CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: VICTORIA, LET ME LOVE YOU, PLEASE

Upon hearing Julian Fordham’s words, Victoria Monroe was stunned.

She briefly thought she was imagining things—how could such cold words come from Julian Fordham’s mouth?

He personally betrayed his wife and had a child, and now he was pinning the blame on her.

Victoria Monroe couldn’t hold back her anger anymore. She raised her hand and slapped Julian Fordham hard across the face.

"Bastard!"

Julian Fordham grabbed her slender wrist. He stepped forward, pulling her waist tightly to him, drawing her into an inseparable embrace.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Victoria, tell me, who is the man helping you?"

The embrace she once cherished now filled only with disgust. She furrowed her brow tightly. "Whoever it is, it’s none of your business!"

"People are unpredictable. You want to leave my side, but have you thought about what that man seeks in return for helping you unconditionally?"

Victoria Monroe pursed her lips without answering. Julian Fordham continued, "You know what kind of person Dominic Scott is. The people he associates with are either rich or noble. Such people won’t seek money; that leaves only..."

His cold gaze captured Victoria Monroe’s face. Previously her eyes and cheeks had flushed slightly from emotional turmoil.

Paired with that pretty face, she appeared perfect, like a precious work of art.

Her lively self, her aloof self, her tender self—even her furious self—all stirred his heart.

Especially her fragile, pitiful appearance at this moment, which easily aroused a man’s desire for conquest.

"Victoria, you say I’ve been stained by power, but aren’t you also climbing to another noble to escape me? This world is merely a toy of capitalism. You want to flee, but where can you flee to?"

He laid aside all pretense and masks. "Back then, after you rejected President Wang, the director had you dive repeatedly in freezing weather, getting slapped by the lead actress over 30 times. That pain I will remember forever. Back then, I couldn’t protect you completely, so I risked everything to climb upward."

"Yes, I have ambition. What man in this world doesn’t have ambition? Didn’t you fight your way out of a sea of starlets for the position of Best Actress back then? Filming that movie, you lost over twenty pounds. During horseback scenes, you broke several ribs—that’s the price of fame and fortune."

Victoria Monroe never expected that the man who once despised capitalism would one day lecture her from a capitalist angle.

"So your meaning is, I should tolerate your scandals and tacitly allow you to parade around with Rachel Hayes, like those rich madams who turn a blind eye?"

"If I tolerate you once, I’ll lower my standards again and again, eventually to the point of humility. Even if you and Rachel Hayes are just acting today, what about the future? When I’m old and no longer loved by you, where should I go?"

Julian Fordham pressed her head against his chest. "Victoria, this time was just an accident. Once I sign the contract, and Rachel Hayes’s immigration application goes through, she won’t appear before you again. My love for you will never change."

Victoria Monroe found it laughable. "When one Rachel Hayes leaves, there’ll be another woman. No one can stay young forever, yet there will always be someone young. You’ve already been corroded by capitalism; even if it’s true love, with time, it will be devoured clean."

Victoria Monroe lifted her head from his embrace, meeting his gaze directly. "What we want is already different. I’ll only become a stumbling block on your path forward, Julian Fordham, let go."

With his current status, as long as he chooses to marry the daughter of a high-ranking official or noble, combine politics and business, Julian Fordham can climb to the true pinnacle of power.

That’s not something she can give him.

"Victoria, what I have always wanted is only you. Forgive me this time, won’t we be the same as before, alright?" His eyes showed yearning as he leaned down to kiss her neck.

"Don’t touch me..." Victoria Monroe wanted to push him away.

But her strength meant nothing.

Julian Fordham’s hand clasped the back of her head, kissing her fiercely; it wasn’t as tender as before. It was overwhelming, easily shattering the soft resistance of her lips and tongue.

The man’s breath was close, the scent of tobacco and alcohol mixed together, leaving no space as it seized all her senses.

This moment Julian Fordham was no longer humble; he was the ruler bestowing life and death, carving out his territory inch by inch.

So formidable, yet so domineering.

Leaving Victoria Monroe no place to refuse.

Julian Fordham was lost in a drunken haze, both heart and mind swayed.

He didn’t know how high he would climb in the future, but the one thing he was sure of was that he loved Victoria Monroe, and this would never change.

In the arena of fame and fortune, it wasn’t that no one tried to offer him women. Last time on the yacht where wealthy people gathered, the women who made it to that occasion were by no means ordinary.

But no matter how good a figure or beautiful a mixed-race woman undressed before him, he had no reaction.

In nights filled with revelry, everyone was busy cultivating.

While he opened the surveillance video, watching the graceful little woman in a simple white dress, barefoot, holding freshly picked flowers, strolling on the hardwood floor bathed in sunlight.

Only for her did he have uncontrollable desire.

At this moment, his urge to have her reached its peak.

Her small hand gripped his wrist, as Victoria Monroe coldly spoke, "You dare!"

Julian Fordham was drenched in sweat, his voice hoarse, "Honey, no one knows better than me how to please you. You need me."

Victoria Monroe’s red face physiological from his kissing, though her misty eyes carried chill, her lips turned coldly, "I could hire ten male models, each better at pleasing in bed than you."

Julian Fordham’s narrow eyes flashed with danger, "Victoria, provoking me doesn’t benefit you."

Saying this, he gripped the woman’s thigh, lifted her as if holding a child.

She became furious, "Julian Fordham, you bastard, let go of me. We’re getting a divorce! Are you crazy?"

"Victoria, since you involved Dominic Scott, I’ve been crazy. Never attempt to escape me! Never!"

Victoria Monroe was placed on the soft bed, its mattress tenderly enveloped her body from all directions like a blossoming flower.

This was a custom mattress Julian Fordham ordered for her. Growing up, her family was too poor, her bed a makeshift of wooden planks covered with a layer of blackened cotton.

It was hard and lacked warmth, especially during rainy days, also had a damp moldy smell.

When they were dating, she’d snuggle into his embrace, dreaming of a marital home with a huge, soft mattress, feeling like a cloud when you lay on it.

Her little wishes were all satisfied by him.

But today, she felt no joy.

Not to mention whether she wanted to tangle with him or not, biologically, she couldn’t.

She was still pregnant; the decision to undergo an abortion did not mean she could casually trample on this little life.

Her maternal instinct was strong, her hands supported against the mattress, retreating backwards continuously, "Julian Fordham, don’t do this, I don’t want to."

The man by the bed wore a shirt and vest, looking down at her as if seeing a delicious prey.

He single-handedly loosened the tie, shedding some of his refined demeanor for a bit of rakishness. He unbuttoned two buttons, no longer as restrained, nor as noble.

The man’s knee bent slightly, kneeling on the mattress, a smile danced on his lips, both alarming and fearsome.

His voice was light, alluring like a demon, "Victoria, is it because I haven’t served you well that you think about ten male models?"

Victoria Monroe had never seen this side of Julian Fordham, making her feel unfamiliar and scared; her red lips murmured lightly, "Don’t come here, Julian Fordham."

Long fingers clasped her ankle, disregarding her struggles, pulling her beneath himself.

The depth of his jet-black pupils was filled with obsession over her, his Adam’s apple bobbed, "Victoria, let me love you, won’t you..."