The Ex and Her Riches novel (Gwendolyn and Maverick)

Whitney clenched her fists, as her already sour mood worsened further.

Though she tried to restrain herself, she couldn’t help exploding in the end. “Charles Newton, am I a terrible person

to you? You always insult me and put me down no matter what I do. If you really think I don’t match up to your

status, why did you marry me back then? You should have approached a wealthy family’s daughter like Jessamyn.”

Charles eyed her with a strange look. “What’s wrong with you? Did you experience trouble at work? Why are you

lashing out at me for that?”

After a short pause, he realized something and added, “You’re getting bold, huh? Did you just call me by my full

name?”

He reached out and pinched Whitney’s cheek, exerting some force as if punishing her.

The faint pain aggravated Whitney’s anger, and she slapped his hand away.

Her reddened eyes were misty with tears as she said, “You’re taking advantage of my affection for you and bullying

me as much as you like. Yes, I like you now, so I’ll bear with it. But if I stop liking you in the future, I won’t allow you

to pick on me again!”

Hearing that, Charles frowned. As he scrutinized her aggrieved expression, he was perplexed.

The pair stared at each other for a long time before Charles finally broke the silence and asked, “What is up with

you? You’re so confrontational today. I was just joking; how is that bullying you?”

Whitney grew increasingly distressed as she listened to Charles, bitterness spreading in her heart. She pointed at

her face and retorted, “You pinched my cheek, and it’s red now. You don’t think that’s bullying me?”

We’re married. Even though I’m only his wife in name, he should keep his distance from other women. No wonder

he comes to my company every day lately; it turns out he’s here to meet his lover. He just picks me up because I

happen to work here.

At that thought, Whitney felt suffocated. She bit her lip hard and lowered her head, trying to process the scene she

had just witnessed.

Clueless about what was going on in her mind, Charles gazed at her cheek and noticed it had indeed turned red.

The rosy color on her face, along with her grumpy pout, made her look adorable.

Arching his brow, Charles was once again overcome with the urge to tease her. “There’s no mirror in front of you.

How do you know it’s red? Maybe it turned red because you’re mad.”

“I know it’s red because it hurts,” Whitney grumbled and turned her face to the side while quickly wiping her eyes.

Charles paused upon noticing her actions. “Are you crying?”

“No!”

It’s obvious from her nasally voice that she’s crying.

Feeling guilty, Charles leaned over and moved his face closer. “I’ll let you pinch me back. How about that?”

Whitney turned around at that.

It wasn’t in her character to sit back and do nothing after being offended by others, so she was actually tempted to

take up his offer.

“Will you get back at me if I really pinch you?”

“No.”

She’s a lady; how strong could she possibly be? It would be unmanly of me to get back at her after asking her to

pinch me.

Just as Charles was thinking of that, Whitney plucked up her courage to give his cheek a hard pinch.

“Ow…”

Charles scrunched his brows and hissed in pain as annoyance surged through him.

To his surprise, Whitney was strong. His face had gone numb from that one pinch alone.

“Why did you pinch me so hard?” he demanded, his low voice thick with displeasure.

Whitney knew it was time to stop and thus rescinded her hand in time. At the sight of the dark red mark on Charles’

face, she immediately felt much better.

“You were the one who said I could pinch you. Is there a restriction on how much strength I can use? Besides, I

didn’t exert much strength. Don’t forget. You also said you won’t get back at me.”

Charles was stumped for words. After all, he did promise not to retaliate.

Despite his numb and throbbing face, he suppressed his annoyance and the urge to take revenge. “So, can you tell

me why you’re in a bad mood now? Who made you upset at work?”

Whitney shook her head. She had no intention of acting like a petty tattletale or troubling him with such an issue. It

would only earn her another scolding.

“No one made me upset at work, and I’m not in a bad mood.”

“Liar,” Charles responded gloomily before starting the car and driving out of the basement parking.

Whitney didn’t bother defending herself.

As they sat in the car without saying a word, the atmosphere turned so tense that one could cut through it with a

knife.

Throughout the journey, Whitney faced the window and watched the streets fade past her view.

The scene at the parking lot earlier continued to replay in her mind.

After a long deliberation, Whitney realized she might have crossed the line.

They had entered a one-year marriage contract, but she was too greedy to want more from it. Now, she was even

upset because he was acting intimately with another woman.

In spite of her efforts to hold herself back, she still ended up asking, “Who was the woman you were talking to in

the parking lot earlier?”

“What woman?”

Charles had almost forgotten about the insignificant episode from earlier. It was only when Whitney brought it up

that he thought back on it and answered, “I think she’s from the logistics department you work in.”

Logistics department?

Logistics department?

Whitney tried to recall the faces of the colleagues in her department one by one.

“Who from the logistics department?”

“I don’t remember.”

Charles did not even pay attention to what the woman was saying, let alone find out what her name was.

Observing how natural and nonchalant his expression was, Whitney suddenly felt relieved.

Maybe they just ran into each other and exchanged greetings. Did I overthink and misunderstand him?

While she was reflecting on herself, Charles continued, “She claimed her car wouldn’t start and used that as an

excuse to ask me to give her a ride. Crafty, but not smart enough. You’re more foolish than her, though.”

Whitney was flabbergasted by his sudden change in subject. He might as well sew his mouth shut if he’s so bad at

talking!

Her doubts over wrongfully accusing Charles disappeared in an instant, and she snapped, “What does that have to

do with me? Do you always have to involve me and attack me in every conversation we have?”

Charles snorted, unfazed. “I was just telling the truth.”

In her dejection, Whitney moved closer to the car door and further away from him.

Charles was driving quite casually when his face suddenly turned solemn as if something just occurred to him.

“You’ve been acting strange since you got into the car. Is it because of this? Are you jealous?”

“No,” denied Whitney awkwardly. “I know my place. I’m just your secret contract wife for one year, so I shouldn’t

get jealous and bring unnecessary trouble for you.”

“It’s good that you know,” Charles replied right away without thinking.

Eyes dimming, Whitney looked down and kept quiet.

The mood in the car turned cold once again until Charles’ ringing phone shattered the silence.

When he saw the name Gwen on the caller ID, he put on a serious expression and cleared his throat before

answering the call via his Bluetooth earphones.

Whitney also noticed the caller ID.

She had heard from Jasmine about a childhood sweetheart whom Charles held great affection for and couldn’t

forget about. “Gwen” happened to be part of this person’s name.

While pretending not to care, Whitney secretly perked up her ears to listen.

The moment the call was connected, Charles said in a gentle tone, “What’s up, Gwen?”

What answered him, however, was not Gwendolyn’s voice.