Chapter 495
A woman in her sixties, yet her grasp on reality was weaker than a toddler’s.
Why on earth would anyone willingly marry someone whose family was this thoroughly rotten? Let alone someone like Rex. Let alone the Wilkinson family.
Rex’s future wife didn’t necessarily need to be a political asset, but she absolutely could not be a liability—someone who would drag him and the entire Wilkinson empire through the mud.
Back in college, when Laurel Wilkinson had first sought her out, Tanya’s pride had been shattered. She had been naive and stupid enough to wonder why something as trivial as family background meant she and Rex belonged in two completely different universes.
But after navigating the real world for years, she understood completely. If she were Laurel, she would have done the exact same thing.
Rex lowered his gaze, catching the bitter, self-deprecating smile that flickered across Tanya’s face. He didn’t comment on it, instead turning to Sheila with an apologetic expression. “Ma’am, I have to apologize again. I’m nowhere near as rich as you think I am.”
He offered a sincere, utterly helpless shrug. “I just work a 9-to-5.”
Disappointment washed over Sheila. Refusing to give up, she turned her pleading eyes back to Tanya. Tanya just looked away, sending a message clearer than words.
Sheila wiped at her tears, staring at Rex for a long moment before finally whispering, “Please… don’t take what her father said to heart. Tanya is a good girl. Just… treat her right.”
With that, she scurried back to the house.
Tanya watched her mother’s slightly hunched back disappear through the door, a microscopic sneer tugging at her lips. She wanted to suck her daughter dry, yet still desperately craved the role of the loving mother. Human nature was such a twisted paradox.
A cool autumn breeze swept through the street, bringing a biting chill. Rex licked his lips, fishing for something to say. “Actually, she really does care about you…”
“Mr. Rex.” Tanya’s patience for him was practically nonexistent tonight. Her striking eyes were devoid of any warmth. “This is my family. Are you entirely sure yours would ever sign off on this?”
A brother who gambled and drank his life into constant, bottomless debt. And parents who would hunt her down to the ends of the earth to pay for it.
Rex stiffened slightly. “I can afford the money.”
sn’t a child; she could see
Tanya wasn’t
right through his slick deflection. He
could easily afford whatever the
vel
Foster family demanded. Two million today, twenty million
tomorrow-it was chump change to hite But the only thing he could offer her was money. Marriage was completely off the table.
Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, she marched straight toward where she’d parked. Just before sliding into the driver’s seat, she turned back. and met his gaze dead-on. “Rex, you and both know that what your şişter did back then was the right call.”
FindNovel.net
“So stop trying to walk down a path that was doomed from the start.” She was that doomed path. A dead end he had no business exploring.
For the first time in forever, she hadn’t mockingly called him ‘Mr. Rex.’ She had used his actual name. That alone made this entire trip worth it.
Rex closed the distance in three long strides, threw open the back door, slid inside, and buckled his seatbelt with practiced ease. “Any path I choose to walk is the right one.”
Tanya stood outside the car, entirely unimpressed by his cinematic declaration. She frowned. “Where did you learn to be such a shameless prick?”
Rex flashed her a brilliant smile. “Start the car. Dinner’s on me.”
A fleeting image of Rowan Murphy crossed Tanya’s mind. Birds of a feather truly flocked together.
Getting into the driver’s seat, she
met his eyes in the rearview mirret
and fired back a sugary smile. “Sure. I actually have a friend nearby. Mind footing the bill for him too
“Not at all,” Rex agreed without missing a beat.
But ten minutes later, when he saw the oblivious bastard sliding into the passenger
seat, Rex’s handsome face instantly turned black as thunder.