Alle Kapitel von Billionaire's Regret : Kapitel 181 – Kapitel 190

Jeff caught her arm as she was gathering her things to leave the office that evening, his fingers warm and firm against her skin, sending a subtle, unexpected spark up her sleeve. "Dinner tonight?" he said simply, "to celebrate," He quickly added when she just stared at him with her large brown eyes that always pulled him in.Claire looked at him, her bag half over her shoulder, feeling the heat where his hand still rested against her arm. For a moment, she considered saying no simply out of habit, the old instinct to keep things measured and safe still living somewhere in her even after everything that had shifted between them."We already celebrated in the boardroom," she said, her voice a little lower than usual. "That should be enough.""That was corporate celebrating, this is different," Jeff said, his voice dropping into a rough, quiet register. He didn't release her arm immediately, letting his thumb rub a slow, unconscious circle against her sleeve before he caught himself and

Claire had coffee ready when Jeff arrived on Saturday morning, a folder of notes already spread across the kitchen table. He stepped close, his warm hand resting on her waist as he pressed a slow kiss to her cheek, his lips lingering just enough to send a quiet heat down her neck. He dropped his bag of catalogues beside hers.They had chosen today to discuss their wedding."You've been busy," he said, his voice low, his fingers lightly brushing her hip before he pulled away."I've had a lot of ideas," Claire admitted, her skin still tingling where he had touched her. "None of them big. I just want something that feels like us."Jeff sat across from her, pulling the folder closer and for a moment neither of them said anything, their eyes meeting over the table, filled with a heavy, quiet pull."No waterfront restaurants," Jeff said eventually, his voice had gone husky. "No corner tables with candles arranged just so..."Claire laughed, the tension easing slightly."No corner tables,"

Zane was curled on his bed with his face pressed into his pillow when Jeff pushed the door open, his small body still shaking with the last of his crying, and he did not turn when Jeff came in.Jeff stood in the doorway for a moment before crossing the room.He sat carefully on the edge of the bed, not reaching for his son immediately this time, giving him the space he seemed to need, and the silence stretched between them for a long while, filled only by the sound of Zane's uneven breathing."Is she going to die." Zane's voice came out muffled into the pillow.Jeff looked at his son's back, at the small shoulders still trembling slightly, and felt the weight of the question settle heavy in his chest.He had spent months managing Zane, softening things, redirecting difficult conversations toward easier ground, and something in him decided, sitting there in the quiet room, that tonight required something different."I don't know buddy." He said honestly. "I truly don't know if she's go

"Zane, catch her, quick!" Claire said as she came rushing through the living room after Maya, who was crawling determinedly toward the stairs with surprising speed for someone barely a year old, and before Zane could fully register what was happening, Claire had scooped his sister off the floor and deposited her directly into his arms."Hold her, let me finish this." She said, already turning back toward the kitchen where something was clearly burning.Zane stood frozen, staring down at Maya with wide eyes."I can't hold her." He said, his voice pitched slightly higher than usual."Sure you can." Claire called back, already halfway across the room, not even turning around.Maya squirmed in his arms, her small face scrunching, and one chubby hand shot up fast, fingers curling toward his cheek with clear intent to scratch. Zane caught her wrist just in time, his reflexes quicker than he expected them to be, and held her hand gently away from his face.Maya's face crumpled.Her bottom li

The first thing Zane heard when he arrived at his aunt's house was the breaking of glass and the voice of a man yelling, the shrill cry of a woman begging beneath it, both sounds carrying clear through the thin walls into the dirt yard where the taxi had just dropped him.The driver did not wait to see him inside.He set Zane's single suitcase down on the cracked path and drove off fast, gravel spitting under his tyres, leaving Zane standing alone in front of a small sagging house with peeling paint and a roof that looked like it had given up fighting the weather years ago."You don't listen, do you, you stupid woman." The man's voice roared from inside. "Where's the rest of it? Where is it?""That's all there was Frank." A woman's voice, cracking with fear. "I swear that's all there was, please, please just calm down."Something else shattered.Zane stood frozen in the yard, his suitcase gripped tight in one hand, staring at the front door as though it might explode outward at any mo