The Ex and Her Riches

He had asked Swain to hurry back to the training facility and find Yohannes, but Swain had yet to return.
Maverick knew his own body, and he probably wouldn’t be able to hold on until Gwendolyn came home from dinner.
Is this really how I’m going to die?
He was unwilling to accept it, yet he was powerless to change it.
As of now, he did not even have the strength to write a farewell letter.
Earlier, that had been the first time Gwendolyn had hugged him since the divorce.
No, she wasn’t hugging me. She was only patting my head.
Charles was right. In the end, Gwendolyn saw Maverick as nothing more than a pet.
She no longer loved him.
As Maverick pondered on this, his consciousness gradually grew hazy, and there were black spots in his vision.
“Gwendolyn...”
I’ll give you my life, Gwendolyn, but can you give me your love in return?
Resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes and let his arms hang limply at his sides. He looked serene.
All was tranquil around him.
Apart from the curtains rustling in the breeze, the only other noise in the room was the sound of blood dripping from his fingertips
onto the floor, one drop at a time.
In the car, Gwendolyn suddenly felt a sharp, intense pain in her heart.
She pressed a hand to her chest, her delicate face turning pale from the pain.
Charles noticed that something was off with her and quickly asked, “Gwen, what’s wrong? Are you unwell?”
He leaned forward, wanting to help her.

Gwendolyn reached out to stop him. After taking a few deep breaths, she felt the pain gradually subside.
Why did I feel pain in my chest all of a sudden?
She had never had any heart-related illnesses, and the pain this time was inexplicably excruciating.
“I’m fine. I guess it’s because I haven’t been sleeping well for the last couple of days. Anyway, it’ll all be over in a few days’ time.”
As she spoke, a faint, icy gleam flashed in her eyes.
Charles didn’t notice her darkened gaze and continued to show his sympathy and concern.
However, Gwendolyn was not listening to him at all.
For some reason, she found herself thinking about how pale and sickly Maverick had looked before she left the house earlier.
He’s been acting strange tonight.
Why did he ask me all those odd questions, such as whether I’d remember him if he died?
He sounded like a dying patient who could not accept his own fate.
The more Gwendolyn delved into her thoughts, the more uneasy she felt.
She recalled the way he had grabbed her by the wrist before she left the house earlier and the warning he had given her.
He had said, “Charles is not a simple man. There may be secrets behind him that could be extremely detrimental to you. You
must be cautious and on your guard around him in the future.”
In hindsight, Maverick’s choice of words had seemed odd.
It was almost as if he had used the words “in the future” to exclude himself from any future events in Gwendolyn’s life.
She thought about his trembling hands, his furrowed brows, the overwhelming sense of weakness that he couldn’t hide, and the
way he had said, “If I die...”
Gwendolyn’s breath hitched, and she shouted at Charles’ driver, “Pull over!”
“What’s wrong, Gwen?” Charles asked.

Gwendolyn quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. “Something urgent came up. I’m afraid I won’t be able to
make it to the dinner tonight. Let’s do it another time!”
“Gwen—”
Charles’ words were cut off when Gwendolyn slammed the car door shut.
Since she was in the Bay Hill villa area, there were no taxis waiting by the roadside. After getting out of Charles’ car, she had no
choice but to turn around and run back home on foot.
Ezra and Justin caught up to her.
Charles’ car did not move even after Gwendolyn left; it simply stayed in the same spot.
He glanced into the rearview mirror and watched as Gwendolyn frantically ran back to Bay Villa. At that moment, his expression
grew inscrutable.
Meanwhile, Gwendolyn had only just left Bay Villa when Nico once again confidently entered through the iron gates.
Elven, William, and Quinton emerged from the shadows when they saw him approaching.
Quinton rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Nico, you won a whole month’s worth of salary from me the last time. Today, I’m
going to win it all back, with interest!”
Nico remained silent, his expression cold and serious. “I’m not here to play cards today.”
Quinton and the other two exchanged a confused look.
The next second, a few light thuds sounded through the air, and the three men immediately felt a sharp pain in the back of their
necks. In an instant, their eyes rolled back into their heads, and they fell to the floor unconscious.
Nico looked at the three motionless figures on the ground impassively. As it turned out, tranquilizing them was much quicker and
more efficient than cottoning up to them.
At that moment, Swain packed up his tranquilizer gun and stepped out from the shadows. “Nico, we can’t just leave them lying
here, can we? Where should we hide them for the time being?”
Nico glanced at the three unconscious men on the ground, cupped his hands around his lips, and whistled a bird-like tune.

