Lahat ng Kabanata ng Until The Baby Is Born: CEO's Temporary Fiancee : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

THREE YEARS LATER“Riley, honey? Are you ready?” Margaret’s voice echoed from downstairs, tinged with excitement and impatience. “We’re getting late for the party!”Soft footsteps sounded from the hallway before Riley finally appeared at the top of the staircase.Richard looked up…and froze.For a moment, he didn’t see the fierce, business-savvy woman she had grown into. He saw his little girl, only now wrapped in elegance he wasn’t ready for.Riley descended slowly, her pearl-white gown shimmering with each step, the fabric hugging her waist before falling softly to the floor. Her hair was tied in a delicate low bun with loose strands framing her face. Light makeup softened her features, her diamond earrings catching the hallway light, Asher’s gift from last year, something she still wore often.Richard walked to her almost unconsciously. He cupped her cheek with a trembling hand, eyes warm with pride and something deeper, fear, maybe, or sadness he couldn’t name.“You look like my p

The celebration downstairs was still loud, laughter, clinking glasses, camera flashes slicing through the hall, but Asher had slipped away the moment he could. The hallway was dimmer here, the noise muffled as he pushed open the balcony door and stepped out into the night.Cold air brushed against his jaw as he leaned a shoulder against the rail, posture stiff, back straight. He lit another cigarette with a practiced flick, the flame briefly illuminating his expressionless face. His movements were slow, deliberate, almost detached, like a man conserving what little energy he allowed himself to show.He inhaled deeply, smoke curling around him like a shield.Footsteps approached behind him, light, careful, familiar.Riley stepped onto the balcony, the soft fabric of her gown whispering with each step. The moment she reached him, she gently reached to take the cigarette from his fingers.But Asher moved in one smooth, fluid shift, cold, efficient, pulling his hand away before she could

“Ivy, why are you up this early?” Christopher asked ironically while making his way in with a smirk. He loves annoying her to get the expression out. “I should be asking you that,” Ivy muttered as she brushed past Christopher, already reaching for the cabinets. “What are you doing here early in the morning?”Christopher lifted a brow, slipping into the chair at her dining table with the practiced ease of someone who had made it a habit. He sat back, crossing his arms, looking entirely too at home.She placed a plate in front of him with a mutter, “Here’s your regular.”He didn’t have to ask, she already knew what he wanted. Maybe because he's always here. Two slices of buttered sourdough toast, scrambled eggs cooked the way he liked them, soft, creamy, with just enough chili flakes to give a kick, grilled cherry tomatoes seasoned with rosemary, and a few slices of pear because he always said fruit “balanced him spiritually.”Christopher didn’t comment on how she remembered all that;

Asher stepped out into the hotel’s garden, letting the glass door shut behind him with a muted click. The evening air was cool, crisp, threaded with the soft scent of lavender the landscaping team insisted on planting every season. His hotel, his empire, looked flawless from every angle: marble paths, fairy lights strung through trimmed hedges, water features softly humming. A perfect place for tourists to gasp over and for international businessmen to throw money at.A perfect place to pretend nothing inside him was broken.He pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a practiced flick. The flame briefly illuminated the sharp lines of his face, cold, unreadable, as he took the first drag.But halfway through exhaling, something hit him.A sudden, violent pang right in the center of his chest.Asher stopped moving. His breath stuttered as he clutched his shirt over his heart, eyes narrowing. The world around him blurred, sound dipping for a second like someone pressed a mute button.“Wha

Aurelia’s tiny shoes tapped in uneven, dramatic beats against the polished marble floor as she wandered down the long first-floor hallway of the hotel, her bottom lip jutting out so far it looked like it might fall off. She sniffled loudly, wiping her face with the back of her hand in a way that only made her cheeks redder. For the last ten minutes she had been conducting what she believed was the world’s most reasonable tantrum, but apparently everyone around her, her mother, Elijah, even Chris…had decided today was the day to ignore her suffering entirely.“Stupid grown-ups,” she muttered under her breath, kicking lightly at the air as she toddled along. “I said I wanna go home. Home. Not here. Not a hotel. Not meeting. Home.”She huffed again, crossing her arms so tightly across her tiny chest she looked like a puffed-up squirrel preparing for emotional warfare. Her curls bounced with each determined stomp, and with every step she convinced herself further that she would take hers