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Home / Romance / One Night Stand with the Secret Billionaire / Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

All Chapters of One Night Stand with the Secret Billionaire: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

158 Chapters

Chapter 021

The recovery room was quiet, except for the soft chirp of the heart monitor.Lucas was asleep, his face pale against the white pillows, looking far more vulnerable than he had ever been. Selene sat by his side, her fingers lightly brushing the back of his hand. She had fallen in love with him. It was a realization that hit her hard as she caressed his hand. She loved his hidden kindness, his silent protection, and the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't watching.But as she looked at the heavy white bandage on his shoulder, the encounter with Richardson Yates echoed in her mind. Richardson was right about one thing—Lucas was a target. As long as she was by his side, he’d always be in trouble. Sarah had proven that. Her family had proven that. If she stayed, someone else would eventually pull a trigger, and next time, Lucas might not wake up."I can't be the reason you die," she whispered, her voice cracking.She stood up, her decision feeling like a knot in her stomac

Chapter 022

Two weeks later, Lucas was back on his feet, though his soul felt more fractured than his body. Lucas stood in the middle of the empty penthouse, the silence of the marble floors feeling deafening. He had read the note a thousand times. He had seen the bank transfer Richardson had bragged about."She wouldn't," Lucas muttered, his voice gravelly. "Not Selene."He went to the one place he thought she might be; her father’s house. He didn't care about the doctors' orders to rest. He drove himself, his injured shoulder throbbling with every turn of the steering wheel.When he arrived at the Henry house, he found the front door open. Anna and Liam were sitting on the porch, looking unusually cheerful. They were drinking expensive wine, likely bought with the "settlement" money Richardson had leaked to the press to ruin Selene’s name."Where is she?" Lucas demanded, stepping out of the car. He looked pale, dark circles under his eyes, his arm still in a sling, but with an aura of pure m

Chapter 023

The small town was the kind of place where time seemed to crawl. It was three states away from the glitz of Los Angeles, tucked between rolling hills and endless cornfields. For Selene, it was the perfect place to disappear. She had traded her silk robes for a polyester uniform and a name tag that read "Elena"—her mother’s name, the only thing she had left of her past.She lived in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment above a hardware store. It smelled like sawdust and old radiator steam, but it was quiet. Every day, she worked double shifts at a local diner, her feet aching just like they used to, and her heart numb. She didn't touch the five million dollars. In her mind, that money was blood money; it was the price of Lucas’s life. She checked the news online once a week, her breath hitching whenever she saw a blurred photo of Lucas looking thin and stern in a business suit. He looked like he was hunting for something. Or someone."Just a little longer," she would whisper to herself

Chapter 024

The air inside the hunting shack was thick with the smell of damp earth and rot. Selene sat tied to the wooden chair, her wrists burning where the coarse rope bit into her skin. Across from her, Anna was puzzling out. She was pacing the small room, her breath coming in ragged hitches, the gun in her hand swinging wildly as she ranted about the "injustice" of her life. "I was the pretty one!" Anna screamed, turning to glare at Selene. "I was the one everyone loved! You were just the help! How did you get the billionaire? How did you get the five million?" "Anna, stop," Selene said, her voice dry. "The money isn't coming. If you kill me, you get nothing. If you let me go, I won't tell Lucas it was you." Liam, standing by the door, let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. "You think we’re stupid? If we let you go, Lucas Yates will hunt us to the ends of the earth. We're already dead, Selene. We just need the money to disappear before he finds us." What they didn't hear w

Chapter 025

The drive back to the city was quiet, the hum of the SUV’s tires against the asphalt acting as a soothing lullaby. Selene sat tucked under Lucas’s arm, her head resting on his shoulder. Every time the car hit a bump, his grip on her tightened instinctively, as if he were afraid she might evaporate if he let go. The penthouse, when they finally arrived, didn't feel too cold anymore. With the warm lights glowing and the fireplace crackling to life, it finally felt like a home.Lucas led her to the massive velvet sofa, refusing to let her walk on her own even though her legs were fine. He sat beside her, his dark eyes searching her face."I need to understand it, Selene," he said, his voice a low, rough murmur. "The hospital. The note. Why didn't you just wait for me to wake up?"Selene looked into the fire. "I did it for your safety, Lucas. Your grandfather... he didn't just offer money. He painted a picture of your future. He showed me the blood on your shirt and told me that as lon

