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008: Unwelcome competition
publish date:
2026-01-17 12:08:15
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A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 089: The waiting room
Leon's POVThe waiting area had metal chairs in a shade of blue that had faded to almost nothing and overhead lights that buzzed faintly and made everyone in the room look like they had not slept in several days. The floor was that particular shade of grey that hospitals always seemed to settle on, scuffed near the doors and worn smooth in front of the chairs. I stood beside the row of chairs nearest the door and could not make myself sit down.James arrived twenty minutes after I called him. He came through the entrance in his coat, still buttoned because he had not had time to deal with it on the way in. He looked at me standing next to the chairs and said, "Sit down, Leon." It was not a suggestion. I sat down.Anastasia had gone to find coffee. She came back with two cups from the machine at the end of the hall and put one in my hand and sat down on my left. I held the cup. I did not drink it. The coffee smelled burnt and faintly chemical and I was grateful to have something to hol
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 088: Eleanor collapses
Anastasia's POVI saw it before it happened.Eleanor was standing at the drawing room sideboard, telling the housekeeper where to put a vase. She had been moving it back and forth all day, an inch this way, an inch that way, and I was sitting on the arm of the sofa watching her with the particular kind of tired patience you develop for the people you love."No, a little to the left," Eleanor said, tilting her head. "Yes. No, wait — back again."The housekeeper shifted the vase without a word, the way someone does when they have learned that objecting will only add more rounds to the process."There." Eleanor pointed. "Right — "She stopped.Not paused. Stopped. The way a song stops when someone pulls the power cord out of the wall.Her hand, the one that had been pointing, moved slowly to the edge of the sideboard instead. Her fingers found the wood and gripped it. I watched her head drop forward a little, just a fraction, like something inside her was losing its balance before the re
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 087: Christmas morning
Leon's POVMargaret met me at the door when I arrived at the Hart mansion at nine in the morning and told me that my grandma had been up since before 6 AM."She rearranged the drawing room twice," Margaret said. She had the expression of a woman who had seen many things in sixteen years of working for Eleanor Hart and had learned to measure which things were worth mentioning. She was mentioning this one. "She also called the caterer again.""On Christmas morning?""At seven forty-five." Margaret took my coat with the practiced efficiency of someone who had been doing it for a long time. "She told them she wanted to confirm the rehearsal dinner delivery time." She paused just long enough. "It was already confirmed."I thanked her and went to find Eleanor. I found her in the hallway adjusting the angle of a framed photograph on the wall by small increments, stepping back to assess it, then stepping forward to move it again. She was fully dressed, her hair done, jewellery on, moving with
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 086: Christmas Eve
Anastasia's POV The Hart estate on Christmas Eve felt like a breath being held.Everything was finished. Every wreath was hung, every candle set, every arrangement confirmed and signed off and placed exactly where it needed to be. There was no reason left to adjust anything but Leon's grandma Eleanor was adjusting things anyway. When I arrived at half past nine she was in the hallway asking the housekeeper to move a small vase two inches to the left. When I came back through twenty minutes later the vase was two inches to the right. Eleanor was on the phone with the florist behind me, asking about the delivery window for the wedding ceremony flowers that had been confirmed three times already that week.Leon was already there when I arrived. He was in the kitchen drinking coffee and looking at Eleanor through the doorway with an expression I recognised from the previous afternoon, the one where he was watching her carefully and keeping his concern off his face because Eleanor would n
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 085: Two days before Christmas
Leon's POVEleanor called me at eight in the morning to say she needed my opinion on the table arrangement for the rehearsal dinner.I had been coming to this house my entire life and I knew what Eleanor needing my opinion actually meant. It meant she had woken up early, found the house too quiet, and wanted someone there who belonged in it. I told her I would be there by ten. I said it without hesitation because there was no version of Eleanor asking me to come and me finding a reason not to.The estate looked different in the days just before Christmas. The decorations were finished and everything was exactly where it was supposed to be and there was nothing left to do, which meant my grandma had found other things to do. The caterer's first delivery of the week was coming through the kitchen when I arrived, and she was standing in the hallway directing two staff members on the placement of something that had clearly already been placed and then moved and then placed again. The tree
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 084: Jennifer
Anastasia's POVI stayed at the bakery until late that night.It wasn't the orders that kept me there. The morning prep was done in an hour and I had no real reason to keep measuring flour and reorganising the cold shelf except that the kitchen was where I went when I had too much in my head and needed to move my hands. I turned the radio on low and worked and thought about the planning session and the wedding coordinator's colour-coded checklist and the way Leon had answered me when I asked him if there was anything I didn't know.He had said no. But his face was obviously saying yes. He had always been a terrible liar and I could see right through him, and the fact that he had looked at the table for half a second too long before answering told me more than the answer itself did. I didn't bother pressing him for the truth though.I also thought about Jennifer's calls.She had called very recently, three days ago, in the evening, while I was closing up. She had used the warm voice, t
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 069: Finalizing the purchase
Leon's POVThe conference room at my office was quiet except for the sound of papers being shuffled across the mahogany table. My real estate team had laid out everything I needed to finalize the purchase. Property records, inspection reports, renovation permits, financial projections."This is an
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 068: Everything I want
Leon's POV After he hung up, I sat alone in my kitchen with my coffee and my tablet full of engagement photos. I should have felt victorious. The plan was working perfectly. My grandmother believed us. The public believed us. The business world was already treating me like I had secured my place a
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 067: Poaching from Lucas
Leon's POVMy phone started ringing at six in the morning.I groaned and reached for it without opening my eyes, ready to silence whoever was calling this early. Then I saw the name on the screen and sat up immediately.Richard Myers. CEO of one of our biggest institutional investors."Richard," I
A Contract With My Billionaire Ex 066: Admitting defeat
Anastasia's POV I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding."Are you okay?" Leon asked quietly."Yes. No. I do not know." I looked up at him. "He looked so broken, Leon. Like seeing us together like this destroyed something in him.""Good," Leon said flatly. "Maybe now he will finally mov
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