Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire's Ultimatum: Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

XAVIER It was later that evening but everything still felt fresh, still felt like it was only minutes ago, burning me from the inside out all over again. I couldn't get over the fact that Laura had lied to me. After we both promised that there wouldn't be any more secrets between us. After we swore that solo missions and going off alone without telling the other was prohibited. I was furious. Furious that she went off alone. Furious that she'd lied. Furious that she'd put herself in danger like her life meant nothing. Like we hadn’t had numerous fights over this same thing. I heard the sound of the door click open from across the room and I knew it was her. I moved toward the entrance fast, almost stumbling over myself, and when she came through that door, the words I had ready died somewhere between my chest and my throat. She looked wrecked—pale, tired and absolutely exhausted. Her eyes were red and puffy, evident that she’d been crying torrents before she got here. All t

LAURA Lucas looked between us, easily feeling the tension crackling through the room like electricity before a major storm. “Did I… drop by at the wrong time?” he asked, his voice uncertain. His eyes moved from Xavier’s white-knuckled grip on the documents to my tear-stained face and back again. My breath caught in my chest. Because all I could see was Lucas. Sweet, jolly, kindhearted Lucas who’d joked with me about Xavier being uptight. Who’d apologized so genuinely after my kidnapping. Who’d always seemed like the lighter, easier version of his brother. That’s all Xavier could see too. I could tell from the way he was looking at Lucas—with confusion and hurt and dawning fury that his wife could accuse his brother of something so monstrous. “Laura thinks you’ve been behind some ugly things,” Xavier said, his voice flat and cold in a way I’d never heard before. “She thinks you’ve been manipulating us. Funding our enemies and playing us against each other this entire time

LAURA I never knew a day like this would come. From the very moment I realized I was in love and wanted to spend my life with Xavier, I'd envisioned us always being together. There were so many times I could've called it quits, but I didn't. But this time was different. "I can't be with you anymore, Xavier," I whispered, unable to keep my tears at bay. "I just can't." If he looked disheveled and distressed when I first walked into the room, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. He looked shocked, and several emotions ran across his face — pain, guilt, and something else I couldn't name. "Lau…" he paused and swallowed. It looked painful, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. His face contorted and his mouth hung open as if he'd lost the will to speak. I kept a calm, stoic face, but I was dying inside. Part of me wanted to run into his arms and say it was a joke, but I knew this was reality. A painful reality we both had to accept. He tried again, his voice

LAURA I heard him before I saw him—even muffled through a door and a corridor it was unmistakable. My son, crying for me. Ms. Renata met me at the entrance with a look of genuine relief. "He calmed down a little but he's been asking for you every five minutes." "I'm so sorry," I said almost immediately. “I think it might take him a little more time to adapt.” “Maybe,” she responded with a worried gaze and I couldn’t blame her. I went through the door and Auric spotted me from across the room and everything else stopped. "Mummy!” He was racing toward me in an instant—a two year old already faster than made sense—launching himself at me with absolute certainty that I would catch him. And I did. He buried his face in my neck, and I held him tighter than was probably necessary, breathing him in. I was glad that he was at least okay. "I've got you," I whispered, cradling him. "I've got you, baby. I'm here." It took a few minutes for the shuddering to stop. When he final

LAURA It was moments like this I really wished my brain didn't go into autodrive. The situation was right there in front of me, plain as day, and yet my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.What was Juniper doing in Santorini?"L—Laura?" She muttered in equal shock and disbelief, her mouth agape. But she wasn't looking at me. Not really. Her eyes had drifted somewhere just past my shoulder, and I already knew what had caught them.Shit."Mummy," Alec muttered, and we both turned back to look at him. "Why are we stopping?"Juniper's hands flew to her mouth, her gaze stunned and bewildered all at once. That was right — I never said goodbye to her after the divorce with Xavier. And certainly no one knew I was pregnant at the time. So her seeing me right now, with no one else's child but Xavier's, might just be the biggest screw up of my life."W—who is that?" She managed to ask, her eyes still locked on Alec, who just looked back at her in quiet confusion.All I could hear w