Lahat ng Kabanata ng HER BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET SON.: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Megan’s POVThe silence in Larry’s study was heavy, the kind of silence that felt like it had been accumulating for decades, layer by layer, beneath the high coffered ceilings. It smelled of old paper, expensive tobacco, and that faint, sharp scent of cedarwood that always seemed to cling to Larry’s tailored suits. It was a masculine room, a room built for decisions, for power, and for the cold calculation of a life lived in the public eye.I walked toward his desk, the mahogany surface polished to a mirror shine. This was the altar where he had sacrificed my freedom. This was where he had sat, pen in hand, signing the documents that dictated my movements and decided to lock me away under the guise of protection. I had spent so many nights pacing my room, cursing this desk and the man who sat behind it, yet now that I was here alone, the anger felt strangely hollow.My fingers brushed the edge of the leather blotter. Then, my eyes caught on something in the corner. I expected to see a

Vivienne's povA woman in a simple, dark sweater was sitting on a stone bench, watching a small boy chase a golden retriever. She looked... ordinary. That was the most offensive thing about her. She didn't look like a queen. She didn't even look like a trophy. She looked like someone you’d pass on the street and never think of again.That is the woman who replaced me? I thought, my grip tightened on my leather portfolio until my knuckles turned white.The car stopped at the front portico. I waited for the driver to open the door, then stepped out into the crisp morning air. Marcus, the head of security, was waiting."Ms. Vance," he said, stepping into my path. "Mr. Trent is in a meeting. He didn't mention you were coming.""It’s an emergency, Marcus. The Zurich board members are balking at the new clause. I need ten minutes of his time." I brushed past him, not giving him a chance to argue. I knew the layout of this house better than Megan ever would.I didn't head for the study. I he

Larry’s POV I was doing everything right. I was following every protocol I had ever written for high-value asset protection. I was being the wall. I was being the fortress. The security perimeter had been reinforced, the non-disclosure agreements were airtight, and the legal team was working in shifts to ensure that the "engagement" appeared as solid as the foundation of the house. I had built a world around Megan and Liam that was impenetrable. On paper, they were the most protected individuals in the country. But as the sun began to rise over the European coastline, casting a cold, gray light across my hotel suite, I realized that the fortress was empty. I could keep her body in that house forever; I could surround her with guards and cameras and silk-lined rooms until the end of time. But as I stared at the restless Atlantic, I knew I had already lost the woman who had looked at me with that brief, terrifying flash of wonder in the "glass house." I had traded her trust for

Larry’s POVThe following morning, the sun bled through the heavy velvet curtains, casting long, gilded daggers across the floor. I hadn't slept. I had spent the hours between midnight and dawn reviewing the files on the Trent Foundation, trying to focus on numbers and logistics, things that had clear answers and predictable outcomes.But Megan’s question haunted me. Who holds yours, Larry?I left the study and headed toward the dining room. I expected the usual ritual: the staff moving like clockwork, the silver polished to a blinding sheen, and the quiet, tense meal where every clink of a fork felt like a breach of protocol.Instead, I heard laughter.I stopped at the threshold. The dining room table, a twenty-foot slab of mahogany that Richard had imported from Italy, was covered in flour. Liam was standing on a chair, his face dusted white, vigorously pounding a lump of dough. Megan was beside him, her sleeves rolled up, showing him how to fold the edges."More, Mommy! Make

Megan’s POVThe sitting room felt smaller with Damien in it. He paced the floor, his eyes raking over the velvet drapes and the antique clock on the mantel. He looked like a man trying to decide which item would be the easiest to fit into a pocket."Sit down, Damien," I said, staying near the door."God, Megs, you’ve really done it. This place... it’s a fortress. I had a hell of a time getting in." He sat on the edge of a silk-upholstered chair, looking out of place. "Listen, I’m sorry. About Seattle. About everything. I was in a bad way. The debt... it changes a man.""The debt didn't change you, Damien. It just revealed you," I said. "Why are you here? Really. Because I know it’s not for the 'nephew' you haven't asked about in three years."Damien sighed, leaning forward, his face twisting into a mask of practiced misery. "I’m in trouble, Megs. Real trouble. Some people... they found out who you were staying with. They think I have a line to the Trent fortune. They told me if I