Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 29

AVA The sunlight brushed against my face like soft fingers, coaxing me out of a sleep so warm and heavy I didn’t want to let it go. It was the first time in a long time I’d slept this peacefully. No tossing. No restless thoughts. Just the steady rhythm of his breathing beside me, the weight of his arm curled protectively around my waist through the night.We hadn’t done anything—just lay there. Cuddled. And somehow that had been enough to make me feel safe. To make the world, even with all its chaos, feel a little less heavy.I rolled onto my side, half-expecting to find him still there, but the space beside me was empty, the sheets warm but abandoned. A faint sound carried through the quiet room—the shower running in his bathroom.A soft flutter sparked in my chest as I sat up, brushing hair from my face. I’m really waking up in his bed. In his room. Because he’d insisted—“If Vivienne’s going to doubt what I said about you being my fiancée,” he’d told me last night, “then she’ll hav

COLTON The hum of the engines was a low, steady growl beneath me, but it did nothing to calm the storm brewing in my chest. I sat in the first-class cabin, jaw tight, hands fisted on my knees as the plane sliced through the clouds toward Zurich, Switzerland—the place Jonathan swore Nathan was hiding.Every mile closer only made the fury simmer hotter. Nathan had run halfway across the damn world, but he wouldn’t be able to hide forever. Not from me. Not after what he’d done to my sister. ---After what felt like a lifetime in the air, the plane finally touched down with a soft jolt, the wheels screeching lightly against the runway. I didn’t wait for the flight attendants’ rehearsed politeness. The moment the seatbelt sign went off, I was on my feet, coat slung over my arm, and moving fast.Jonathan was already waiting outside in a black SUV, his usual composed expression in place, but the sharpness in his eyes told me he’d found something solid.“Mr. Colton,” he greeted as he opened

AVA The afternoon sun shimmered over the surface of the pool, scattering little diamonds of light that danced across Molly’s face as she floated lazily on her back. Her laughter echoed softly, but it barely reached me. My thoughts were somewhere else—thousands of miles away—with Colton.Three days.Three damn days since I sent him that message.Three days of silence.I shifted on the lounge chair, my fingers tracing aimless circles on my phone screen. The message was still there—seen, but unanswered. A knot twisted in my stomach, heavy and cold.“Earth to Ava,” Molly’s voice called, snapping me from the swirl of worry. I blinked, turning toward her. She was paddling closer, her hair slicked back and her face glowing from the water.“You’re still worried about Colton, aren’t you?” she asked, resting her arms on the pool’s edge.I sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s not like him, Molly. Okay, maybe he’s been quiet before when he’s busy, but this—” I gestured at my pho

AVA The car smelled faintly of cheap cologne and leather—an anonymous scent Nathan always seemed to pick, like everything he did was designed to be forgettable and menacing at once. I pressed my palm flat against the cool glass and watched the city blur into a smear of lights, then pavement, then the careful geometry of suburbs slipping away.Molly had handed me the little necklace that morning like a sacrament: a delicate gold pendant that sat light against my throat. Hidden inside was everything we needed—tiny, silent, smart. She’d also shoved a pair of dark sunglasses into my bag with a conspiratorial wink, telling me to wear them so Nathan would think the necklace was all I’d brought. It felt obscene to hide truth inside jewelry, but it felt more obscene to sit idle while Colton rotted under someone’s lie.The car threaded through traffic, then pushed beyond the city limits. Buildings thinned, streetlights grew distant, and the road opened into the slow rise of hills. The asphalt