All Chapters of LOST IN THE BILLIONAIRE'S SCANDAL: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Maya's Point of ViewSunbeams bathed the living room floor in warm amber colored stripes and Lee and Sami cast long shadows as they huddled over a sheet of paper between them. Markers fell off the surface of the coffee table and were abandoned as they giggled over a silly drawing Lee had made of a bunny eared dragon. The mood was relaxed and warm. I was in the kitchen slicing apples into thin fans for their snack, enjoying the lightheartedness of it all. Adam was sitting across from them, half-absentminded lost in some work on his laptop. But his eyes kept going to the kids, lingering longer than necessary. Watching them together, laughing, and rubbing shoulders. "Okay, who wants apples and peanut butter?" I yelled out. "Me!" Lee shrieked, jumping up.Sami didn't answer. I noticed the change immediately.He slowly gathered up the markers that had been strewn about, head down, not even looking at Lee. Then he simply got up and moved past us, going down the hall in the direction of h

Maya's POVThe clock on the wall read 2:18 AM in soft red figures. The TV was still on, now silenced, throwing stuttering shadows against the living room wall. I was snuggled under a blanket, though I wasn't cold. I still couldn't sleep. I would doze, only to wake time and time again, Adam's scent still on the pillow I had picked from the room. I had no idea what kept me awake, restlessness? curiositym? Or the creeping, crawling sensation that something in this house was always on the verge of being revealed.I got up, went into the kitchen to fetch water but did not get any further. My legs carried me to the hallway, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of Adam's office door. The door was shut but not locked.I hesitated a little, my fingers on the handle. I wasn't being nosy, technically. I just wanted to see my mans work space. That piece of him that he never spoke of. That piece which seemed frozen in time, even when the rest of him operated on his schedule like a watch.

Chapter 35 Maya's POVThe day following the headlines was like moving through a house built of eggshells. Every creak, every quiet whisper, every glance out the window to the gate where the paparazzi still lingered felt like it could shatter something delicate into unfixable bits. I fought to hold on to routine. Attempted to laugh at Lee's stories and compliment her buns for being nice, attempted to flip pancakes that were super blueberry-ful for Sami, attempted not to pay attention to how my name was now being mentioned on hashtags not belonging to me.And worse, it felt like Adam had changed.It wasn't in any direct way. He was still here, still with me. He did dishes today. He brushed Sami's hair in the morning. He folded laundry too, next to me on the couch. But there was something different, some sort of weight. Something hollow behind the curve of his mouth. Something distant in the way he had held me at night, not tighter, not looser, just differently. Like I was both anchor a

Maya's POV It started with the ragged sound of his breathing.His steady breathing usually lulled me to sleep whenever I slept next to him, but right now, it was a harsh, irregular gulp. As if he was drowning in the middle of the desert. I opened my eyes and was shaken by the sight of the thick darkness, the moonlight cutting through the blinds in narrow strips. I turned my head swiftly. Adam was still sleeping but he was struggling and trembling. He was soaked in his own sweet and he wimpered below the sheets. “Adam.” No response. “Adam.” I called again and he jerked up with a start. I watched him try to understand what was happening and slowly he rose into a sitting position. Adam sat along the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, with his head bent low. The sheet had fallen from his back, showing the tight lines of his shoulders, the contour of his muscles beneath skin. His hands were clenched in his hair. I stood up slowly. "Adam?"He didn't stir. I bent over, tracing my hand d

Maya's POVMy wine glass was half full. Adam's words hovered over us, warm and comforting like a blanket."You're not just the light in my house, Maya. You're the reason I still want to build one."I don't know how long we sat there. Minutes… maybe an hour but we didn't talk anymore. We didn't have a need to. The silence between us was the kind that didn't need to be disturbed. It spoke everything through the nearness of our shoulders and the sky over our heads. This silence felt like home. A while later, Adam suggested we head inside. I was slowly getting used to him sleeping in my bed. We didn't necessarily need to be intimate, we just enjoyed each others warmth andcompany. We were barely setteled in when we heard a soft knock on the door. It sounded like who ever was there wasn't sure they should disturb our peace but did it anyway.Adam's eyebrows shot up."I'll get it," I said, standing up and moving towards the door. As I pushed open the door, the hallway light fell on a tiny