Chapter 026

The air in Richardson’s private study was thick with the scent of old leather and expensive cigarettes. Richardson sat perched in his high-backed, throne-like luxury chair, his hands steepled under his chin. He didn't look like a man who had just been threatened; he looked like a man who still held all the cards."You’re being emotional, Lucas," Richardson said, his voice smooth and cold. "This girl is a distraction. She’s a waitress with a tragic backstory that will eventually weigh you down. I’ve already been in talks with the Sterling family. Their daughter, Claire, is a Stanford graduate with a pedigree that matches yours. She is the kind of woman who belongs on your arm at a banquet—not some girl who knows how to carry a tray of drinks."Lucas stood in the center of the room, his jaw tight. "I don't care about pedigrees, Grandfather. I care about Selene. And I already told you—I’m not leaving her."Richardson let out a dry, rattling chuckle. He reached into his desk and pulled

Chapter 027

The morning after the confrontation felt like the first day of a brand-new life. The penthouse was filled with a peaceful, golden light, and for the first time, Selene didn’t wake up feeling like a guest or a fugitive. She woke up in the center of Lucas’s world.As they sat on the balcony overlooking the waking city, sipping coffee in the quiet of the morning, Selene turned to Lucas. Her hazel eyes weren't filled with fear anymore; they were burning with a new, fierce ambition."Lucas," she said, her voice steady. "I don't want to just be the 'woman behind the billionaire.' And I don't want to just be the girl who found her mother’s locket. I want to finish what she started."Lucas set his cup down, his full attention on her. "Tell me.""I want to learn everything," she said, her hands gesturing with excitement. "I want to study the science of gemstones.My mother was a genius, but she was stopped before she could reach the top. I want to be better. I want to be so prominent and so s

Chapter 028

The next six months passed in a blur of sketches, laser cutters, and the rhythmic sound of a jewel machine. While the world outside continued its frantic pace, Selene’s world broadened to the designs and production of jewels.She wasn't just a student at the Institute; she had become a code. Her brain worked with the same mathematical precision her mother’s once had, but she added a layer of modern, rebellious soul to her pieces that made them truly unbeatable.Lucas was her silent partner in every sense of the word. He didn't just fund the expensive materials; he became her anchor. Every evening, he would pick her up from the lab, and they would spend their nights in the penthouseSix Months of PeaceFor half a year, the drama that had nearly destroyed her felt like a distant, bad dream. Anna and Liam had been arrested, vanished into the legal system, buried under the weight of kidnapping and attempted extortion charges that Lucas’s lawyers had made sure were airtight.Selene was

Chapter 029

Selene had moved beyond the curriculum, spending her days in the advanced labs experimenting with alloys and light refraction. She had perfected every stage of jewelry production. It wasn't an easy journey, but she did it. Her latest creations were unlike anything the industry had seen. She developed a way to weave gold into a fabric-like mesh that felt as soft as silk against the skin but held the strength of steel. It was revolutionary. The designs weren't just jewelry; they were wearable art.The training center’s board of directors, usually a group of stony-faced traditionalists, realized they had a once-in-a-century talent in their halls. On the day of her final assessment, the President of the Institute did not only give her a certificate. He offered her a contract."Selene," he said, standing before a room of her peers. "You have surpassed your trainers and that's a fact I'm not ready to hide.”We are officially appointing you as the Managing Director in Charge of Designs

Chapter 030

Life as a Managing Director was a whirlwind of high-stakes meetings and artistic breakthroughs. Selene’s first major project was a career-defining collaboration with Vogue-Elite, the top luxury fashion house in Los Angeles. This wasn't just a jewelry show; it was a an event where her gems would be integrated directly into the fabric of one-of-a-kind couture gowns.For weeks, Selene lived in the studio. She supervised a team of twenty master jewelers, but she did the most delicate work herself. She studied the sketches of the silk and velvet dresses, designing pieces that didn't just sit on top of the clothes but seemed to grow out of them. She created "Gem-Dust Lace” thousands of tiny diamonds woven into the collars and cuffs of the gowns.It was the most ambitious work of her life. Lucas watched her with a mix of awe and concern, often bringing her dinner to the studio and sitting quietly while she mapped out the refraction patterns for the runway lights."You’ve outdone yourself,

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