Veiled Auction Queen: Bidding For His Ex-Wife's Heart

Emilia pressed her teeth into her lower lip and inhaled slowly before speaking. "Do you actually know anything about the law? Forcing your way into someone's home is against it."

Daniel showed no sign that her words mattered to him. He rose to his feet, and his height alone made him feel overpoweringly imposing.

When he advanced a step, she instinctively retreated.

In that instant, the presence around him turned sharply threatening.

Her first instinct was to bolt, but his hand closed around her wrist and jerked her backward roughly.

He shoved her against the wall and trapped both of her hands there.

Tilting her chin up, Emilia locked eyes with him, anger burning fiercely in her gaze. "What exactly do you want?"

He looked straight at her, noticing that her appearance had changed compared with five years earlier; she had grown more refined and striking.

In those days, she never touched cosmetics, yet now the faintest makeup made her look effortlessly breathtaking.

Her eyes had changed. The warmth that once appeared whenever she looked at him was gone, replaced by coldness and resentment.

The way she regarded him sent a brief sting through his chest. He despised seeing that expression directed at him.

"Why were you running?" he demanded while looming over her. "You vanished without a single word five years ago. Don't you think I deserve an explanation?"

She met his stare with open defiance. "You seriously don't know why I left? You were in love with Isabel, so I divorced you to let you be with her. Or is that still not enough for you?"

His brows drew together sharply as anger crept into his gaze. "What made you believe I loved Isabel?"

"Oh? If it isn't Isabel, then who is it you love? Me?" she shot back loudly.

The whole thing struck her as absurd. He might never have openly admitted it, yet everyone already knew he was devoted to Isabel. For her birthday he had even reserved an entire venue and launched a breathtaking fireworks display just for her.

Emilia had personally witnessed the way he treated Isabel as though she were the most precious person alive, indulging her in everything, keeping her constantly at his side, and appearing together everywhere day after day.

She had also been convinced the two of them were already married.

In her mind, Isabel had become his wife, and he had even given Isabel her heirloom diamond bracelet merely to please her.

Because of that, she refused to believe a single word of his claim that he wasn't in love with Isabel.

Inside, she sneered at him, thinking he seemed unaware that some truths didn't require spoken confession for others to grasp them.

She twisted sharply, pulling her hand out of his grip.

His eyes hardened into a chilling glare, and he offered no reply to what she had asked.

She continued, "Do you need me to remind you that we're already divorced? Your wife is Isabel, yet you barged into my home. Aren't you worried she'll lose her temper if she hears about this?"

Each sentence she spoke dripped with biting sarcasm, and her stare was as piercing as ever.

Daniel felt as though the woman before him was nothing like the one he once knew.

He admitted to himself that he had always been generous toward Isabel; they had once been together, though the relationship had ultimately failed and ended long ago.

After marrying Emilia, however kindly he still treated Isabel, he had never crossed the line into betraying his wife. That was why he couldn't comprehend why Emilia carried such resentment.

What angered him even more was that she had terminated the pregnancy over something he considered insignificant and then disappeared for five entire years.

The mere memory of the abortion set his temper blazing.

He believed she had absolutely no right to make that decision without telling him.

He said in a frigid tone, "Haven't you stirred up enough chaos already? Who allowed you to get an abortion back then?"

Inside, Emilia released a silent, mocking scoff, realizing that in his mind everything she had done amounted to nothing more than causing chaos.

Disappointment in both him and their marriage weighed heavily on her. She no longer wanted anything to do with him.

She pulled the door open. "Leave."

"Answer what I asked," Daniel ordered sharply.

"I wanted a divorce, and I chose to end the pregnancy. So what? There was never any love between us, was there? You never cared about us at all. Why would I stay with you and endure your contempt?" Emilia said sharply.

His expression darkened. He couldn't understand how she had developed such profound misconceptions about him.

In his mind, he had never stopped caring about her or their unborn child.

"Get out," Emilia said coldly. "You're not welcome here."

Daniel inclined his head slightly. "That's fine, but you won't be running away from me anymore."

Her face darkened. "What do you want?"

"You know exactly why I'm here. Come back to Zloigas with me," he said.

"Not happening," she snapped.

She tried to break away, yet escape proved impossible; he hauled her back against him and held her tightly. "Did you really think I'd just let you walk away once I finally found you? You're not getting away again."

His gaze turned glacial, and his voice matched it in cold sharpness.

Without saying anything else, he dragged her straight outside, into the elevator, and down to the lobby, where his car was already waiting beyond the apartment building.

Several of his men had the area surrounded.

He pushed her toward the vehicle and forced her into the back seat.

"You jerk!" she shouted.

After she was inside, he climbed in beside her.

A cold smile curled across his lips. "And what about you? Aren't you just as terrible?"

"What did you just say?" Emilia demanded.

"You divorced me, ended our child's life, disappeared for five years without giving me even a single chance to explain, and left everyone who cared about you worrying themselves sick all that time. Of course that makes you a terrible woman," Daniel said.

Inside, Emilia laughed bitterly at his accusation.

After her mother passed away, there had been no one left in Zloigas who truly cared about her.

Daniel reached out and drew her firmly against him. "Do you remember my grandfather? You vanished without a word. He spent five years worrying about you and even became seriously ill because of it. Don't you feel even the slightest guilt?"

At the mention of Danny, Emilia stiffened. The old man had always treated her kindly. Over the past five years, thoughts of him had crossed her mind more than once.

Yet she knew without doubt that everything between her and Daniel had already ended permanently.

Whether it was Daniel or Danny, she was certain neither of them would ever allow her to raise Daniel's children by herself.

She couldn't risk letting them learn about the kids, and she could never bear being separated from them. That was why she couldn't go back.

"Drive," Daniel commanded.

The driver turned the ignition at once and pulled the car into motion.

A heavy wave of despair settled over Emilia.

Once he decided he was taking her back, she knew there was no chance of slipping away.

Even so, something from their earlier exchange made her realize he still had no idea about the children. That realization brought her a small measure of relief.

As long as their existence remained unknown, the situation was at least somewhat manageable, so for now she would deal with whatever came as it happened.

At that moment, a ringtone suddenly broke the silence.

Emilia stiffened immediately, her nerves jumping; she reached toward her pocket but found it empty, and when she glanced down she noticed the phone lying on the seat where it had fallen during the scuffle.

She hurried to grab it, but a broad hand seized it before her fingers could reach it.

Daniel's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the caller ID glowing on the screen.

The name displayed was Asher.

A tremor ran through her, and she lunged forward, trying to take it back. "Give it to me."

He lifted his arm higher, keeping the device well beyond her reach.

"Sit down," he said in a cold voice.

Watching how agitated she had become, he decided he would see exactly who the caller was, since the name Asher clearly sounded like a man.

He accepted the call without hesitation.