A Man with Nerves of Steel (Joseph Hart) novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Joseph let Cora in as he towel-dried his hair and said, “You should’ve agreed days ago, Cora. If you had, you’d already be free by now…”

To his surprise, Cora actually took off her clothes and climbed onto his bed. He frowned. “What are you doing?”

She chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? You want my money, so you’d better make sure I’m satisfied first. Please me, and forget 1.6 billion or 3 billion-I’ll give you 5 billion dollars if that’s what you want.

“I can even throw in myself and all my assets to sweeten the deal. I’ll be all yours from now on. Come on, get to it. Once you have me, you’ll have everything you want.”

Joseph was stunned. He could clearly see the mischief and teasing in her eyes, but also the very real intention of wanting to sleep with him. From the sultry hint in her gaze and the faint, sensual charm in her expression, he could tell that her desire had been sparked.

He thought back to the night he’d drunkenly ended up at a hotel and they’d slept together. It had already been days since then-her body was bound to be craving intimacy again. Women at her age really were in a wild, hungry phase.

But she’d cheated on him. Her body was filthy to him now. He would never touch her again.

Joseph asked coolly, “Did you think I was joking with you? I’ve already mailed the documents to the district court. Once they accept the case, we’ll still have to go through divorce proceedings. And if the district court route doesn’t work, I’ll take it up to the state court.”

“Joseph, stop using divorce to threaten me. Don’t push me to the point where I’m really angry, or I won’t be so easygoing anymore…”

He sneered. “Get this straight, Cora. You got knocked up with someone else’s bastard child and made me raise her for 15 years! Now that your dirty little secret is out, you still expect me to fall to my knees in gratitude? What, you think I’m supposed to keep raising your bastard child for you just to spare your precious temper? Don’t you think that’s too much?”

He made his way through two cigarettes before he finally managed to calm down.

The next day, Joseph was still at the motel when the door suddenly swung open. His three daughters stood in the doorway, which stunned him. What were they doing there?

Kimberly didn’t know what was going on. She just ran over and threw herself into his arms, happily calling out to him over and over.

Selena looked around curiously, taking everything in. Meanwhile, Natalie didn’t bother hiding her disgust. She pinched her nose and scoffed openly. “Seriously, Joseph? You’ve got a whole house and you choose to live in this dirty, nasty dump? What are you even trying to do here?

“And you’re even smoking now! I’m telling Mom when we get back-she won’t let you off the hook for this. You’re dead meat!”