Champagne and Scrutiny

My black dress fell straight to my ankles, simple in the front, smooth through the waist, with thin straps over my shoulders that made them look longer without making it seem like I was trying too hard.I turned a little, studying my reflection. Not bad.I picked up my clutch, smoothed a strand of hair near my temple, then stepped out and turned toward Sienna’s room first.I opened the white door carved with seashells.The mermaid room still looked like someone had taken the ocean, soothed it, and set it gently inside four walls. Tiny starfish-shaped lights glowed softly. A smiling whale stretched across the mural on the wall. On the pale blue round rug, Sienna sat with her legs sprawled wide, short hair messy, bangs falling over her forehead, working on a puzzle with the kind of grave concentration that suggested the fate of entire nations rested on the clownfish piece in her left hand.Angela sat beside her, propping her chin on one hand, clearly deep into boredom mode.Sushi was cu

We Look Good in Ruins

There it was.Finally.I turned to her fully. “A lot of people also think gluten is the greatest threat facing humanity. Life is full of confusion.”She gave a laugh, but her eyes didn’t retreat all the way. “I just mean... the two of you look very well matched.”I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.From the outside, we looked like the kind of couple who knew each other down to the smallest habits. The cold man who only softened beside his wife. The beautiful wife, and yes, my self-confidence was probably a public hazard, who knew exactly when to speak, when to stay quiet, and how to stand under public attention without wavering.When in reality, I was standing next to the man who had once wrecked me, now tending our image with a perfection that was almost romantic, while half the room seemed ready to hate me or admire me for all the wrong reasons.Nicholas returned before I could follow that thought too far. His hand settled at my back again, light, precise, as if he knew the exact

Old Keys, Old Ghosts

Nicholas moved first. He laid a light hand against my lower back, guiding me away from the dessert table, away from the pillar, away from the man in the black tux who had just made the back of my neck feel like it had been doused in ice water.“Going home?” I asked quietly.“Not yet.”“Where are we going?”“I need to pick something up.”“Where?”“My old penthouse.”The private elevator took us down to the lobby. Manhattan’s night air slapped me across the face the second the building doors opened. The driver was already waiting beside a gleaming black sedan. Nicholas opened the door for me. I got in without a word.The car glided past rows of city lights. The window reflected my face in a faint blur, and New York beyond the glass looked like an old rich woman who was still beautiful, still cold, and knew every secret her city had ever buried.Nicholas sat beside me and immediately reached for his phone. His tie was already slightly loosened.“What did you see in that man back there?”

Before I Knew Better

FlahsbackThere had been nights in this penthouse when everything felt far too ordinary to be suspicious.I sat on the long sofa by the window, laptop open across my thighs, one tender file to my left, one spreadsheet glowing on the screen, and a glass of water I still hadn’t touched since setting it down fifteen minutes ago. City lights spilled across the tall glass, and New York shimmered outside like a woman who had dressed on purpose to ruin lives.My white blouse was still neat, at least the parts people could see. My blazer had already been tossed over the back of a chair. My heels were lying somewhere because Nicholas had told me I was “too loud” every time I paced across his wooden floors.“I need the final numbers before morning,” I muttered, typing. “If this shipping section is off by even one percent, legal is going to drop dead as a group.”No answer.Just the warm weight in my lap.Nicholas was stretched out along the sofa, ankles crossed in lazy comfort, shirt sleeves ro

Acts of Efficiency

It had been three days since that fucking little nostalgia trip in the penthouse of that damn amnesiac boy, and Manhattan bit at the tip of my nose as I stepped out of the car and stopped in front of Sea & Sun’s new building with a coffee too expensive to be worth what it cost.Three days ago, this space had still felt like a promise made too fast. Empty, cold, and full of possibilities that could keep me stressed out at three in the morning.Still...today was going to be a mess.I’d woken up with a mental list long enough to make a sane person change religions. At least Sienna was already taken care of. Off to school with Angela glued to her side and one of Nicholas’s drivers behind the wheel, looking more put together than most men in New York. I wasn’t too worried about the social part. Sienna could walk into a strange room and, five minutes later, act like she owned the building.Too bad, I had less charming survival skills.The chandelier for the meeting room still wasn’t confirm

Hot Glue and Heart Damage

It was almost eight by the time I got back to Nicholas’s mansion.I came through the foyer with sore shoulders, aching heels, and a bag full of samples that had suddenly gained an extra seven pounds because apparently I was also hauling home my irritation.I caught the soft glow of the kitchen lights, the distant sound of the TV from the family room, and the faint smell of grilled cheese mixed with hot glue.I stopped for a second.Hot glue?Angela came out from the pantry carrying a bowl of popcorn. “Don’t too loud,”I slipped off my blazer. “Why does this luxury mansion smell like a craft store and make bad decisions?”Angela tipped her chin toward the family room.I turned.Then went still.Nicholas was sitting on the floor, half leaning against the sofa, his long legs bent any which way, still in his work shirt. His tie was gone. The top two buttons were open. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows. His phone lay sideways across one thigh, the screen full of emails. There was a sin

Todos los capítulos de Mr Billionaire's Borrowed Wife: Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 36

Champagne and Scrutiny

We Look Good in Ruins

Old Keys, Old Ghosts

Before I Knew Better

Acts of Efficiency

Hot Glue and Heart Damage