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Home / Romance / Hiding The Billionaire's Son After Divorce / Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

All Chapters of Hiding The Billionaire's Son After Divorce : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

118 Chapters

Chapter 71

Luka's POV By the time we reached the final slide, I could see the shift in the room. Those who had skeptical expressions at first had it replaced by interest and some of them were actually nodding along with the conclusions we'd drawn."So," I said, closing out the presentation. "The question isn't whether this is a good opportunity, it's whether we're willing to take it before our competitors do. I'm confident this is the right move for the company, I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't. But the decision is yours."Mr Harrison was the first to speak after a long moment of silence. "I'll admit, when I came in here today I was prepared to vote no. But you've made a compelling case, the data supports your projections, I'm willing to approve the investment."One by one, the other board members voiced their agreement. By the time we finished going around the table, the vote was finalized. The project was approved with full funding."Excellent," I kept my face straight and cold even th

Chapter 72

Valeria's POV I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. No matter how hard I tried to push it from my mind, it kept coming back, replaying over and over until I wanted to scream. We'd been arguing on that balcony, both of us angry and saying things we probably shouldn't have, but then Luka had just grabbed me and kissed me like he had every right to.The worst part wasn't even the kiss itself, it was how I'd responded to it. How I'd melted against him, how I'd kissed him back like I'd been waiting for it. I hated that about myself, hated that after everything he'd put me through, one kiss was all it took to make me forget why I was supposed to hate him.And then to make it all worse, he walked away, like it never mattered.I'd been working from home for the past few days, trying to stay busy enough that my brain didn't have time to wander back to that moment. But even sitting at my desk going through reports and emails, I could feel the ghost of his lips on mine. No matter how much I

Chapter 73

Valeria's POV David laughed and I found himself joining.“He sounds like a really interesting kid.” He quipped.“He is. I swear I have no idea where he got his brain from. At his age, I was still struggling to count to five hundred. I always got stuck on the digits with double nines but my sweet child has gone through several encyclopedias and thesauri. Sometimes I fear he's growing too fast and that if this keeps up, he won't be able to enjoy life.”“Uh, Valeria. Don't think like that, it makes you sound like a wet noodle.” He teased.“A wet noodle, really?” I rolled my eyes and he grinned.“Yes, it's what teens are using these days but you get the idea. It's obvious you've got a very gifted child who would be the envy of many parents. As long as you aren't the one forcing him to do it and he's enjoying himself, I say let him read all the books in the public library. If he runs out of books, just get him some more. Problem solved.”“You're right.” I sighed. “Sometimes I worry for no

Chapter 74

Valeria's POV The invitation was clear. I should have said no, and thanked him for the conversation then gone home to my safe and boring life. But something in me rebelled against that idea.I was tired of being the perfect woman, the one who always did the right thing, who put everyone else's needs before her own. I was thirty years old but had only had sex once in my entire life. Could you even call it sex when Luka had been drunk out of his mind, thinking he was with someone else?I deserved better than that. I deserved to experience pleasure, to live a little and stop holding myself back from sexual experiences.Maybe it was the alcohol lowering my inhibitions. Or maybe it was the need to prove I was over Luka and that his kiss hadn't affected me all that much. Whatever the reason, I found myself nodding."Yes," I heard myself say. "Let's get out of here." He took my hand and led me through the crowd toward the exit. We didn't talk much on the way out.He hailed a cab and soon w

Chapter 75

Luka's POV The bar Cassandra had chosen was small but nice, the kind of place where professionals went to unwind after work. I'm glad because she didn't take me to any of those pretentious fancy bars downtown. We'd grabbed a corner booth away from the main crowd, ordered drinks and settled into what should have been a simple celebration of our successful board meeting."So my younger brother," Cassandra was saying, already on her second glass of wine, "he decided it would be a great idea to surprise our mother for her birthday by repainting her entire living room without asking her what color she wanted.""Let me guess," I replied, nursing my whiskey. "She hated it?""Worse," Cassandra laughed and when she did, I looked up from my drink surprised by how sweet it sounded… like Isis. "He painted it this horrible lime green because he read somewhere that green was supposed to be calming. Our mother took one look at it, burst into tears, then made him repaint the entire thing that same d

