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The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 119
I spent the next several hours calling every name Derek had flagged in the shareholder list. Each call started the same. I would introduce myself, explain that I wanted to speak briefly about Leo, and ask for a meeting, just ten minutes, face to face. I wasn’t asking for much. I wasn’t making threats. I kept it professional, calm and clear.Most of them didn’t answer at all.The ones who did gave short responses. Some polite, some cold. One assistant told me to submit a request through a corporate scheduling portal. Another said her boss was out of the country for the next two weeks. Another said, “The board already has a path forward,” before hanging up.I sat in a quiet booth in a corner café, my phone resting on the table next to an untouched glass of iced tea. I’d circled the same five streets all morning trying to make this work. Ryan had offered to come with me, but I told him I needed to do this alone.By noon, I had three confirmed responses. All rejections.One shareholder’s
The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 118
I sat at the kitchen table, one hand curled around my coffee mug, the other hovering over my phone. I stared at the contact screen for a good thirty seconds before finally pressing the call button. My heart beat a little faster than it needed to. I hadn’t spoken to Derek Parrish in years.The phone rang three times, then picked up.“Hello?”“Derek? It’s Bella.”There was a pause on the line.“Wait—Bella?” He sounded stunned. “From senior year contracts class? Are you serious right now?”I smiled just slightly. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you’d even still have the same number.”“Oh my God. I haven’t heard from you in forever.” His voice had that same fast, enthusiastic rhythm I remembered from college. “Wow, this is crazy.”“It’s been a while.”“No kidding.” He chuckled, then suddenly hesitated. “Okay, so, I’m just going to say it, I used to have the biggest crush on you back then. Like embarrassing levels of obvious. I’m pretty sure even the janitor knew. Wow. I can’t believe I just admit
The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 117
I woke up with sunlight coming through the curtains and a dull ache in my neck from sleeping sideways on the couch. The blanket Ryan gave me had slipped halfway off during the night, and one of the tea mugs was still on the table, now cold and forgotten.I rubbed my eyes and sat up slowly, the house was quiet except for the low murmur of a morning news show playing faintly from the kitchen. I stretched my arms over my head, took a breath, and stood.Last night had been chaos, Julie disappearing, the funeral disaster, everything closing in from every direction but I couldn’t let it weigh me down this morning. There was too much to do, too much at stake. If I let it eat at me, I’d fall apart again, and I didn’t have the luxury of falling apart anymore.I slipped on my hoodie and padded barefoot across the hallway. I paused outside Jack’s bedroom, hand on the doorframe, then gently knocked before pushing it open.He was already awake, sitting up in bed with a blanket pulled over his lap
The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 116
The ride back was quiet for the first few minutes.I sat in the backseat with the door still half-open until Ryan walked over and gently closed it for me. He didn’t say anything when he slid into the seat beside me, his hand rested near mine, not touching, just there. The window next to me was still halfway down, and the air outside was cold against my skin.He looked over at me carefully. “Are you okay?”I didn’t answer.He shifted toward me. “Hey… talk to me.”I blinked hard and leaned my head back against the seat. “No. I’m not okay.”He nodded slowly, giving me space to speak. “Tell me what you need.”I stared straight ahead. “The new CEO’s going to be announced at the shareholders’ meeting.”“I know.”“And once that happens,” I said, “Leo loses everything, his name, his company, the legacy he built from the ground up.” I swallowed hard, “alll of it, gone.”Ryan reached for my hand, this time he held it. “The shareholders love Leo, they know what he’s done for that company, they w
The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 115
The closer we got, the louder everything became.Through the tinted windows, I could already hear her voice. The sound system they had set up was professional, loud enough to carry across the grounds. Her tone was slow and solemn, perfectly measured like a performance.Ryan leaned forward slightly in the seat, “you sure you’re ready for this?”I looked at him, “does it matter?”He gave a single nod and tapped twice on the glass separating us from the driver, the convoy slowed down. As we turned the corner, the scene came into view.The entire courtyard outside the Rathore Foundation building had been converted into some kind of stage, rows of black chairs lined the center. There were massive framed photos of Leo on either side of the platform. A casket...closed...stood between them, covered in white lilies and gold trim.Cameras, at least twenty, news vans lined the street. Press crews stood with microphones and umbrellas, a few drones hovered above the crowd.And there she was.Carla
The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride 114
I stood in the middle of the room, holding the phone to my ear like I was waiting for Dennis to say he was joking.He didn’t.“A funeral?” I asked again. “She’s throwing a funeral, for a man who hasn’t been confirmed dead.” I knew Carla was a wrench but I always knew her to favour her son above all things she would never treat him this way, it was insane to me “She’s already got cameras there, people are arriving, there’s a press schedule, security detail, she’s making it real.”I paced across the carpet, ny hand pressed against my forehead. “No, this has gone too far. I’m not letting her do this, I’m not just sitting here while she stages some sick parade pretending like he’s gone.”“Ms. Bella, listen to me. You just passed out, you’re under stress and now with the pregnancy…”Him saying that triggered me heavily but I didn't want to stress out about it at the moment. I still hadn't come to terms with the fact that Leo and I were expecting our baby.I stopped, “you think this is the
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