All Chapters of The Billionaire's Regret: Chapter 281 - Chapter 290

It's night, I brought wine into the library because apparently when your life started resembling a family investigation with the possibility that your own fiancé had betrayed you, Cabernet was still a socially acceptable coping mechanism.Sebastian came in a few minutes later.He didn’t ask why I’d chosen the library, didn’t suggest the study, didn’t call Luca, and most importantly, didn’t say the four words I had already prepared myself to hate.I told you so.Instead, Sebastian took the bottle from my hand, poured a little more into my glass, then looked at me sitting on the floor with my back against the sofa.One eyebrow lifted.Then, without commenting on the empty sofa behind me that probably cost as much as a small car, Sebastian sat on the floor too.Right beside me.I glanced at him. “Your pants are going to wrinkle.”“I’ll recover.”I took a sip of wine.Annoying.Even sitting on the carpet, he still looked like he was doing an editorial shoot titled Billionaires Have Feelin

Hazel came over again two days later carrying croissants, oversized sunglasses, and the expression of someone trying a little too hard to look casual.I was in the conservatory with Poppy when the staff showed her in. Poppy was sitting on the floor with one foot inside the dress-up box, wearing a crooked tiara and a purple cape that had actually come from the decor in her new room, while I checked GALA emails with a cold coffee that had already given up on being a beverage.Hazel took off her sunglasses the second she saw us. “Still alive.”“Disappointing, I know.”“A little.”Poppy looked up. “Aunt Hazel, I’m princess.”Hazel stopped mid-step and looked at the cape dragging a potted plant behind her. “I can see that.”“I also have three best friends.”“Only three?”I pointed at Hazel. “Don’t start. Sebastian already has her believing networking is a preschool skill.”Hazel laughed, then kissed the top of Poppy’s head before sitting on the sofa.For a few minutes, everything was norma

Adrian left around early evening.Poppy hugged him briefly in the foyer, then hugged Salma and said she’d call Jasmine later.He did everything like normal.That might have been the part that hurt the most.I waited until the front door closed, until the sound of the car disappeared down the driveway, then walked straight to the security room without saying a word to anyone.Luca was there with Sebastian.Two monitors glowed in front of them.Sebastian stood with both hands braced on the table, his shirt sleeves still rolled up, his face already back to the one people probably saw right before signing terrible decisions for other companies.Cold.Not angry.Worse.Luca looked up when I walked in.“I heard it,” I said.No one asked what.Sebastian looked at me.I pointed at the monitor. “Hazel got Tuesday.”Luca nodded once.“Adrian just said Tuesday.”Nothing dramatic changed in the room.No sirens.No dramatic reveal flashing across the screen.Just one small sentence dropping betwee

We didn’t actually sit down until almost an hour later.The library was too soft for a conversation like this, and the security room had too many monitors, so Luca eventually took over a small conference room on the east side of the mansion.Papa Sebastian sat at the head of the table with an expression cold enough to cancel several acquisitions without opening his mouth, while Mama Sebastian sat beside him, still wearing a cashmere robe thrown over her sleep clothes.Rhea sat across from me with both hands wrapped around a mug of coffee she was no longer drinking.Sebastian stood.Of course.Apparently the man was physically incapable of discussing family betrayal while sitting like a civilian.On the large screen, Luca laid out the timeline.Five years ago.Kelsey was given broader access to the executive office.Hazel received a credential through a Romano legacy channel via Adrian.Sebastian’s location data was pulled.Kelsey planted the photos, bracelet, messages, hotel evidence.

Luca hadn’t even had time to give a second order when Adrian laughed.Not a laugh I had ever heard from him before.Not warm. Not amused because Poppy said broccoli had a bad personality. Not exasperated because Salma was complaining about his weight. The sound was short and empty, and then he rubbed one hand over his mouth while looking at Sebastian like something that had been waiting for years had finally been given permission to come out.“Of course.”Sebastian stood between us, his shoulders still relaxed.“What?”“Even now.” Adrian pointed at the security behind Luca, then the vault wall, the house above our heads, all of it. “You say one name and everybody moves.”Sebastian didn’t answer.Adrian shook his head and laughed again. “You don’t even know what that feels like.”“Adrian,” Papa Sebastian said from behind us.Only then did I realize their parents had come downstairs with Rhea. Mama Sebastian stopped near the corridor entrance, her face pale when she saw Poppy in my arms