Lahat ng Kabanata ng ONE NIGHT STAND WITH MR.BILLIONAIRE : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Melinda’s POV“Ouch…”I woke up with a pounding headache, my whole body hurt, like I’d been hit by a truck. I didn’t know where I was or what had happened. I frowned, feeling uneasy, I was too weak.As dawn crept up, the morning sun shone in. I suddenly opened my eyes, trying to recall of the events that occurred last night.In the first place, how did I end up here on a hotel bed? Shit, I’m naked! All I could recall from last night was having a girl’s night out with Vanessa. After taking a few sips of the sangria Vanessa had brought to me, I passed out.Could it be that my drink had been spiked!? I would need to talk to Vanessa and find out what happened! I gnashed my teeth and walked out of the bed .With every ounce of composure within me; I tried to remain calm as I could.I quickly put on my clothes from the night before, fixed myself up a little, and hurried out of the hotel room. I had to get home fast.Today was our 10th wedding anniversary; I couldn’t wait to tell Andrew th

Melinda’s POVMy heart pounded hard, thudding against my ribs. The weight of betrayal sat heavy in my gut, making me feel sick. Every breath felt shallow, like even the air was filled with disappointment.My life was falling apart. My heart raced. My hands shook on the wheel, but I kept them there tight, my knuckles turned white. I hadn’t stopped crying since I left .My vision blurred as the city lights bled into each other, streaks of gold and red running like wet paint. I blinked hard but the tears kept coming, hot and steady. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be but the ache in my chest said otherwise. This was a bloody nightmare.What was I going to do?It had been over thirty minutes since I walked out of Andrew’s office, and I still had no idea where I was going. I didn’t need a destination. Not yet. Just movement. I needed to feel like I was putting distance between myself and the mess behind me. Only the engine kept going, filling the empty space Andrew and Vanessa had cut out

Melinda’s POVThe early morning light crept through the windshield as I pulled into a grocery store parking lot just outside San Bernardino. It wasn’t much but it was busy and plain enough to swallow me whole. I left the keys under the seat, along with the charger and the old sweatshirt Andrew always hated. He could keep the car. Let him trace it, track it, hunt for me in all the wrong places.I grabbed my overnight bag small, intentional and walked two blocks to the bus station.The ticket agent behind the counter didn’t look up as she printed my ticket. “Vegas,” I said softly, sliding over a few crumpled bills and a name that wasn’t mine. Again.The ride was long. Hot. The silence wasn’t calm. It was weighty, coiled. Pressing hard against my chest.I watched L.A. vanish behind me just dust, cactus and nothing. Motels and diners flashed by, empty and sunburned, like ghosts.No one talked. A few people slept with their mouths open. A baby cried two rows down and didn’t stop until we

James O’Connor wasn’t a man who lost his composure not in boardrooms, not in battles, not in life. But right now, he stood frozen in the middle of the grand atrium of O’Connor Tower, the applause from the ribbon-cutting ceremony dying in his ears like white noise.Melinda Holt.Six years ago, she had been nothing more than a memory stitched into a night of shadows and silk. A night that haunted his dreams for years after burned into his senses like a brand. Her scent, that soft jasmine and amber mix, had lingered in his thoughts long after he told himself to forget.But now she was here. In the flesh.And those weren’t just her eyes staring at him from across the room.Two pairs of them.Blue and hazel-green.One wide with curiosity. The other narrowed in protective suspicion.James’s chest tightened.He didn’t remember moving, but suddenly he was in front of them Melinda standing stiff, regal in her heels, the twins pressed to either side of her. She had that same grace he remembered

He looked less put together than usual. His hair slightly tousled. Shirt wrinkled. Eyes tired.“I couldn’t sleep.”She raised a brow. “So you decided to show up at my door at nearly 10 at night?”“I figured if I called, you wouldn’t answer.”“You figured right.”Silence stretched between them. The kind heavy with what was left unsaid.“May I come in?” he asked.She hesitated. Then stepped aside.James walked in, glancing around like he hadn’t just spent four hours here earlier.Melinda crossed her arms and stood near the kitchen doorway. “So what is it?”James turned to face her. “I need you to know something. I meant it when I said I wasn’t leaving their lives. But this isn’t just about them anymore.”Her stomach twisted. “James”“No, hear me out.” His voice was low but steady. “You made a choice that night to walk away and raise them alone. You didn’t even tell me. I get it. I don’t agree with it but I get it.”Melinda’s jaw tensed.“But now that I’ve met them…” he stepped closer, g