I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father
Chapter 73: Gold Digging Whore

Chapter 73: Gold Digging Whore

The trunk of Chris’s sleek, black sedan felt like a claustrophobic coffin, but they had been able to drive out of the house without the paparazzi knowing, so Levi endured the discomfort.

Every bump in the road sent a jolt through his body, a stark reminder of the desperate measures he was willing to take just to escape the prying eyes of the paparazzi and get Lyse.

The relentless pursuit of his every move had become unbearable, a constant shadow that threatened to consume his life. He could only imagine how Lyse must feel, she had been abruptly thrust into this sort of life.

When they got far enough from the house, Chris stopped the car and opened the trunk so that Levi could sit in the passenger side.

As they pulled up to James’s apartment building, a familiar sight greeted them: a swarm of paparazzi, their cameras flashing like fireflies in the twilight. Levi’s heart sank. He had been so focused on getting out of his house that he had failed to think about how to deal with the paparazzi that were waiting at James’s apartment.

"So what do we do now?" Chris asked as they watched the rowdy crowd from a safe distance, then he tried to lighten the mood. "I don’t fancy we can drive up into the apartment with you in the trunk can we?"

Levi racked through his brain as he tried to figure out how they would pass this hurdle. He looked around as if the answers lay on the street, then he caught sight of a bus with a large sign emblazoned on the side.

"I have an idea." He said to Chris.

A few minutes later, after parting with some money and now dressed as building maintenance workers, their faces obscured by pulled-down caps. Levi and Chris slipped into the building, blending seamlessly with the environment as they walked past the photographers who ignored them. The ruse was a desperate gamble, but it worked. They reached James’s apartment without incident.

After James let them in, the tension was palpable. Lyse glared at James as if he had betrayed her when he made some excuses so that he could leave them alone to iron out their issues.

"Lyse," Levi said gently. "Why did you leave the house without telling anyone? I was worried about you."

Lyse sneered at him and said nothing while Chris awkwardly looked at anywhere but the feuding couple. He wished that he could also escape like James had because the atmosphere felt too tense.

When Lyse did not answer him, Levi continued. "I need you to come back home with me."

"You, of all people, have the audacity to tell me what to do?" she spat, her voice laced with venom. "I don’t think you need me for this marriage when you would obviously rather be with Anya."

"I don’t want Anya!" Levi burst out harshly and Lyse scoffed.

"Could have fooled me." She muttered loudly enough for him to hear.

"It was all a set up, Anya came unto me and I tried to push her away. I did not realize someone was taking pictures." He tried to explain but his words fell on deaf ears. Lyse was blinded by anger, her judgment clouded by the perceived betrayal.

"You know what, Levi?" she sneered. "I am not going anywhere with you. Not after you have humiliated me. You can have all that you gave me, give it to your mistress. Do whatever you want, but I am done!"

Levi stiffened at her words then he stood up and stared at her from across the room. "I am sorry Lyse but you can’t do that." He said, his tone no longer soft and beseeching.

He had been begging her, trying to get her to see reason but she had stuck to what she believed. He never begged anyone, ever. And he had thrown his pride away and lowered himself enough to plead with her, but he would no longer be playing that game.

"Why can’t I do that?" Lyse yelled angrily at him. "Is it because I owe you? Well, I am going to pay back every single thing you spent on me."

Looking unperturbed by her fit and still looking at her, Levi spoke to Chris.

"It seems that my darling wife did not read the fine print on the contract she signed." He said calmly. "Chris, could you please explain to her why she will not be able to just leave."

Chris mentally groaned as Lyse’s gaze swung to him, her expression suspicious.

He cleared his throat and said, "Lyse, you have agreed that if you decided to back out of the marriage before the completion then you would have to pay a fee to Levi."

"What fee?" Lyse asked so softly that they almost did not hear her.

"The fee for breaking the contract." Chris took a deep breath then continued, "The fee is five million dollars and it must be paid within a week after you indicate your intention to back out of the contract."

The threat hung heavy in the air. Lyse’s expression hardened, a silent battle raging within her. In the end, the fear of financial ruin outweighed her pride and anger.

Her gaze swung back to Levi and she stared at him with so much hate in her eyes, that he wanted to let her go without demanding the fee. He could not bear the thought of her hating him. Then he remembered the reason that the marriage was so important in the first place and his resolve strengthened.

He stared back at her, knowing that she was trapped. There was no way that she would be able to come up with that money in a week. She was tied to him whether she liked it or not.

Abruptly, Lyse started to laugh until tears ran down her cheeks. "Good one." She said when she was able to catch her breath.

"This is not a joke." Chris said, perplexed at her reaction while Levi continued to look at her carefully.

"Fine," she growled, her voice barely a whisper. "I will go with you and stay in this damned marriage. But know this, Levi. I hate you."

With a heavy heart, Levi accepted her grudging agreement.

"Before we leave, i just want to say that you both need to present a united happy front to the world." Chris interjected, "Also Lyse, could you find something better that you could change into?"

It felt like Lyse would incinerate him with her eyes but surprisingly, she did not protest and simply went into the room while Levi’s eyes remained on her.

"You slept with her." Chris said matter of factly and when Levi did not answer he ran his hand through his hair in frustration before coming to stand before Levi who was pulling off the maintenance worker’s overalls.

"This was supposed to be a business deal, sleeping with her is muddying the waters!" He spoke in exasperation.

But Levi simply moved away from him and looked out the window at the waiting paparazzi, while Chris stared at him in frustration.

He did not like how complicated everything was going, he knew that the smallest thing could ruin their plans. He wanted to shake Levi and remind him of what was at stake.

A little while later, Lyse came back looking pretty in a dress and her hair no longer in a messy ponytail while her face had brightened up thanks to makeup.

James came out with her and glared at Levi then said, "You need to treat my girl right or else I am going to be a problem."

As Chris opened his mouth to speak, Levi placed a hand on his forearm and shook his head to restrain him.

As they left the apartment, Lyse maintained a distance from him but when they got close to the exit, she slipped her hand in his and Levi felt his heart leap at the contact even though he kept his counternance neutral.

Together they walked out of the building, hand in hand, a facade of unity. The paparazzi stumbled over themselves to capture the moment, their lenses capturing a scene that belied the truth. A forced smile, a hollow gesture, a desperate attempt to maintain the illusion of a perfect couple.

Meanwhile, Sutton who had been sitting with her phone and happily devouring all the articles that discussed Levi and Lyse’s doomed marriage, was thrown in a fit of rage and disbelief when she saw a picture of Lyse and Levi holding hands and smiling happily.

She checked the date in disbelief and realized that the pictures had been taken scant minutes before. In a fit of rage she threw the phone against the wall and watched as it fell to the ground.

’I should have known that it would take more than mere cheating for that desperate gold digging whore to leave Levi.’

She realized that she was going to have to do more than create cheating scandals to destroy that marriage.