Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1588

Listening to her tearful confessions, James's own eyes grew red. He suddenly ducked his head and captured her trembling lips, silencing all her self blaming words. It wasn't a deep kiss. It was just a brief, gentle press filled with infinite compassion. Pulling back a fraction of an inch, he cradled her tear stained face in his hands, using his thumbs to gently brush away her tears. "Do not say you're sorry to me. You have never failed me in any way. This was your secret to keep. I was the one who couldn't control my possessiveness and curiosity, which is why I dug it up." He rested his forehead against hers, his breathing heavy. "The person who should be apologizing is me. I knew perfectly well that it was a past you didn't want to revisit, yet I still forced you to relive that pain."

Hearing his words, Emmy shook her head frantically, her tears falling even faster. She haphazardly wiped her face and looked up, her eyes shining with an extraordinary, resolute brightness. "No. While those memories were indeed an agony for me, that's all in the past now." A tearful yet entirely liberated smile bloomed on her lips. "When I realized you already knew everything and you still kissed me... the pain disappeared entirely." She stood on her tiptoes, her gaze tracing the handsome contours of his face. "To me, those seven years in my past life have finally, truly been reduced to nothing but a dream. Now, the nightmare is finally over. You are standing right here by my side. We have our adorable kids waiting at home, and a new little life growing inside me." She rubbed her swollen belly, then reached up to touch the man's cheek. "This is exactly the perfect, complete life I've always wanted."

Listening to her heartfelt confession, James's Adam's apple bobbed sharply. He didn't say anything more. Any words would feel painfully inadequate in this moment. He simply bowed his head once more, kissing her with a heart full of aching tenderness and absolute love. He now knew all her secrets and clearly understood how much agony she had endured during those years. He couldn't go back in time to suffer in her place, nor could he bear to rip open any more of her scars. But in this exact moment, he silently swore to himself: in this lifetime, even if it cost him his life, he would never allow her to suffer even a single grievance again.

The kiss held no aggressive lust. It was simply as soft and intimate as a gentle breeze. Emmy didn't speak anymore either. She obediently closed her eyes, looping her arms around the back of his neck as she hugged him back fiercely, holding nothing in reserve as she actively returned the kiss. The movement of her arms caused the jacket draped over her shoulders to slip down, falling in a heap onto the deck. But she only pressed herself closer to him, urgently seeking the warmth of his lips. She wanted to use this fiery kiss to tell him loud and clear: that rotting, foul past was truly behind her. Now, she only wanted him. In her eyes, in her heart, and in her future, there was only James. That lunatic Dean would never be able to affect a single fraction of her life ever again.

Facing the salty ocean breeze, the two of them kissed for a long, long time on the deserted deck. It wasn't until the cruise liner beneath them let out a low rumble and its speed noticeably decreased, finally coming to a smooth halt on the water, that they paused. Feeling the ship stop, Emmy let out a confused hum and tried to pull back slightly from his lips. But the man acted entirely unsatisfied. He clamped one large hand firmly around her waist and pressed the other to the back of her head, capturing her mouth once again.

"Ignore it," he murmured thickly against her lips. "Focus."