All Chapters of Secret Baby Of the Ruthless Billionaire: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Lisa's povIt started small.At first, it was things I could excuse. A headache here. A tummy ache there. Eddie would bounce back like he always did, full of chatter about kickball games and the mystery of who was stealing all the red crayons in Mrs. Hargrove's class.But after the petting zoo trip, I noticed it.He was quieter. His tiger face paint had faded, but the spark in his eyes seemed to dim too. I told myself he was just tired. We'd had a long day. I was tired too.But then came the mornings."Mom," he whispered one Thursday, his face pale against his pillow, "my legs feel weird."I smoothed his hair back, heart stuttering in my chest. "Weird how, sweetheart?""Like... heavy. Like I ran a million miles in my sleep."I forced a smile. "Maybe you're turning into a superhero. Gotta test those powers out somehow."He gave me a weak grin, but didn't bounce out of bed like usual. I called Claire."Probably a growth spurt," she said cheerfully over the phone. "Dom went through a pha

Lisa's povThe worst thing about all of this was the waiting.Waiting for test results.Waiting for doctors to come around on their morning checks.Waiting for Eddie's next fever to spike, or the next alarming beep on the monitor.But mostly, I waited for something - anything - to tell me this was going to be okay.Spoiler alert: nothing ever did.I woke up on the lumpy pullout chair in Eddie's hospital room with a crick in my neck and the taste of bad coffee still on my tongue. The sun was slanting through the blinds in those thin, sharp lines that made the room look lonelier than it did at night.Eddie was awake.I could always tell before I opened my eyes. The silence felt different when he was sleeping - heavier somehow. Now, even though he was barely making a sound, the air felt lighter.I sat up, groaning a little, and peered over at him.He was pale, his hair sticking to his forehead in sweat-damp strands, but he was propped up against a pillow, thumbing through one of the dog-

Lisa's POVI never thought I'd see Bryan Ryke again.Not here. Not like this.The last time I laid eyes on him, I was walking out of a hotel suite at dawn, my heart in pieces and my pride trailing behind me like a torn veil. I left him sleeping and promised myself I'd forget him. That night wasn't supposed to mean anything.But it did.It gave me Eddie.And now here he was - standing in the doorway of my son's hospital room like some storm I never saw coming. Older, sharper, still devastatingly handsome in a way that made my stomach clench with something I refused to name. His jaw was tighter than I remembered. That same cold, calculating glint in his eyes.Except when he looked at Eddie.That did something to me."Looks like you've been busy," Bryan said, his voice low, a note of something I couldn't read tucked beneath the sarcasm.I hated him for saying it. Hated myself for the guilt that immediately prickled under my skin.But it wasn't about us. Not now.I forced my voice to work

Bryan's pov I wasn't afraid of needles. I'd stared down hostile boardrooms, ruthless competitors, journalists armed with damning evidence, and an estranged half-brother who once tried to kill me over an inheritance dispute. Compared to all that, a simple blood test should've been nothing. But as I sat in that narrow, overly bright room with its antiseptic smell and beige walls, something in my chest felt... tight. The nurse, a short, brisk woman with tired eyes, tied a band around my arm and didn't bother making small talk. Good. I wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. I flexed my fist when she told me to. Watched the needle slide in, blood filling the vial. It should've been routine, clinical. But all I could think about was the little boy lying in that hospital bed down the hall. My son. Christ. Even now, the word didn't feel real in my head. I'd built an empire from nothing. Bought and sold companies like poker chips. Had my name splashed across Forbes covers and fi

Lisa's pov The morning light seeped through the half-open hospital blinds, casting soft, pale stripes across Eddie's face. He was still sleeping, his tiny chest rising and falling in steady little breaths, his lashes dark against his cheeks.I didn't move.I sat beside him, one leg curled beneath me on the narrow chair, holding his small hand in both of mine. I'd lost count of how many hours I'd been here, how many sleepless nights had bled into days.But in this moment, none of that mattered.It was just him and me.I traced my thumb over the back of his hand, feeling the fine, almost translucent skin stretched over fragile bones. There were faint bruises from too many IVs and blood tests. A thin line of tape held the current one in place. I hated it - every mark, every needle, every sterile smell of this place.He stirred a little, his nose wrinkling the way it always did when he was trying to wake up but didn't really want to."Mommy," he mumbled, eyes still shut."I'm here, sweet