บททั้งหมดของ The Billionaire's Regret: บทที่ 171 - บทที่ 180

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

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

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

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

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