Lahat ng Kabanata ng Billionaire, I'm No Longer Yours: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

(Lila)I was still shaking when Nick’s car pulled up to the café. He took one look at my face and was out of the driver’s seat in seconds.“What happened?” He cupped my face in his hands, thumbs brushing my cheeks. “Did she hurt you?”“Not physically.” I leaned into his touch without meaning to. “Can we go home?”His hands stilled. “Your home or mine?”“Yours.” I couldn’t face the Montgomery mansion right now. “Please.”The drive was quiet, but Nick’s hand found mine across the console. He didn’t let go until we reached his penthouse.“Want to talk about it?” he asked as we rode the elevator up.“She knows. About the baby.”The elevator dinged. Nick pulled me into his arms as soon as the doors closed behind us.“I’ll handle it,” he said into my hair.“You can’t.” I pushed away enough to look at him. “She’s threatening to expose everything—the pregnancy, my relationship with Ethan, this engagement…”“Let her. We’ll survive the scandal.”“It’s not just about the scandal.” I broke away,

(Ethan)Caroline Montgomery’s words kept repeating in my head like an old nightmare I’d remembered again. Eight years old. An accident. Lost memories.My glass nearly slipped from my fingers as decades-old memories rushed back.“Are you alright?” Grace touched my arm, but I barely felt it. “You look pale.”“I need air.” I set the glass down harder than necessary, ignoring the champagne that spilled from it.“Ethan—”I ignored her. I was already moving, pushing through the crowd toward the terrace where I’d seen Nicholas lead Lila. My mind’s eye saw fragments of a past I’d tried so hard to forget.A summer fair. Cotton candy. A little girl’s laugh.And then…darkness.The dates matched. The age matched. Even the way Lila had always felt familiar somehow, from that first night at the bar...“It can’t be,” I muttered, gripping the stone railing. “It’s impossible.”But was it?I’d spent years searching for that little girl after it happened. I’d lost track of her completely afterwards. No

(Lila)Old Mr. Baldwin barked orders at security while guests split up and ran everywhere, shouting James’s name.“Lock down all exits!” The head of security spoke into his radio. “No one leaves until we find the boy.”“Call the police,” someone suggested.“No!” Grace grabbed the man’s arm. “No police. He was just here, he has to be here somewhere.”My mother came at my side, grabbing my elbow. “Darling, you look awful.”“I’m fine.”“You’re not. Look at you, you’re shaking.” She waved desperately. “Jonathan! Come look at her.”Dad rushed over, leaving his conversation with the security team. “Princess? What’s wrong?”“Nothing.” I tried to pull away from their hovering. “We need to help find James.”“You need to sit down.” Mom put her hand on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”Alexander pushed through the crowd toward us. “Give her space to breathe, Mother. She doesn’t need you smothering her right now.”“But she—”“Is perfectly capable of telling us if she needs help.” He squeezed my s

(Lila)“We were at the summer fair. My mother let me go with the cook’s daughter—except it wasn’t really the cook’s daughter. It was you.”Ethan paced and turned the silver necklace over in his hands. Nick sat beside me on the couch.“Why would my parents lie about that?”“Because of who you were. Who we both were.” Ethan stopped by the windows. “The Montgomery and Baldwin heirs, kidnapped from a public fair? It would’ve destroyed both our families’ reputations.”“But—”“Your father had just closed a major merger. Mine was running for office. They couldn’t risk the scandal.”“So they covered it up?”“Made it disappear. Paid off witnesses, invented the car crash story. But I remember everything. The van, the men in masks, that basement…”“Stop.” I took my head in my hands. “I can’t—”“You have to remember!” Ethan knelt in front of me. “James is in that same basement. Those symbols—”Nick pushed him back. “Give her space.”“We don’t have time for space! They’ll do to him what they did t

(Lila)I sat in the police station, sketching on a notepad. Every detail of that basement from fifteen years ago came back—the damp walls, the uneven floor, the symbols I’d carved to feel less alone.“And you’re sure about these markings?” Detective Dale slid another photo across his desk. James sat huddled in the same corner where I used to draw.Nick squeezed my hand under the table. He hadn’t left my side since Grace called the police.“The layout is exact,” I said, adding another detail to my sketch. “That pipe in the corner—we used it to track time. Every hour it would make this clanking sound.”“How did Grace override the kidnappers’ no-police rule?” Nick asked.Detective Dale sighed. “She claims she couldn’t take the waiting anymore. Showed up here hysterical around dawn.”“Where is she now?”“Interview room two with her lawyer. She’s been…difficult.”I focused on my drawing, trying to capture every detail. “There was a door, heavy metal. They’d bring food through a slot at the