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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
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2026-02-09 22:10:06
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The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR
The first time Ava said it, it slipped out by accident.“I don’t want to mess this up again.”They were in Leo’s office at the foundation. Late. Papers everywhere. Grant proposals stacked high.Leo looked up.“Again?”Ava froze slightly.She hadn’t meant to say it out loud.Grayson, who had come to drop off coffee, paused at the doorway.Ava exhaled slowly.“I was engaged once,” she admitted. “Two years ago.”Leo leaned back in his chair.“And?”“And when I found out about Meredith… about all of this… I spiraled.”Her voice was steady, but thin.“I became obsessed with where I came from. With what it meant. With whether I was abandoned because something was wrong with me.”Leo’s chest tightened.“That question doesn’t go away easily,” he said quietly.Ava nodded.“My fiancé said I was disappearing. That I cared more about ghosts than the future.”Grayson stepped inside fully now, setting the coffees down.“Did he leave?” he asked gently.“I pushed him away first,” she replied. “Feels
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY THREE
The email arrived on a quiet Sunday afternoon.Leo almost didn’t open it.Subject line: “Private Inquiry – Confidential.”He sighed. “That never means anything simple.”Grayson looked up from where he was assembling what looked like a very complicated dinosaur puzzle with Aria.“Spam?”“I wish.”Leo clicked it.And then he went very still.Grayson noticed immediately. “What is it?”Leo didn’t answer right away.He read it again.Then again.Finally, he whispered, “Her name is Ava.”Silence.Grayson stood slowly. “Who’s Ava?”Leo turned the laptop toward him.The message was short. Direct.My name is Ava Monroe. I believe I’m Meredith Carter’s daughter.The room shifted.Grayson blinked. “That’s not possible.”“That’s what I thought.”They both stared at the screen.The email continued:I recently obtained documents through a DNA registry. Meredith Carter gave birth at nineteen. The child was placed for private adoption. That child is me.Leo felt like the air had been sucked out of th
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY TWO
The call came at 6:42 a.m.Too early for anything good.Grayson reached for his phone before the second ring.Unknown number.He almost ignored it.Almost.“Hello?”There was breathing on the other end.Then a woman’s voice.“Is this Mr. Grayson Knight?”His stomach tightened.“Yes.”“This is Officer Ramirez from Brookfield High.”Everything inside him went cold.“I’m calling about your son.” Leo was already sitting up in bed.“What happened?”Grayson’s face had drained of color.“We need to go.”The drive felt endless.No music.No small talk.Just the echo of that sentence.Your son.When they reached the school, the front office felt too bright. Too normal.Kids walking to class.Lockers slamming.Ordinary.Officer Ramirez met them outside the principal’s office.“Your son is safe,” she said immediately.Leo’s knees nearly buckled.“Safe?” he repeated.“Yes. But there was an incident.”The word incident felt too small.Inside the office, their son sat in a chair, shoulders stiff.
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY ONE
Three years later.Not chaotic, just alive.Soccer cleats by the door. Pink glitter shoes abandoned in the hallway. Crayon drawings taped proudly to the fridge dragons, hearts, a very questionable family portrait where Grayson somehow had purple hair.Their daughter, Aria, stood in the middle of the living room in a sparkly cape.“I am NOT a princess,” she declared fiercely. “I am a warrior.”Her older brother nodded solemnly. “She fought a dragon before she was even born.”Grayson looked at Leo over their heads.“Still telling that story?” he asked.“Always,” Leo replied.Because some scars deserved legends. Life had steadied into something almost peaceful.Grayson had returned to business but on his terms. Smaller portfolio. More time at home. He had learned the hard way that money didn’t tuck kids into bed.Leo had started a nonprofit using part of Meredith’s trust.A foundation for LGBTQ+ youth who’d been rejected by their families.He called it The Fierce Heart Initiative.G
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY
The pregnancy test sat on the bathroom counter like a dare.Grayson stared at it.Two pink lines.Life changing.Leo stood in the doorway, gripping the frame like the room might tilt.“Well?” he asked, voice barely steady.Grayson turned the stick around slowly.Leo’s breath left him in a rush.“Positive?”Grayson nodded.For a second, neither of them moved.Then Leo laughed.It wasn’t graceful or composed, it was wild and bright and a little terrifying.“Oh my God.”Grayson pulled him into his arms, both of them half laughing, half shaking.“We’re doing this,” Leo whispered against his neck.“We’re doing this,” Grayson echoed.They had decided on surrogacy months ago, quietly, carefully. After long talks at 2 a.m. After spreadsheets and fears and therapy sessions where Leo admitted he wanted another child not because of Meredith’s money or legacy but because their first son had made him believe in family again.Their surrogate, Hannah, had been steady and warm and matter of fact.“
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER SEVENTY NINE
The first letter arrived on a Tuesday morning.Grayson almost threw it away.It looked like junk mail thick cream envelope, no return address except a law firm’s embossed seal.Leo was in the kitchen packing their son’s lunch, humming softly. It had taken months for that sound to come back after Meredith’s death.Grayson slit the envelope open casually.Then he stopped breathing.“Leo.”Something in his tone made Leo look up immediately.“What is it?”Grayson scanned the first paragraph again, hoping he had misunderstood.He hadn’t.“It’s from Carter & Vale,” he said slowly. “Your mother’s legal team.”Leo frowned. “About the trust?”“No.” Grayson’s jaw tightened. “About a contested will.”Silence.Leo walked over and took the paper from his shaking hand.His eyes moved quickly across the page.Then his face went pale.“She had a brother,” Leo said quietly. “Uncle Richard.”Grayson didn’t like the sound of that.“What does he want?”Leo swallowed. “He’s challenging the inheritance.
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