Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire's Regret: Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

Poppy finished dinner faster than should’ve been remotely possible for a kid who, five minutes ago, had sworn she would never leave her new tea set alone again. The second Salma cleared the last plate and wiped her sticky hands one more time, the little kingdom officially relocated to the living room.Now my rug had a new problem.The blush porcelain tea set had been arranged across the coffee table, neat in the deeply specific kind of chaos only a four-year-old could create. The tiny teapot sat in the middle. Four cups circled around it.The sugar bowl on the left, the milk jug on the right, and in between them, Barbies who clearly had never asked to be invited but had shown up anyway with their own respective attitudes. CEO Barbie sat front and center. Lawyer Barbie stood at a slight angle because, according to Poppy, “she has to see everybody in case there’s a crime.” Doctor Barbie was reclining halfway against a little cushion and, according to Poppy, that wasn’t laziness. That wa

I opened the door.The night air hit my bare shins colder than I expected. This thin cardigan was almost useless. I closed the door quietly behind me.Then I walked.The stone path cutting through the front yard caught the garden lights in small, broken glints. The grass on either side of me shimmered faintly with damp. Beyond the black iron gate, the dark sedan was still there, motionless like some expensive animal that knew it didn’t need to move fast to get under my skin.Sebastian stood by the driver’s door, one hand in his pants pocket, the other hanging loose at his side. Black suit. Dark shirt. His tie loosened just slightly at the throat, enough to suggest he was human and not some arrogant statue lowered straight out of financial hell.Then he lifted his face.And damn it, that look.It didn’t matter how many years had passed. It didn’t matter how much hatred I’d collected and arranged with care like jewelry in a velvet box. Sebastian still had that way of looking at me that

I woke up before the second alarm went off because my body had already beaten it there, carrying that thin, constant sense of unease.I took a quick shower, put on a simple white blouse and tailored black pants, and tied my hair back low for now, before life inevitably wrecked it again because apparently it was deeply committed to making me look a little more exhausted than I deserved.By the time I walked into the kitchen, Salma was already there.The smell of butter, coffee, and something warm and sweet reached me first. Waffle batter was ready in a big bowl. Strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, and honey were laid out across the counter.Salma turned, one brow lifting slightly when she saw my face, and held out a mug of coffee.I had just taken my first sip when the sound of little footsteps thundered down the hall. Poppy appeared in the kitchen doorway/ Her long hair was wild, her bangs covering one eye, her chubby cheeks still flushed with sleep, Bunny dragging from one hand

Only then did I hand him my phone.His fingers touched the edge of the case. He took it without letting his skin brush mine any longer than necessary. I hated that even in this, he had discipline.Sebastian read fast. Really fast. His eyes dropped, scanned, stored. His thumb tapped the number once, held there for a beat, then lifted. He didn’t open any strange app. Just looked.“What?” I asked, because I hated his silence.He kept his eyes on the screen. “Local prefix. Most likely a disposable line. But the way he asked was wrong.”“Wrong how?”“If someone was actually calling from the pickup side, they’d ask which gate, not try to confirm the time with a phrase like ‘there may be a transportation adjustment.’” He handed my phone back. “That sounds like someone trying to sound official without being used to doing it.”I snatched the phone from him. “You sound very experienced.”“I was raised around people who lied in expensive clothes.” He started the engine again. “Survival skill.”“

FLASHBACKThe AC in the car was almost enough to put me into a coma.I was leaning against Sebastian’s shoulder with my eyes closed, one leg pulled up onto the seat, my shoes kicked off the second the car door shut like a civilized human being who was finally done pretending to be strong in a private terminal. My skin still held a faint stickiness from the warm air outside, but the inside of the car was cool, smelled like leather, and was far too comfortable for someone who had spent the last three nights surviving on coffee, resentment toward her thesis advisor, and the scraps of her dignity.My hand was in Sebastian’s. His fingers rested loosely around mine, his thumb brushing over my knuckles now and then in a small, repetitive motion.Sebastian, in front of other people, always looked like he needed no one. Sebastian like this, in an enclosed space, with only me and him, felt like a secret too good to share.I couldn’t be bothered to open my eyes.Behind my eyelids, Monaco’s late-