He waited for a minute, but there was still no sound or movement within the villa, nor was there any sign of Maverick coming to
open the door.
Nico sensed that something was off. “Never mind. Let’s go and check on Boss first.”
The security door of the villa was locked. Nico had wanted to kick it down, but he was worried he would not be able to explain
himself to Gwendolyn after this. In the end, he and Swain climbed the pipes behind the villa to get to the second floor.
Nico opened the door to the second-floor bedroom only to find Maverick lying on the chaise lounge. The pool of crimson blood
on the floor was particularly startling.
“Boss!” Nico and Swain cried out as they collapsed at Maverick’s feet, their faces turning pale.
Nico quickly took out the suppressant from the cooler and steadily injected it into Maverick’s neck.
Swain stood on one side as he stared at Maverick’s bloodstained hands, the heartache he felt so acute that it brought tears to
his eyes.
Two minutes after the suppressant had been injected, Maverick still showed no reaction whatsoever.
His entire body was ice-cold with no sign of life.
Nico’s hand trembled as he carefully checked the pulse on Maverick’s neck, but it had already stopped.
“Wake up! Boss, come on, don’t fall asleep on us!” Nico roared as he patted Maverick’s face, which was so pale it looked almost
translucent under the lights.
Tears uncontrollably streamed down his face as he suddenly fell to his knees beside Maverick and sobbed miserably.
Were we too late?
Swain, who was distraught, sat on the ground and cried, wailing hysterically with all his might.
Nico’s eyes were red, and he was getting more emotional with every passing second.
“Boss, please, I beg you! Please don’t fall asleep! Wake up, because if you fall asleep, you’ll never wake up again!”
Maverick lay peacefully on the chaise lounge. His brows were relaxed, and his eyelashes did not even flutter.

Nico was on the verge of breaking down as he desperately shook Maverick’s arm. “I’m begging you, Boss! Please open your
eyes and look at me! Swain brought the suppressant! You’ll be fine! Don’t die in front of us! Wake up!
“Ms. Shalders hasn’t even come back to you yet, and you’re just going to give up like this? Aren’t you afraid that she might marry
Charles and be mistreated by him? And there’s Sherman and Joaquin, too! There are so many powerful and influential men in
Chanaea who could become your rivals, and you’re just going to die like this before even fending them off?
“She doesn’t even know that you contracted the S404 RNA virus for her sake! You can’t just die like this! Boss, I beg you. Please
wake up!”
He cried until he almost choked, all the while shaking Maverick to wake him.
However, the man on the chaise lounge did not move at all, and his body was cold and lifeless.
Seeing this, Nico slid down to the ground, powerless and completely devastated as he leaned against Maverick’s limp arm.
“Boss, you picked me up from the Chanaea border when I was just ten years old. My name, my skills, and everything I have is
because of you. All these years, wherever you went on your missions, I followed you...” Nico trailed off. He pulled out a small
knife from his pocket, his eyes fierce and his tone resolute as he continued, “My life is yours, and if you die, I’ll die with you!”
With that, he pointed the tip of the knife at his own heart and, without hesitation, stabbed it in.
“Nico! Don’t!” Swain yelled in despair.
Unexpectedly, no blood splattered.
The sharp tip of the knife stopped just two millimeters away from where it would have pierced Nico’s heart.