Lahat ng Kabanata ng Sweet Submission: Love Me, Mr. Billionaire : Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

Skylar"Why did you refuse to trust me?"Those were the first words I heard from Cole. I turned to look at him. His eyes were fixed on me, dark and tired, his face tight with worry and anger. Finally, he was ready to talk. I’d waited for him to finally come around, but now that it was happening, it didn’t feel good at all.I sighed. "I’m sorry, Cole," I said quietly. I really was. Seeing him like this—so stressed, so worn down—it hurt me in a way I didn’t expect. I didn’t want things to turn out this way. I never wanted to be the reason he looked like this or the reason why another woman was in this mess.But at the same time… the whole situation was kind of hard to ignore.“I told you before,” I said softly, “I want to trust you. I really do. But… you made it difficult for me to do that.”He shook his head slowly, eyes still fixed on me. "This isn't about being difficult, Skylar. This is about the fact that you chose to believe that going to find Amelia would solve something. That s

Skylar I lifted the shot glass.“Another one,” I told the bartender.He didn’t say anything. Just nodded and poured. I wrapped my hand around the small glass, brought it to my lips, and threw it back in one gulp.It burned.Hot.Sharp.The taste spread across my tongue like fire, bitter and biting, like something was clawing its way down my throat. I shut my eyes for a second and frowned hard, my hand landing on the table to steady myself. My chest tightened slightly, but I welcomed the burn. It distracted me, numbed the part of me that still ached.My phone buzzed.I looked down.Amber.I hit the red button. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Not her. Not anyone. What would she or anyone probably want to say to me? Some motivational quotes or something?Since the news leaked in the morning, I’d felt empty. Like someone had scooped out my insides and left me to walk around hollow. But what made it worse was that Cole hadn’t even tried to reach me. No calls. No texts. Not even a

Amelia"You’ll be going home soon, dear," the middle-aged nurse said with a kind smile. Her voice was soft, motherly, like she was trying to comfort a child. "You just need a little more rest and you’ll be discharged. You should learn to love yourself more, sweetheart. God loves you. You are not alone."I gave her a faint smile and nodded slowly, but deep inside, I just wanted her to leave. Her voice felt like noise in my head, and her words, even worse. I didn’t ask for this little sermon. Did I tell her I was tired of life? Did I ever say I didn't know exactly what I was doing when I cut myself and took those pills?No, I didn’t.But here she was, preaching about loving myself like she knew the first thing about me. Oh, please. All this talk about self-love—as if that solved anything. Of course, I loved myself. That was why I did what I did. I was fighting for my future… for my place in Cole's life, and I was doing everything I could to secure it.Still, she wouldn't just stop. “Do

SkylarEven as my heart felt like it was carrying the weight of the entire world, I still had to go to work. I had stared at my reflection in the mirror for ten whole minutes after brushing my teeth and taking my bath, wondering if I had the strength to face the day.But what choice did I have? I couldn’t keep hiding. I couldn’t keep locking myself inside this house when the trouble itself had made a home right under the same roof.With that thought, I dragged myself to my closet, picked out a navy blue blouse and black skirt, then applied light makeup to mask the tired lines under my eyes. I brushed my hair into a neat low bun, slipped into my heels, and took a long breath.I had to act normal. At least try.I grabbed my bag and made my way downstairs. Just as I reached the final step, my eyes landed on Cole seated at the dining hall, a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. His eyes met mine."You’re off to work already?" he asked quietly.I didn’t answer. I kept walking."Skylar,

ColeI finally headed to the office for work, and immediately I got there, I made my way to Xavier’s office.He was on a call, but when he saw me, he quickly ended it and stood up.“Cole,” he said, “Good to have you here.”“Anything new?” I asked, skipping the small talk as I sat across from him.“Yeah,” he replied, his voice sharp and straight to the point. “The photo that got leaked—it was taken by one of the nurses working at the hospital. Her younger brother is a junior journalist for an online gossip blog. He was the one who posted it online without thinking.”My jaw tightened. “Handle it. Both of them. They need to face the consequences. I want the hospital to know too. There should be no room for this kind of nonsense.”“Understood,” Xavier replied. “I’ll take care of it.”“Good,” I said.He gave me a short nod and picked up his phone.The rest of the day went by in a blur. I was there, but my mind kept wandering—to Skylar, to the house, to everything that had happened recently