile. She no longer felt sorry for Sean Donovan because of Julian’s plan to acquire the Donovan Group. People were strange sometimes. No matter how good Sean Donovan was to her, her heart still unconsciously leaned toward Julian Donovan.