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Chapter 48: The Question
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2026-02-18 19:01:22
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The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 52: Ethan Cross
GRACE'S POVEthan Cross walked into the investor meeting like he owned the building, which technically he did. His commercial real estate portfolio included the office tower where GRACE had just leased three additional floors for expansion. He was fifteen minutes early, impeccably dressed in a way that looked effortless but absolutely wasn't, and he shook my hand with exactly the right amount of pressure while maintaining eye contact that was direct without being aggressive."Grace Monroe. I've been wanting to meet you for months." His smile was warm, genuine, the kind that reached his eyes. "What you've built with GRACE is remarkable. The sustainable supply chain alone is industry-leading.""Thank you." I gestured to the conference table where my CFO David and our expansion team were already seated. "Though I'm surprised the building owner is personally attending a tenant meeting. Don't you have people for this?""I do. But when the tenant is building something I actually believe in,
The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 51: Learning to Parent
GRACE'S POVCarter's second visit was scheduled for the following Saturday and he showed up at my door holding a pet carrier with a goldfish bowl balanced on top. I stared at it, at him, at the orange fish swimming circles in entirely too much water for a bowl that size, and felt my carefully maintained composure slip."What is that?" I didn't move from the doorway. Didn't let him in yet."A goldfish. For the twins." Carter looked pleased with himself in a way that immediately made me suspicious. "You said no gifts. This isn't a gift, it's a pet. Educational. Teaches responsibility.""Carter." I kept my voice level. "That is absolutely a gift. And you're not bringing a goldfish into my house without asking me first.""But I already told them." Carter's pleased expression started crumbling. "I texted that I was bringing a surprise and James called me back on your phone and I said it was a fish and he's been expecting it for three days and Grace, I can't show up without it now, they'll
The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 50: First Visit
GRACE'S POVCarter was terrible at this for the first twenty minutes. Not terrible in the frightening way or the inappropriate way, but terrible in the trying-so-hard-he-was-barely-breathing way. He sat on my living room floor where August had planted him after the space dog explanation and he listened with such focused intensity that James actually stopped mid-sentence to ask if something was wrong with his face."Your face looks stuck." James said it with the brutal honesty of a two-year-old who hadn't learned to pretend yet. "Like when August concentrates too hard on his blocks."Carter touched his own face like he'd forgotten it was there. "Sorry. I'm just really interested in what you're saying.""You don't have to be interested that much. It's just about the dinosaur toys." James had moved on from introductions directly to a full inventory of every toy in the living room. He was holding up a plastic triceratops that had seen better days. "This one is broken but we keep him anywa
The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 49: Grace's Decision
GRACE'S POVI called him at seven in the morning. Not because I'd made peace with the decision, not because I'd slept on it and woken up certain, but because James had climbed into my bed at six asking if their daddy was tall like the daddy dog in the space book and I'd run out of ways to answer that didn't feel like lying.Carter picked up on the second ring. He sounded awake, like maybe he hadn't slept. "Grace.""I'm calling because my sons ask about you every single day." I kept my voice flat, functional. No warmth in it, nothing he could interpret as more than it was. "Not because I've decided to trust you. Not because I think you've earned this. But because James asked me this morning if their daddy was tall and I couldn't answer him and I'm tired of not being able to answer him."Silence on Carter's end. Just breathing."I'm listening." His voice was careful. Like he knew this was fragile and any wrong word would break it."Supervised visits. One hour. At my house where they fee
The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 48: The Question
GRACE'S POVIt started the week after Patricia's visit. Small things at first, easy to dismiss. August asking at breakfast if their daddy liked eggs. James wanting to know if their daddy was tall or short. August telling me at bedtime that Liam from preschool had a daddy who came to pickup on Fridays and he wondered if their daddy would come to pickup too. I answered everything carefully, age-appropriate, redirecting when I could. But they kept coming back to it like a loose thread they couldn't leave alone.By the end of the week I'd counted eleven separate mentions of daddy across normal activities. Bathtime, dinner, the drive to preschool, the park on Saturday. Not dramatic questions that broke my heart in obvious ways. Just casual constant references that proved the twins had moved the concept of their father from abstract to something they were actively thinking about every day.Monday morning August came downstairs with his favorite space dog book and asked me to read it before
The Billion Dollar Bet Chapter 47: Grandmother Meets Grandsons
GRACE'S POVI realized about twenty minutes into Patricia's visit that I'd made the meeting sound much more structured in my head than it actually was. I'd planned to sit in the corner, monitor everything, keep it clinical and brief. Instead I was on my living room floor next to Patricia helping August explain his very complicated block city infrastructure while James performed what he called a concert using two wooden spoons and a mixing bowl I'd made the mistake of leaving within reach.The noise was spectacular. James had no concept of indoor voice when he was performing."This is the market." August was pointing at a cluster of blue blocks with the authority of a tiny city planner. "And this is the library. Libraries are important because they have books.""They are very important." Patricia was nodding seriously, cross-legged on my living room floor in her expensive slacks, not a single complaint about the carpet or the noise. "What kind of books do you like?""All of them." Augu
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