HER BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET SON. のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 41 - チャプター 50

Larry’s POVThe touch acted like a bridge, one I hadn’t realized I was building until the first stone was laid. The heat from the hearth was a dull roar behind me, but the warmth emanating from Megan was a different frequency entirely, subtle, magnetic, and impossible to ignore. I shifted from my position by the fire to the edge of the sofa, closing the small gap between us. As I moved, the air in the cabin seemed to thicken, turning heavy and syrupy, charged with a sudden, electric heat that had nothing to do with the crackling logs in the grate.I looked down at her hand, still resting on mine. I could see the pulse in her neck, a steady, rhythmic thrumming against the pale column of her throat. There was a slight tremor in her fingers, a delicate vibration that spoke of a shared realization. We were beyond the point of pretension now. This wasn’t a strategic engagement designed to appease the press; this wasn't a calculated performance for Richard’s scrutiny or a maneuver to stab

Larry's povI knew the house was too quiet.I’ve spent my life learning how to read a room, how to sense a shift in the atmosphere before a single word is spoken. Right now, the atmosphere in this house felt thin, like the oxygen was being sucked out of the vents. I sat in the library with the legal document for the Foundation spread out in front of me, but I had read the same paragraph for twenty minutes.I knew where Megan was. She was upstairs, probably sitting on the edge of the bed or pacing the nursery. I could feel her pulling back. It’s a specific kind of silence, not the peaceful kind we had at the cabin, but the kind that happens right before someone walks out the door.I looked at the silver flash drive on the desk. I’d used it to threaten my father, to buy us some breathing room, but it felt like a blunt instrument now. I keep trying to use power to solve things because that’s the only tool I was ever given. My father taught me that if you want to keep something, you s

Megan's povThe silence that followed was deafening. Larry looked like I’d slapped him. He stared at the papers on the floor, then back at me. His eyes were cold again, that flat, CEO stare that shut everything out."Fine," he said. His voice was a whisper now, which was somehow worse than the shouting. "If you think this is just a payoff, then there’s nothing left to say. I thought I was giving you a future. I thought I was giving you the one thing you actually deserved, respect and standing.""I deserve to be more than a project, Larry."I turned away from him and walked into the nursery. I didn't look at him. I started grabbing the bags I’d left in the mudroom, Marcus must have brought them back up. I didn't care. I shoved Liam’s extra shoes into the tote."What are you doing?" Larry asked from the doorway."I’m leaving. And this time, I'm not using the SUV. I’m calling a cab. I’m going to my sister’s. Don't follow me. Don't send Marcus. If I see a black sedan behind me, I’m

Megan's povThe first stop was a boutique cupcake shop. The owner, a woman in a sharp blazer, looked over my resume, the one I’d printed at a library, and nodded."You’ve got great experience," she said. "We need a lead baker for the 4:00 AM shift.""I can do the baking," I said, leaning over the counter. "But I have a three-year-old. I can’t get to daycare until 7:00 AM. Could I start at 7:30?"She closed the folder. "Sorry. The ovens have to be off and the cases filled by 8:00. We need someone who can be here before the sun is up."The second stop was a neighborhood deli. The guy behind the counter didn't even look at my resume. "We need a closer. 4:00 PM to midnight.""I don't have anyone to watch my son in the evenings," I explained."Next," he said, looking past me at a guy wanting a pastrami on rye.By 2:00 PM, I was sitting on a bus bench, staring at a list of addresses I’d crossed out. It was the Seattle loop all over again. In Larry’s world, "availability" wasn't a wor

MEGAN'S POVI climbed in and buckled Liam's seatbelt. I was so tired I didn't even look at the driver’s ID card on the dashboard. I just leaned my head back against the sticky vinyl seat and closed my eyes for a second."Mommy, the door is stuck," Liam said, tugging at the handle."It’s just the child lock, bug. It’s for safety."I checked my phone. It was dead. I’d forgotten to charge it at the library, and the black screen felt like a final severing of my ties to the world.The taxi turned, but it didn't go toward the highway. It turned down a side street, then another, moving away from the lights of the commercial district and toward the industrial area near the docks."Excuse me," I said, sitting up. "The highway is back that way."The driver didn't answer. He accelerated, the engine roaring as he sped through a yellow light."Hey! I said you're going the wrong way!" I leaned forward, reaching for the plastic partition.That’s when I noticed it. There was no partition. Th