The Billionaire Next door (Who I Hate)

KATE

Leon Romano never apologized.

Not when he ignored me. Not when he humiliated me. And definitely not when he ruined the few things I had.

To the world, I was Kate Adams, daughter of Jared and Fiona Adams.

To Leon Romano, I was just Katie.

And my parents?

“Nanny.” 

“Driver.”

I remember vividly the first time I saw him.

I was five. My mum was rushing to work and I was hurrying to catch up with her, soaked to the bone and out of breath from running.

“Mum, wait!”

The rain came down in sheets, cold and heavy, sticking my clothes to my skin. Mum didn’t stop. She pushed through the massive iron gates ahead of me, disappearing into the estate like she belonged there.

I didn’t.

By the time I reached the front doors, my shoes were squishing with every step. Water dripped from my hair into my eyes.

Mum stood at the entrance, head bowed. A sleek black car was parked in front of her.

I slowed, my chest still heaving, and stayed a few steps behind.

The car door opened.

First, I saw the shoes, red stilettos, sharp against the wet ground. Then the woman stepped out, elegant and untouchable, like she didn’t belong in the same world as the rest of us.

Mrs Romano.

Even then, I felt something cold about her.

“You are late.”

Her voice cut through the rain.

Mum flinched. “I…”

She didn’t get to finish.

A maid hurried to the other side of the car and helped a little boy out.

He looked about my age. Pale. Fragile. Like the rain might wash him away.

Mrs Romano turned to him instantly, her expression softening in a way I had never seen directed at my mother.

“Leon,” she said gently, placing her hands on his shoulders. “This is your new nanny. She’ll be taking care of you.”

Mum's cheeks were flushed as she managed a smile at Leon.

“Hello Master Leon.”

He barely looked at her. His eyes were on me.

“Who is she?”

Mum stiffened, suddenly aware of my presence. She tried to pull me behind her, but it was too late.

“This is my daughter, Kate.”

I stepped forward before I could stop myself and stretched out my hand.

“Hello.”

He didn’t take it, just stared.

My hand slowly dropped back to my side, heat creeping up my neck despite the cold rain.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he smiled.

It was small. Almost polite.

But there was something about it, something that made my chest tighten.

“Hi, Katie.”

That was how it started.

                       **********

“Katie, come here.”

I froze at the sound of his voice.

Leon stood in the doorway of the kitchen, one hand behind his back, that same calm expression on his face.

I didn’t move.

“Come here,” he repeated, softer this time.

Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist.

I stepped forward slowly.

“What?”

His smile widened just a little.

“Look.”

He brought his hand forward.

My breath caught. My teddy bear.

Its stomach had been ripped open, white stuffing spilling out in messy clumps.

For a second, I couldn’t speak.

“What did you do?” My voice came out small.

“It’s cheap,” he said casually. “I wanted to see what was inside.”

I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into fists. “Give it back.”

He tilted his head, studying me like I was the strange one.

Then he dropped it at my feet.

Just like that. Like it meant nothing.

Things like that kept happening. Always small, always just enough to hurt.

And somehow, it was always my fault.

                  **********

“Kate!”

Mum’s voice snapped through the kitchen.

I rushed in, my heart already pounding.

“Yes, Mum?”

She stood by the counter, arms crossed, anger written all over her face.

“Did you give Leon cookies again?”

“What? No, I didn’t…”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“I didn’t!”

But it didn’t matter. It never did.

Years passed like that. 

Him at the center of everything. And I, somewhere on the outside.

                 **********

“Slow down!”

Allison’s voice echoed behind me as I rounded the track again.

“You’re insane!” she called out, bending over with her hands on her knees.

I laughed, not stopping. “One more lap!”

The wind rushed past my ears, my feet hitting the ground in steady rhythm. Running was the only thing that ever made sense.

No comparisons. No shadows. No Leon Romano.

“Kate!”

I slowed this time, jogging back toward Allison.

She wasn’t looking at me anymore. She was staring at the bleachers.

“Hey…” she said slowly. “Is that who I think it is?”

I followed her gaze.

There was only one person there.

A boy sitting alone, like the entire place belonged to him.

Four men stood at different corners around him, watching everything.

My stomach tightened.

Even after all these years, I would recognize him anywhere.

Leon Romano.

He stood.

And then he started walking toward us. Toward me.

Allison went completely silent.

I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Didn’t blink.

He stopped right in front of me. Close enough that I could see it clearly now, the difference.

He wasn’t that fragile boy anymore. There was nothing weak about him.

Nothing soft.

His eyes ran over me slowly, taking everything in. Assessing.

Then he smiled. That same smile.

“Hi, Katie.”

And just like that, nothing had changed. I wish I could say that was the worst of it.

It wasn’t.

                   ***********

My sixteenth birthday came and went like it didn’t exist.

Not that anyone noticed.

Because in that house, the one behind those walls, only one birthday mattered.

Leon Romano’s.

The music started before sunset. By nightfall, the entire estate was alive.

Lights. Laughter. Expensive cars pulling in one after another.

From my window, I could see everything, hear everything.

Close enough to feel it but never close enough to be part of it.

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall.

Mum wasn’t home. Of course she wasn’t. She was there. Working, serving, smiling for people who would never remember her name.

I told myself I didn’t care. I didn’t want any of it.

Not the lights. Not the gifts. Not his life.

A knock came at the door.

I frowned. No one visited us.

When I opened it, he was standing there.

Leon.

Alone.

That, in itself, felt wrong.

“Nanny’s looking for you,” he said.

I hesitated. Something about the way he said it…

But it was Mum. So I followed him.

The music grew louder as we got closer.

Voices overlapped, laughter rang out, glasses clinked.

We didn’t go through the main hall. He led me around the side, toward the pool.

There were people there, teenagers, dressed in things I’d never wear, holding drinks I’d never touch.

They all turned when we approached.

My steps slowed.

“Leon,” one of them called, raising a glass. “You disappeared.”

His hand brushed lightly against my back. Not guiding, not gentle. Just… placing me there. Like I belonged to the moment.

“Where’s my mum?” I asked quietly.

No one answered.

A girl stepped forward instead. Tall, beautiful, confident.

She looked at me like I was something she didn’t understand.

“Is this her?” she asked.

Leon nodded.

Everything happened too fast.

The girl tilted the bottle in her hand and poured it over my head.

Cold and sticky. The smell hit me before I could react.

Laughter exploded around me.

For a second, I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.

Then, a shove.

The world flipped and I hit the water. The cold swallowed me whole, sound disappearing, light shattering into ripples above me.

I didn’t fight it, I just sank.

For a moment, it was quiet. Peaceful, even. No laughter. No Leon. No expectations.

Then instinct kicked in. I pushed upward, breaking through the surface with a gasp.

The laughter was still there, louder now, sharper.

Water dripped down my face as I blinked it out of my eyes.

And the first person I looked at… was him.

Leon stood at the edge of the pool watching. Not laughing, not helping, just watching.

Our eyes locked and for a second, just a second, something shifted in his expression. Then it was gone.

That was the moment I understood something. 

Leon Romano didn’t just ignore me, he didn’t just hurt me, he enjoyed it.

Later that night, I walked home alone. Wet, cold and silent.

I didn’t look back. Not at the lights. Not at the music. Not at the world that was never meant for me.

But I felt it, the walls behind me. Tall, untouchable and way out of my league.

Back then, I thought I would spend my whole life outside them.

What I didn’t know was that I would be dragged right into the center of it.