Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1487

James's expression sank drastically as he forcefully yanked Emmy behind him. He threw up his other arm, blocking Shelly's lunging body. Shelly was shoved back a couple of steps, but she immediately grabbed James's arm in a vice grip, her face full of the terror of a caged animal.

"James. I was wrong. Save me, please? I do not want to stay here. I do not want to be locked up."

Standing behind James, Emmy reached out and placed her hand over his arm, which was corded with tense muscle from his fury. Slowly, she pressed down the hand he was preparing to use to violently throw the woman off. "Shelly, can we talk?"

Hearing her voice, Shelly's wild eyes snapped to her. "It is all your fault. If it were not for you, why would James be so heartless to me? Why would he treat me so coldly."

James's eyes darkened viciously as he forcefully swung his arm. Shelly was thrown back, stumbling several steps and nearly collapsing onto the floor. James stared at her coldly, his voice devoid of a single trace of warmth. "Hopeless." He turned to look at Emmy. "Is there still any point in talking to her now?"

Emmy did not answer him. Instead, she looked at the panting Shelly and spoke. "Shelly, you have misunderstood something. The person who caused all of this was never me. It is your own stubbornness." Emmy took a step forward, looking straight into her eyes. "Do you really want to be locked in this place for the rest of your life? To lose your freedom forever?"

Shelly's pupils contracted. Her out of control emotions felt like they had been doused with a bucket of ice water, calming her instantly. She slowly shook her head, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. "I do not want to... I do not want to stay here, I am in so much pain..." She looked toward James once more, acting like a helpless, pitiful wretch. "James, save me, please? Mommy really knows she was wrong..."

Emmy let out a laugh, slicing right through her desperate plea. "Begging him will not work. The only person who can save you right now is me. So, are you absolutely sure you want to keep treating me with the attitude you just had?"

Shelly snapped her head up, her face filled with sheer disbelief. She stared at Emmy like she was looking at a complete joke, shaking her head frantically. "No. You are lying to me. Only James can save me. Who the hell do you think you are? How could you possibly save me?"

Shelly stared blankly at Emmy, looking as though she had been nailed to the floor. Smart? How long had it been since she had heard someone use that word to describe her?

For years, everyone had been watching her like a joke. Everyone said she was as stupid as a pig, that she was ignorant and laughable. She had endured countless eye rolls and endless cold treatment. Even her own biological son had locked her up here like a mental patient. Yet right at this moment, the woman standing in front of her, the woman she hated and loathed the most, was actually calling her smart.

Shelly's battered, prideful vanity suddenly felt as though it had been injected with a pathetic trace of life. Slowly, inch by inch, she straightened her spine. She lifted her chin, fighting to recover the posture she once held as the matriarch of the family. "Yes, I am a smart person. How could I possibly fail to understand something so crucial."

Seeing this, the smile in Emmy's eyes deepened. She had achieved exactly the effect she wanted. She reached out, slowly pushing away the arm James had been using to shield her the entire time. "Shelly, can we sit down and have a proper chat now?"