Chapter 76

Luka's POV Everything she said made sense from a logical standpoint. The bar was closing and we were stuck, the hotel was the most practical solution. But the idea of being in a hotel room alone with Cassandra while my brain kept insisting she reminded me of Isis was dangerous. I wasn't so sure about this. I wasn't sure I could trust myself."I don't know," I hedged. "Maybe we should just wait here until they kick us out, see if the rain lets up?""Do you have a family waiting at home?" Cassandra asked suddenly.The question caught me off guard. "What does that have to do with anything?"She shrugged. "I figured you were against the hotel idea because you have a wife and kids at home. And maybe not coming home tonight would make them worry."I was quiet for some moments as I thought about it. Valeria and Elliot was a good excuse to avoid this situation. But the words that came out were, "That's not the case."Which was technically true. Valeria and I barely had a relationship beyond

Chapter 77

Luka's POV When dinner arrived, brought by room service on covered plates, the tension eased slightly. The dinner came with drinks and a bottle of champagne. Cassandra instantly went for the champagne, acting way too eager for someone who'd just come from a bar. It could just be that she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Then again, why waste good alcohol?Having something to focus on besides the awkwardness certainly helped. We ate mostly in silence at first, until Cassandra started talking about movies she'd seen recently."Have you seen that new thriller everyone's talking about?" she asked, her words slightly slurred. "The one with the unreliable narrator?""I don't get to the movies much," I admitted. "I'm usually too busy with work.""You should make time," she suggested, reaching for her champagne glass again. "All work and no play, you know the saying."I watched as she drained what had to be her fourth glass, noticing the flush spreading across her cheeks. She hadn't stoppe

Chapter 78

Luka's POV For a moment, just one moment, I let myself respond. My hands moved from her shoulders to her waist. My mouth captured hers in a slow but deep kiss.But then reality crashed back in.This wasn't right. She was drunk, I was sober enough to know better. She worked for me, there were power dynamics at play here that made consent murky at best. And more than any of that, this wasn't what I actually wanted.I pulled back, breaking the kiss even as she tried to follow me. "No," I stated firmly. "Cassandra, no. This isn't happening.""Why not?" she whined, hurt flickering across her flushed face. "Don't you think I'm attractive?"Shit, I shouldn't have let her drink so much champagne. I didn't know she was a lightweight."That's not the point," I replied gently but firmly, removing her arms from around my neck. "You're intoxicated, you're my employee, this would be a mistake for both of us."To my chagrin, she started giggling. "You want to do it on the floor, instead?""No, that

Chapter 79

Valeria's POV I barely slept at night. I kept tossing and turning in my bed while my mind replayed the encounter with David over and over. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself in that hotel room. I felt his hands on my skin, his lips on my mouth, his fingers trailing the length of my hips, and each time I remembered the moment I'd realized I couldn't go through with it, I shuddered. Luka was always at the forefront of my thoughts and it made me constantly angry. The shame was suffocating. What kind of person was I? I was very much an adult, yet I was acting like some confused teenager who couldn't figure out her own feelings. I'd tried to prove I was over Luka by sleeping with someone else, but no, I proved otherwise. I still had buried feelings for a man who'd made my life miserable for three years, who blamed me for Isis' death, and even worse, knew that I still harboured feelings for him, else why would he kiss me then walk away without a word?What did he plan to achieve

Chapter 80

Valeria's POV "I'm just stressed from work," I made up, hating that I had to lie to him, but not seeing another option. "Sometimes grown up problems are complicated."Elliot studied me for a moment, clearly not entirely convinced but wanting to let it slide. "You know what you need? An outing. We should go somewhere fun, take your mind off work stuff.""An outing?" I repeated, incredulous. It'd been so long. "Yeah! We could go to the park, or that museum with all the dinosaur bones, or there's that aquarium downtown that you keep promising that we would see but we never go to. Or… we could watch cartoons and eat popcorn together. Whatever you want, just something to help you relax."My heart warmed in my chest. It was sweet of him to suggest places that we could go together to get things off my chest. It was just so typically him, never wanting to see me in a bad mood. He was right too, sitting around the mansion dwelling on my failures wasn't helping anyone. Some time out, doing so

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