All Chapters of Billionaire secret Baby: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The Accounting of Ten YearsThe gravel drive was silent, save for the chirp of a hidden cricket and the gentle rush of the ocean nearby. Leo, oblivious to the emotional explosion he’d just ignited, simply waited for an answer.“Mom?” he prompted, nudging his soccer ball with the tip of his sneaker. “Is he a superhero? He has the face for it.”Vivian swallowed the lump in her throat. She needed to protect Leo first. “Leo, go inside now. Find Mrs. Henderson and tell her I’ll be in soon. This is a private conversation.”Leo, sensing the shift in his mother’s voice, gave Elias one last curious look before jogging obediently toward the studio door. As soon as the latch clicked shut, the silence became a suffocating pressure cooker.Elias didn’t move, his eyes still fixed on the closed door. The cold, ruthless CEO was gone, replaced by a man whose carefully constructed decade of emotional detachment had just been pulverized. When he finally turned to Vivian, his face was pale, his jaw clen

The Price of StayingThe aroma of burnt coffee and sea salt hung over Vivian's kitchen. Elias was seated at her worn wooden table, exactly where Leo had been two days earlier, except now he was meticulously going over a stack of documents with an expression of intense corporate focus.“You bought the Harborview Inn?” Vivian asked, slamming her own ceramic mug down. Her voice was sharp with disbelief.“It was undervalued, structurally sound, and the only available property with adequate proximity for the current needs of Thorne Global,” Elias stated without looking up, underlining a clause with a pen that probably cost more than her car. “I need a base of operations in this town, Vivian. The hotel next door was fully booked, and I require a dedicated office space for my team and uninterrupted access to my son. I closed on it this morning.”Vivian threw her hands up. “You just bought an iconic landmark—a twenty-room hotel that’s been family-owned for fifty years—in twenty-four hours, al

The Weight of DeceptionThe morning after their tactical alliance was formed, Elias arrived at The Green Foundation with a small, discreetly logoed black box. He found Vivian in the shed, elbow-deep in fertilizer and focused on repotting a temperamental miniature Japanese maple.Vivian wiped her hands on her jeans as he entered, her expression wary. "I told you, no grand gestures. We're keeping this low-profile in town until we make a public announcement designed to reach your father."Elias ignored the dirt on her clothes and the defensiveness in her tone. He placed the black box carefully on her workbench, next to a bag of potting soil."This is not a grand gesture, Vivian. It's an essential prop," he said, opening the box.Vivian inhaled sharply. Inside, nestled in black velvet, was a diamond that was less a stone and more a small, highly polished geological marvel. It was a classic solitaire setting, simple and elegant, yet the sheer size of the center stone screamed Thorne wealth

The Confrontation CallThe explosion came precisely at 9:00 AM, just as Vivian was meticulously preparing a schedule for her crew and Elias was attempting (and failing) to make a palatable cup of coffee in her slightly antiquated machine.The secure line on Elias’s private phone—a line only known to his highest corporate council—flashed the unmistakable ID of Harold Thorne."Showtime," Elias muttered, his face settling into the cold, strategic mask Vivian was starting to recognize. He answered the call and put it on speaker, pulling Vivian close to his side and wrapping his arm tightly around her waist."Father," Elias greeted, his tone measured and respectful, but laced with a subtle, non-negotiable authority. "A little early for a call, isn't it?"Harold Thorne’s voice—deep, resonant, and dripping with controlled fury—boomed through the small kitchen. "Early? I wake up to my heir—my only son—torpedoing a three-billion-dollar merger and announcing he's marrying a woman who was suppos

The Dinner and the ScrutinyThe air in Vivian’s small cottage was thick with tension, scented not with jasmine, but with rosemary, garlic, and the faint, expensive cologne of high anxiety.Vivian, despite her objections, was wearing a sleek, tailored dress—a loaner from Elias's assistant, chosen specifically to look "effortlessly chic, yet coastal." The massive diamond on her finger felt less like a piece of jewelry and more like a tactical weapon.At 7:00 PM precisely, a black limousine—a vehicle so long it nearly blocked the entire lane—pulled up outside."He's here," Vivian whispered, her hands clammy.Elias, who looked impossibly commanding in a dark suit, took a moment to smooth his tie and then turned to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, his gaze intense and focusing."Remember the rules," he said, his voice low. "Affectionate proximity, joint decisions, and unwavering defense of Leo. If he suggests anything scandalous, you look at me like I'm your rock. I'm doing this