All Chapters of The Billionaire's Regret: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

216 Chapters

I Didn’t Move, I Ran

Within twenty minutes, my house had turned into an evacuation operation with preschool accessories.Salma packed like a general preparing for war: Poppy’s medicine, sunscreen, pajamas, two dresses, cardigans, a hairbrush, vitamins, a thermometer, and a plastic bag full of emergency snacks because, according to Salma, civilization always collapsed when a small child got hungry.Poppy packed for herself.Which meant she threw in Barbie, two mismatched Barbie shoes, unicorn stickers, three chocolate coins, one tiny spoon from her toy kitchen, and a rock she claimed “had an aura.”“The rock isn’t coming,” I said.“It’s scared to be alone.”“It’s a rock.”“Mommy, you’re so judgmental.”Salma took the rock and slipped it into the pocket of her apron. “I’ll watch it. If it cries, I’ll call.”Poppy looked relieved.I stared at Salma.Salma stared back. “We choose our battles, Jasmine.”True.Unfortunately.I went upstairs only to grab an overnight bag and a few clothes. On the vanity, my phon

Last Updated : 2026-06-24

The Door With the Anchor

The villa’s front doors opened before we had even reached the last step.Poppy was still on Sebastian’s hip, Bunny wedged between her small chest and Sebastian’s white shirt, while Barbie hung upside down from her other hand like a very fashion-forward war casualty.The second she saw the inside of the house, her mouth formed an O.Not a small O.An O of full respect.“Daddy,” she said quietly.Sebastian looked at her. “Hm?”“Put me down.”I lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”“I need to inspect the castle.” Poppy stared into the foyer ahead of us with wide green eyes and bangs that had fallen over her forehead again.Sebastian lowered her carefully. The second her little feet touched the stone floor, Poppy stood still for three whole seconds.A personal record.The villa clearly had no idea how to be modest.The foyer ceiling rose two stories high, with dark, old wooden beams and a crystal chandelier hanging low enough to make me immediately calculate the chances of my daughter trying to swing

Last Updated : 2026-06-25

The Softest Thing I Ever Lost to Him

Lunch was served on the lower terrace, overlooking a sea so blue it had no manners.A long wooden table sat beneath a pergola covered in climbing vines. Wind from the cliff carried salt, rosemary, and generational wealth. At the far end of the garden, two security men stood far enough away to look uninvolved, but close enough to remind us this was not a vacation. Luca had disappeared somewhere, which meant he was either making someone very scared or very busy.Possibly both.The chef appeared like a supporting character in a French movie: tall, gray-haired, white apron, gentle expression, and the ability to place plates on the table without making a sound.Poppy looked at him with the kind of respect she usually reserved for croissants and herself.“Are you a wizard?” she asked.The chef blinked once.Sebastian answered before the poor man had to choose between lying to a small child or damaging his career.“A little.”Poppy nodded seriously. “I knew it. Pretty food is magic.”The che

Last Updated : 2026-06-26

The Sea Kept Knocking

We left without speaking.In the hallway, the wall lights glowed softly. From Salma’s room at the far end came the low sound of television and dramatic Turkish dialogue that definitely involved betrayal, inheritance, or both.I stopped at the stairs. “I need air.”Sebastian didn’t ask if I was okay.Good.If he had asked, I might have answered, and that would have created a whole new problem.I went downstairs alone, took a glass of water from a staff member who appeared too quickly near the dining room, then walked out to the large balcony on the west side of the villa.Night in Èze had no right to be that beautiful.The sea below was dark and shining. Small lights along the coast looked like jewelry some rich person had dropped and left there because they were too lazy to pick it up. The wind was colder above the cliff, carrying salt and old stone.I stood on the balcony with one hand on the stone railing, the other holding my glass of water.Water.A very adult choice, considering

Last Updated : 2026-06-26

Morning, Addressed Elsewhere

“Mommy.”I pulled the blanket over my ears.“Mommy.”The bedroom door opened wider.“Mommy, wake up. It’s an emergency.”I pressed my face into the pillow.Didn’t move.The villa guest room was too peaceful for an emergency. Pale oyster walls, old wood paneling that didn’t try too hard to look antique, sheer linen curtains over the glass doors leading to a small balcony, and a large bed with a low oak headboard that had somehow convinced my body to sleep almost dreamlessly.Deeply irritating.I should have slept badly.I should have woken up every hour, checked my phone, thought about the unicorn tracker, Kelsey, Adrian, Sebastian, and every form of disaster that came wearing a handsome face.Instead, I slept in a Romano bed that felt like a threat to female independence.Then Poppy climbed onto the mattress.The bed dipped on one side.“Mommy,” she said again, now right behind me.I was sleeping on my stomach.Fatal mistake.Poppy immediately dropped her little body onto my back.“Ug

