?Chapter 696:

    Her perfume drifted up, sweet yet synthetic. He recoiled slightly, the scent grating against his senses. It couldn’tpete with the natural fragrance that lingered in his memory—Christina’s.

    Still oblivious, Besty looked up with adoring eyes, caught in the fantasy she had spun for herself. She purred, her voice dipped in velvet, “Don’t be mad. Want to y something naughty?”

    She leaned in, lips parted, ready to im his mouth—but Terrence moved like lightning. Without a word, his hand mped around her throat, and in an instant, he flung her to the side.

    A shriek tore from her lips as she crashed to the floor. Shaken, she blinked through welling tears, cradling her hand where it had struck the ground. Her breath caught as she stared at him, stunned. This wasn’t the Terrence she had known. The man she adored had fire—but never for her. Not like this.

    Besty looked up at Terrence. “Terrence.” The single word came out breathless, heavy with unspoken desperation.

    Besty sank her teeth into her bottom lip, frustration eating away at her from the inside. Tears gathered in her eyes like storm clouds.

    In the past, all she had to do was look sad and broken, and Terrence would have moved heaven and earth to make her feel better.

    She could still remember that night when some sleazy bastard tried to put his hands on her. Before she could even scream, Terrence had already grabbed the guy and beaten him bloody. She had been shaking like a leaf afterward, but Terrence pulled her close and whispered sweet, gentle words in her ear until her fear melted away.

    It didn’t matter what the situation was. If someone pissed her off or made her unhappy, Terrence would make them pay for it. She had gotten addicted to that kind of affection—to being the center of his protective rage.

    So what had changed? Why was everything falling apart now? The truth hit her like a p to the face. She had never really known Terrence at all.

    A cocktail of hurt and sadness churned in Besty’s chest, but underneath it all, warning bells were going off in her head. There had to be something she was missing, some piece of the puzzle that exined why he had turned into apletely different person overnight.

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    The thought made her stomach drop like a stone. Maybe another woman had crawled into his bed and stolen his attention. That possibility sent panic shooting through her veins like ice water.

    Her hands balled into fists without her even thinking about it, and something dark and twisted flickered behind her eyes. There was no way anyone was taking Terrence from her. Not now, not ever. She couldn’t lose him. He was everything to her, and without him, she was nothing.

    As that realization sank in, something cold and ruthless took root in her heart. Anyone stupid enough to try to take Terrence from her—man or woman, it didn’t matter—she’d make them wish they had never been born. She’d destroy them piece by piece.

    Terrence shot to his feet without warning, towering over Besty like a dark storm cloud. His eyes burned with barely contained irritation, but underneath that…

    Beneath the surface anger, something much more primal was stirring. He needed to release the tension coiled tight in his body.

    “You.” The word came out rough and gravelly, as if he were restraining an imminent surge of desire. “Crawl over here.”

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