Lahat ng Kabanata ng STUCK WITH MR. BILLIONAIRE FOR CHRISTMAS : Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 109

DANTE.Call logs with timestamps displayed my mother’s voice, recorded clearly on the screen. The conversations detailed the planning and payments related to Max's murder. There was also a video. I shut it off after just Forty seconds, managing to keep my expression neutral."You understand now." She wasn't gloating."If this comes to light," I replied in a similar low voice, "you're implicated. You received payment. You're on that record.""I am." She didn't flinch. "I told you I have nothing to lose. No family waiting for me. No legacy to protect. No name of significance in the financial press." She slightly moved her head away. "I can withstand a conviction in ways your mother cannot. And your father's name—" she paused, knowing precisely where to strike, "—won't endure what's coming next."A clean, cold rage coursed through me."I can make you disappear tonight," I said, "and that means every issue you've created vanishes with you.""If I disappear tonight," she responded, complet

CINNAMON.Tears streamed down my face as I cried, wiping my nose with the tissue Risa had given me. I have been trying to stay strong but it has gotten tougher with Dante being shady and the secret I was keeping for Dove. I had to talk to someone but I didn't share too many details because, at the end of the day, Dante was still family, and some family secrets should remain private."I'll spell it out for you, Cinnamon. Dante is cheating. For him to let you see it means he doesn't respect you," Risa said as she settled back into her seat. "Cinnamon, I really think you should consider divorcing him. You're young and have a son to care for. You don't deserve what he's putting you through." She leaned in and handed me another tissue.My hand trembled at the thought of Risa suggesting I divorce Dante as I took the tissue from her, crumpling it. I loved him deeply and couldn't picture my life without him. Why would he want to hurt me like this? He brought another woman to our son's birthda

DANTE.When I returned to my office, I felt completely lost. My mind struggled to process anything, and no matter how hard I tried to piece together the problem in front of me, I couldn't succeed. To pass the time, I kept myself busy.The meetings were just noise.All of them.Words floated around the table while I sat inside my own thoughts, gazing at the surface of things without engaging with any of it. Tate spoke, numbers flashed on screens, and someone laughed at something trivial.I nodded.Signed whatever was placed in front of me.Checked my watch for the fourteenth time. Finally, it was four in the evening.Standing, "we'll finish tomorrow."No one argued because I was already walking towards the exit.It took me less than five minutes to get to her door.Her office light was still on. I could see it shining from under the door. The rest of the floor felt empty because almost everyone had ended their day.I knocked once and opened the door before she answered.She sat at her

DANTE.The chef and I had spent the better part of the afternoon in that kitchen, and it showed. The table had lamb ribs glistening under the chandelier, roasted vegetables fanned out, warm bread. Cinnamon was radiant in burnt orange, cutting Oliver's meat into smaller pieces while he babbled about something that had happened at school. Mom sat at the head happy seeing the full table. She laughed at something Dove said, and for a moment she looked ten years younger. Dove wiped Thessa's mouth with the corner of a napkin and the little girl scrunched her face, probably thinking she was too old for that."There's something beautiful about this," I said, cutting into my lamb. "All of us, right here."Mom set her fork down just to place her hand over her chest. "I almost forgot," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone. "I almost forgot what it felt like to just live." She laughed softly and picked her fork back up, shaking her head like she was embarrassed by the admission.The foo