Last Updated : 2026-06-27

Where He Put Me Back

Poppy chewed the egg solemnly.I waited.She swallowed. “Croissant now?”“One piece.”“A big half?”“One normal piece.”“Normal according to who?”“According to a mother who would still like you to have teeth when you’re five.”Poppy sighed. “Castle breakfast is very complicated.”“Welcome to Mommy’s government.”Luca left the dining room carrying the outer envelope, and the young security officer disappeared with him like he had just delivered a gold-embossed bomb.Poppy finally accepted the piece of croissant I gave her, took a huge bite, then stopped. Her face changed.I looked at her immediately. “What?”She set the croissant down on her plate very carefully. “Mommy.”“Yeah..?”“I need to poop.”“Now?”Poppy nodded seriously. “My body has an announcement.”I closed my eyes for a second.“I’ll take her.” Salma was already on her feet.“I can go by myself,” Poppy said.“You can go by yourself after you stop flooding half the bathroom.”“It was a little waterfall.”Poppy climbed down

Last Updated : 2026-06-28

Ivory Paper, Roman Blood

“We’re going to your family party.”I waited.I don’t know. At least one blink that looked a little more human. A little concern. A little relief. Anything that proved my last sentence hadn’t sounded like I’d just agreed to a marble supplier meeting on Tuesday.Sebastian only looked at me for a second.Then he picked up his phone.His thumb moved quickly across the screen. One message. Two. Then he sent something longer, his face still calm, his shoulders still straight, as if I hadn’t just agreed to walk into a den full of people who had once seen me wearing the Romano name.Yeah. Very romantic.I took the remaining bread from my plate and spread too much butter over it.From the hallway came quick little footsteps, house slippers dragging across the wood floor, then Poppy’s voice arrived before the rest of her.“Mommy!”The dining room door flew open.Poppy stood in the doorway with Bunny tucked under one arm, her bangs a mess again, and the expression of someone who had just won a

Last Updated : 2026-06-29

how to divide a life

Breakfast turned into a small argument between Poppy, Sebastian, and me. Poppy wanted to go to the party and be “little security,” but we said no for several reasons.She also insisted on keeping up with school so she wouldn’t fall behind, until Sebastian offered a solution: a teacher from the French Academy could come to the villa for a short lesson. I was annoyed at first that Sebastian had arranged it without fully asking me, but I agreed once I learned he hadn’t made the decision without talking to me.Poppy was thrilled. She got ready with Salma’s help, then asked Sebastian to take her to the “classroom.” She had no trouble getting Sebastian to do exactly what she wanted, and I could only watch their closeness grow while keeping my own feelings contained.Sebastian’s private driver arrived forty minutes later in a black sedan too clean for ordinary human roads.Miss Lila stepped out from the back seat with a large work bag in one hand and a small box of books in the other. Her blo

Last Updated : 2026-06-30

there was still a key in the lock

I sat up straighter.My fingers stopped around my glass of water.There was no message first. No careful sentence I could read five times before answering.Just a call.I picked up the phone before my courage found somewhere to hide.“Adrian?”“Hi, Jas.”“How are you?” I asked immediately. “Where are you?”On the other end, I heard the soft sound of a door closing. Then footsteps.“I’m at the office,” he said. “Fontvieille.”“The office?”“I went home for a bit. Showered. Changed clothes. Stared at the ceiling like a man who’d just received a terminal diagnosis from PowerPoint.” He let out a short breath. “Then I came here.”“Did you sleep?”“A little.”“That’s a man’s answer for no.”“I slept for forty minutes on the meeting room sofa.”“Adrian.”“I know. Very glamorous.”“Did you eat?”“I had a sandwich.”“What kind of sandwich?”“Why does that sound like an immigration interrogation?”“Because I know you. When you say you ate, you could mean you had coffee and smelled an almond cro

Last Updated : 2026-07-05

an old key in the wrong hands

The glass door behind me slid open softly.I didn’t turn around at first. The villa was full of staff whose footsteps were quieter than rich men’s guilt. But only one person could change the air around me like someone had lowered the temperature in the room without touching the AC.Sebastian stopped a few steps from the table.His shadow fell across the stone floor, long and clean. I saw his reflection in the surface of my water glass: white shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, one hand holding his phone. Too handsome for ten in the morning. Too calm for someone whose family might currently be getting used as a psychological warfare machine by someone else.“I heard Poppy is demanding legal representation for the number seven,” he said.“I support her. Seven has the energy of a man who disappears when you ask about commitment.”“Jas.”Something in his voice shifted.He stood near the door, his eyes resting on my face for a second before dropping to the phone on the table. Maybe he hea

Last Updated : 2026-07-06

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