Billionaire’s Hidden Heir のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

The scent of fresh coffee and vanilla muffins drifted through the tiny café, but Ava barely noticed. She sat tucked into the corner booth, her laptop open, a pile of bills to the side, and her son Liam happily coloring on a placemat beside her.She glanced at the screen again—another rejection. “Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, we’ve decided to go in another direction.”Ava sighed, rubbing her temples. Freelance work wasn’t paying like it used to, and her savings were running thinner by the day. Still, she managed. She always had. For five years, it had just been her and Liam, and that was how she liked it.Until yesterday.Until he returned.She didn’t need the news anchor’s voice to recognize him—Dominic Monroe. The man who had once broken her heart and unknowingly left her with a piece of himself.Ava had stared in disbelief at the television screen in the café’s corner.“Dominic Monroe, CEO of Monroe Industries, has officially returned to New York after five years abr

Ava knew she should have been over it by now.She had spent the last five years convincing herself that what she and Dominic had was temporary—a fling born from chance, not fate. But his sudden reappearance had unraveled everything she worked so hard to bury.And now, he wasn’t just in her thoughts. He was everywhere.It started small. A sleek black car she noticed idling across from Liam’s school. A familiar figure in a crowd near the park. A man in the corner of the bookstore café, reading but always looking up when she passed.He wasn’t confronting her again. Not yet. But he wasn’t hiding either.He was waiting.“Someone sent these flowers for you,” Jill, her manager, said as she walked into the back room holding a bouquet of white tulips.Ava froze.“No card?” she asked, though she already knew.Jill smirked. “Nope. Secret admirer?”Ava forced a smile. “Not exactly.”She waited until Jill left before tossing the bouquet in the break room trash.Later that day, she picked Liam up f

Ava stood at the kitchen sink, staring at the empty mug in her hands. She had been rinsing it for minutes without realizing.The water had gone cold.Everything felt cold.Liam’s question the night before kept echoing through her: “Is Dominic my daddy?”He wasn’t supposed to ask. Not yet. Not before she had figured out how to say the words without breaking.But maybe it was time.She dried her hands and reached for her phone.Ava: We need to talk. Just you and me.Dominic: Name the time. I’ll be there.She chose the park.The one where they’d seen each other for the first time in years. Neutral ground. Familiar enough to ease her nerves, open enough that she wouldn’t feel trapped.He arrived early.Dominic always did that when he wanted to show he was serious.He stood as she approached, eyes filled with questions. He didn’t try to touch her. Just waited.She took a deep breath.“I owe you the truth,” she began.He nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”She sat down on the bench and he joined

Dominic hadn’t slept.The morning sun streamed through the glass walls of his penthouse office, but he barely noticed it. His laptop screen glowed with profiles, transaction records, call logs—everything he’d been gathering on the enemies that had tried to bury him five years ago.Names floated like ghosts across his mind: Veronica Langston. Royce Engineering. Benedict Maddox.These were the people who weaponized a false embezzlement claim, spread it through the media, and left him bankrupt, disgraced, and exiled. And now they were circling again.Because he was becoming a threat.And now he had something far more valuable than reputation: family.He rubbed his temple, staring at the file open before him. Veronica had played a small role—vindictive, yes—but the real threat was Maddox. Ruthless. Strategic. Capable of destroying entire legacies behind closed doors. And from the looks of it, he’d never stopped keeping tabs on Dominic.His phone vibrated.Ava.He answered immediately. “He

The interview aired at 8:00 PM sharp.Dominic and Ava sat together on a studio couch under soft lighting, their hands clasped tightly between them. The host kept her tone gentle, her questions probing but fair.“How long have you two been back in contact?” she asked, eyes flicking between them.“Just recently,” Ava answered, voice calm but firm. “We didn’t part on good terms. And I never expected we’d cross paths again.”“But when we did,” Dominic added, “everything changed.”The host leaned forward slightly. “Tell us about Liam.”Ava smiled softly. “He’s five. He loves dinosaurs, math puzzles, and anything with chocolate. He’s smart. He’s kind. And he’s ours.”The camera caught the way Dominic looked at her—tenderly, protectively. It wasn’t just PR. It was real.“Why keep him a secret?” the host asked.Ava didn’t flinch. “Because I had to. Dominic was facing public disgrace. People were circling like vultures. I couldn’t risk our son being pulled into that.”Dominic’s hand tightened