Lahat ng Kabanata ng Betrayed by One, Loved by the Billionaire : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 59

I slipped into the back seat of the dark Rollys Royce car, my shoulders tense, my hands trembling around the straps of my handbag. The lights in the cars interiors flickered on softly, and I felt exposed, like the pale in my cheeks and the redness in my eyes were suddenly on display for everyone in front of me to see.The driver, calm and middle-aged with steady eyes, looked at me through the rearview mirror.“Ms. Stone,” he asked gently, “everything okay back there?”I forced myself to sit up straight even though my chest felt tight.“Yes,” I lied quietly. “Just a really long day. Please just take me home.”He nodded. “Of course, ma’am. Let’s do that immediately.”But the moment we pulled away from the curb, the air in the SUV felt like it thickened around me even though there was the air conditioner was on. I stared out the window, watching the streetlights blur into smeared streaks of lines. My thoughts kept spiraling—Alex’s cold voice, the argument, Tatiana’s name slipping from hi

I knew there was something wrong with the conference room the moment I stepped inside it.For some strange reason I had been summoned yet again and ask to me in the conference which was too quiet that I could hear my own breathing in my ears. The long table in the room looked like it had just been polished a few minutes ago. It looked like the scene of a crime with how things were wiped down.Alex walked in beside me a few minutes later, his presence steady but restrained. He said nothing to me, not even a good morning and that was enough to let me know that he was still annoyed with how things had turned out. Our lawyer, Mr. Hart, moved ahead of us, before gesturing for all of us to sit “Good morning everyone,” Martin’s lawyer said after about an hour of waiting for him and Martin to arrive. “Forgive our tardiness.” “We’re here in the interest of resolving this matter privately, without unnecessary escalation.”“Privately,” Martin echoed, his eyes never leaving me. “Which is m

The quiet hit me the moment I shut the door behind me. I locked it the same way I did every day, whenever I returned. They proceeded to do my usual ritual of resting my forehead against the wood. My bag slipped from my shoulder and dropped to the floor with a dull thud I didn’t bother reacting to. My heels followed immediately, kicked off without care, one of them skidding toward the wall.I stayed there longer than necessary.When I finally pushed away from the door, my body protested immediately. My lower back was tight, my neck stiff, my jaw aching from hours of clenching. I rolled my shoulders once and winced, then exhaled slowly through my nose like I was trying to teach myself how to breathe again.“Okay,” I murmured to the empty apartment. “Okay, let’s do this.”Those words didn’t convince anyone.I fished my phone out of my coat pocket and scrolled without really looking, muscle memory taking over. When I saw Lois’s name, I didn’t hesitate. I hit call before I could sec

I turned sharply toward the voice at the reception desk, my body reacting before my mind could catch up.“Brian?” The name tore out of me, like an animal filled with disbelief.The waiting room noise dulled instantly, like someone had pressed a hand over the world. I stepped closer, my shoes striking the floor louder than they should have. “What are you doing here?” My voice rose despite myself. “Why are you asking questions about my father?”Brian stared at me like I was the last person he expected to see. His brows pulled together, surprise flickering quickly into something guarded. “Chloe?” He straightened. “How did you even know Derek was here?”The question immediately struck me as wrong.My shoulders squared. “Why wouldn’t I know?” I snapped. “He’s my father. Why are you here?”“I came to see my father-in-law,” Brian said, his tone calm but firm, like he was bracing for impact.I laughed after hearing those same untrue words again. “No. You didn’t.” I stepped closer,