My Despicable Ex (Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

dollars of your
mother’s fortune.”
    Jake and I met each other’s gaze,
staring for a long, stunned, silent moment.
    Finally, he let out a long breath.
“Whoa. I can’t even imagine that amount of money. It’s
just…huge.”
    My lawyer crossed his hands on the
cherry wood desk. “Each picture must be an eight-by-ten, depicting
something that proves you were at each destination
together.”
    “ So no photoshopping, eh?”
Jake joked.
    Rolling his eyes at Jake, Mr. Shelby
continued, “Virginia paid in advance to have the photos examined
for originality and authenticity. I wouldn’t dream of making that
mistake.”
    “ How long do we have for
this little globe-trot?” he questioned.
    “ You must complete the
entire trip, stopping at each destination one after the other,
within the next twelve months.”
    “ And exactly where do we
have to go?” I asked.
    He handed me the list.
    As I looked down at the names of the
exotic locations, I couldn’t believe it. “What the…? Japan? South
Africa? Paris?” I shook my head. “None of this makes any sense. My
mother was on hefty morphine in her last days, and she babbled a
lot of incoherent stuff. I think we should consider that and burn
this Will. She clearly wasn’t of sound mind when she—”
    “ Burn it?” Jake said in
disbelief. “Why? Just because I’m in it?”
    My lawyer looked at me. “Miss Roberts,
your mother made this Will a few weeks after she found out she had
cancer. She was, in fact, of very sound mind at the time, and this
was what she wanted. If you are successful in this endeavor, there
is a video diary that will be shown to you, and her reasons will
become clear. However, you must first complete the task in good
faith.”
    It was such a bizarre request, and for
the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the heck my mother would
want me to spend time with a man she openly deplored, the selfish
jackass who had left me at the altar and embarrassed our entire
family. I didn’t understand any of it. Worst of all, she hadn’t
even discussed it with me; as far as I knew, my mother never kept
secrets from me. Frustrated, I handed the list to Jake.
    He studied it closely. “We can get
some of these done fast.”
    I bit my lip hard and didn’t say a
word.
    “ We just have to be
together in the picture, right? But we can be far apart, no
handholding or smooching?” he asked.
    I shot him a glare.
    “ What?” he said. “I know
you’ll bite my head off if I invade your personal space, so I’m
just asking. Always good to read the small print.”
    “ You won’t have to worry
about that,” I said smugly, “because I don’t want the money. You
can go on this little adventure by yourself.”
    Mr. Shelby turned to Jake. “I’m sorry,
but if Miss Roberts doesn’t go with you to the locations, the
contract will be null and void.”
    “ And what about the money?”
I asked.
    “ It will be held by this
office indefinitely.”
    Jake looked at me with his eyes wide.
“Ashly,” he said softly, “if you don’t do it, I’ll get
nothing.”
    “ Yeah, I got that much,
Einstein.”
    “ There’s so much I could do
with this money. And why give away your inheritance to a lawyer? I
can’t believe you’d do that just to get back at me. At least if you
go, you’ll get half of what your mom left behind.”
    “ I don’t care about the
money,” I said. “Revenge is so much sweeter. Maybe that’s why Mom
planned it this way. She knew I’d sit here and let you suffer, you
pitiful idiot. How’s it feel for someone to dangle something great
in front of you, only to have it snatched away?”
    “ I’m so, so sorry.”
    “ Is that all I get? Some
lame apology? I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with you,
a man I foolishly loved and cherished. But you threw me under the
bus for your freedom. You’re pathetic! What was it Nadia called
you? Despicable!”
    “ Maybe you two need some
time to think,” the attorney said. “Now that the