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CHAPTER 22

Author: Vivian Blackwood
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-18 06:43:26

WHEN TRYING ISN'T ENOUGH

When I heard his car pull into the driveway, my hands froze over the plate I was arranging. My heart jumped so hard it hurt. For a second I just stood there in the kitchen, staring at the pot on the stove, the steam rising slowly, like it had all the time in the world… while I felt like I had none.

Daniel walks in without knocking, without pausing, without even looking at me properly. The door closes behind him with a soft thud, but somehow it feels louder than a scream. He’s holding a brown envelope, thick, official-looking, and he drops it carelessly on the edge of the couch. He didn’t even look at the house, just came in with long, tired steps, a neutral expression on his face.My chest tightened.

He doesn’t greet me. He just says, dryly, “I signed them.” My heart jumps into my throat. He placed it on the center table without a word. “Hi,” I whispered, voice trembling before I could stop it. “Emma,” he answered. His tone was flat. Not cold… just done. Lik
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  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   CHAPTER 49

    SOMETHING DIFFERENT I swallowed. Images flashed through my mind, the gala night, the emails, the photos, Daniel’s hands pushing me back, the woman’s mocking tone on the phone. Everyone seemed capable of damage now. Everyone felt sharp. “You know what, forget I asked,” I said quickly, the words tumbling out as if I could pull them back the moment they left my mouth.There was another pause. Then his voice softened. “I would never hurt you, Emma,” Adrian said. “I would never.” The way he said it, certain, almost wounded, made my chest tighten. He thought that was what I meant. That I was asking if he would hurt me. Not if he had hurt someone else. Not if there were parts of him I didn’t know. Just… me.I nodded even though he couldn’t see it, my fingers still curled tightly around my phone. Guilt crept in, slow and heavy. Guilt for carrying so many thoughts I couldn’t explain without unraveling everything. “I know,” I murmured . He had no idea that I was about to ruin him to save mysel

  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   CHAPTER 48

    BLOCKED ?!I turned the shower on and stepped under the stream, letting the water hit my back first, hot, steady, loud enough to drown my thoughts, or so I hoped. Steam climbed the tiles, fogging the mirror, blurring my reflection until I was just a shape behind glass. For a few seconds, I stood there with my palms flat against the wall, forehead resting on cool tile, breathing.Then my mind started again. What if I feed her the wrong information? The thought slipped in so smoothly it almost made me laugh. Who is this woman? I tilted my head, water running down my neck, tracing my spine. How would she even know? The idea felt mischievous at first. Light. Almost empowering. I could say anything. A small, breathless laugh escaped me. Lmao, I thought bitterly. You want to play games? I can play too But wait ?, what if she knew what she was asking, I doubt that. I reached for the soap, slicked it between my palms, and then pain sliced through me. Sharp, Sudden. Right at my shoulder.I

  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   CHAPTER 47

    UNKNOWN CALLERThe sound sliced through my sleep like glass. My phone rang, sharp, insistent, and I jolted awake, my heart already racing before my mind could catch up. For a split second, I didn’t know where I was. Then the ceiling came into focus. The familiar crack near the corner. The pale curtains I’d been meaning to change for months. I was home. Not Adrian’s place. Mine.That realization hit harder than it should have. My body felt heavy, sore in that dull, aching way that comes from restless sleep and unresolved panic. I reached for the phone on my bedside table, squinting at the screen. Unknown number. Of course. I hesitated, my thumb hovering. Something in my chest tightened, an instinctive warning. But I answered anyway.“Hello?” My voice came out rough. “Who is this?” There was a pause on the other end. Not silence, breathing. Calm. Measured. Then a woman spoke.“Emma Velasquez…” The way she said my name made my skin prickle. Slow. Mocking. Like she’d practiced it.“I don’

  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   CHAPTER 46

    HE HAD LEFT I stood outside the door, still boiling. I banged on it again, harder this time. “Open up, Daniel!!”My fist hit the wood over and over, the sound echoing down the hallway, sharp and ugly. My chest rose and fell too fast, breath tearing in and out of me like I’d just run for my life. My hands were trembling, rage shaking them, not fear. Not yet. Then I heard it.The ding of the elevator. I froze. Footsteps followed, measured, professional.I stopped banging, my fist hovering in the air as if it didn’t know what to do without anger to guide it. I swallowed hard, my throat burning. My heart was still slamming violently against my ribs, refusing to calm down. A hotel staff member walked toward me, his expression already cautious, already assessing. “Madam,” he said gently, but firmly, “is there a problem?”I turned slowly to face him.My face felt hot. My eyes burned. I knew I looked wild, hair disheveled, hoodie crooked, one foot bare, my chest still rising like I was about

  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   PART 45

    INSIDE THE ROOM I kept going, Door after door, Knock, Pause, Silence, Knock again. “Room service.” Nothing. It didn’t feel like a full house at all. Too many quiet rooms. Too many unanswered doors. My footsteps echoed back at me, soft but accusatory, like the hallway itself was watching.I moved down the corridor slowly, repeating the same line, the same knock, the same practiced calm I didn’t feel. “Room service.” Nothing.Each door that stayed closed tightened something in my chest. With every step, the possibilities narrowed. Until there was only one door left. The last one.My heart sank so suddenly it felt like my body finally caught up with what my mind already knew. This was it. I stopped in front of the door and just stood there. The hallway lights hummed faintly above, casting a warm glow that made everything feel unreal, staged, like a scene I could still walk away from if I wanted to.I didn’t.I reached up and slowly pulled off my face cap. My fingers trembled as cool ai

  • NAKED LIES OF THE BILLIONAIRE   PART 44

    IN THE HALLWAY I stayed still, pressed into the shadow near the pillar, my cap pulled lower, my heartbeat loud enough that I was sure the marble floor could hear it.Then the doors swung open. A group of girls spilled into the lobby at once, laughing, loud, glittering. They were dressed like they’d stepped straight out of a costume party. Corsets. Sequins. Feathers. One of them wore angel wings that brushed the glass doors. Another had a mask pushed up into her hair. They crowded the reception desk completely, voices overlapping, hands waving, phones flashing, blocking every clear line of sight.The receptionist disappeared behind their noise.My breath caught. This was my chance. I didn’t think. I moved. I slipped away from the glow of the reception lights and pushed through the emergency door at the far end of the hall. It gave a low, heavy click that sounded far too loud in my ears. For half a second I froze, waiting for an alarm.Nothing. The stairwell swallowed me whole. It smel

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