All Chapters of Surrendering to the Billionaire : Chapter 31

Mia’s POVThe first thing I noticed when I woke was the silence. Not the oppressive silence of loneliness, but a softer kind—the kind filled with the faint tick of a clock, the occasional creak of wood, the distant murmur of life somewhere else in the house. My body still hurt, but not in the sharp, unbearable way of last night. Now it was manageable, like a dull echo reminding me that I had survived. My ribs twinged when I shifted, my eye throbbed when I blinked, but I could breathe. I was alive.I turned my head carefully, and my heart squeezed at the sight of Matthew. He was in the chair beside my bed, slouched slightly, his head resting against his hand. His eyes were closed, but the tension in his shoulders and the rough stubble on his jaw spoke of sleepless hours. He looked like a man holding himself together with sheer force of will.A strange warmth flickered through me. He hadn’t left. Not once.“Matthew,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.His eyes snapped open instantly, sharp a