Chapter 517

Whenever Natalie saw Jeremy, she couldn't help but remember him with Annabelle.

"Natalie, you're my wife," Jeremy reminded her.

Natalie's eyes reddened, and she bit her lip. "Jeremy, we're preparing for a divorce. I don't want to see you. Do you realize how much I hate you? Did you ever think about the fact that you had a wife when you cheated?"

Jeremy had shattered everything. He had turned their love into a joke, yet now acted as if nothing had happened. He even refused to agree to a divorce. Natalie couldn't understand what he was clinging to.

"I'm giving you your freedom. You can be with other women. Why did you fool around behind my back?"

Listening to Natalie's increasingly unreasonable words, Jeremy replied in a deep voice, "My affair with Annabelle was an accident. I won't be with any other woman, Nath. I can't divorce you."

Even now, Jeremy couldn't understand himself. He didn't love Annabelle, yet he couldn't control himself at that crucial moment. He had betrayed Natalie, but he couldn't let go.

"An accident?" Natalie scoffed, smirking at his casual dismissal of the affair. Natalie felt increasingly uncertain about who Jeremy was.

"Let's go home," Jeremy said quietly.

Natalie's face paled. A chill ran through her. She pushed away Jeremy, who was approaching her. "I hope you agree to a divorce soon! Jeremy, I can't forgive you."

She hailed a cab and gave the driver her apartment address.

Jeremy stood frozen, his spine stiffening as he watched the cab disappear. It took him a long time to recover. He hadn't gotten into his car. He lit a cigarette slowly, exhaling smoke rings one after another. He looked dejected.

Seeing this, Victor couldn't understand. Given Jeremy's deep love for Natalie, Victor wondered how he could have had an affair. Jeremy was trying to win Natalie back, but Victor doubted she would forgive him so easily.

Just as they entered Galaxy Villa, Joe received a call. Faintly, Skylar heard Rowan's laughter.

Rowan said, "Andrew actually posted another Instagram update, apologizing specifically to Skylar. Many people are asking what happened. Although Skylar's name wasn't mentioned, he self-analyzed his mistakes. It's hilarious! I heard Mr. Hughes Senior personally slapped him, and his face swelled up."

Joe's tone was cold. "Anyone who dares to touch what's mine has some nerve."

Skylar's heart skipped a beat. She glanced back at Joe, who also looked at her. Their gazes met, then Joe's deep eyes quickly looked away. Skylar smiled subtly. After all, she was Joe's acknowledged wife. Regardless of their relationship's emotional nuances, her status meant Joe wouldn't tolerate disrespect toward her.

"Andrew probably didn't expect a casual fondue dinner to end up in such big trouble. He thought it would be like any other time he flirted with a beautiful woman," Rowan remarked.

Joe wasn't interested in small talk. "I have things to do. I'll hang up."

Chapter 517

After ending the call, Joe walked over to Skylar. Since getting into the car, neither had spoken much. However, Skylar's apparent indifference to him had left Joe dissatisfied.

"I'll go take a shower," Skylar said. The day's events had disrupted her shopping plans with Natalie.

Joe stopped her. "Wait."

This revised version improves grammar, punctuation, and word choice for clarity and flow. It also removes the seemingly extraneous "11" near the end of the first section.