All Chapters of I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

110 Chapters

THE STAGED PHOTO

Thursday came whether I wanted it to or not. I spent the day at work pretending I wasn't counting down hours to something I didn't want to attend. Jessica kept giving me worried looks across the office but didn't push, which I appreciated. Some things were too big to talk about in the break room over mediocre coffee. I got home at five to get ready. The apartment was quiet when I walked in. No sounds from the kitchen, no voices, just that particular silence that meant people were in separate rooms doing their own thing. I went straight to the bedroom and started getting ready. Pulled the dress I'd picked out three days ago. Black, simple, elegant in that way that didn't try too hard. The kind of dress that said I'm here because I have to be, not because I want your attention. Hair up. Makeup minimal. The armor of looking put together when you're actually falling apart.

HMMMM

People were standing, walking over to congratulate Damon, congratulate Sophia, acting like this was a normal happy announcement and not the public humiliation of the current wife who was sitting right there. Sophia stood, gracious and glowing, accepting hugs and well wishes. Damon stayed seated, his face carefully neutral. Catherine leaned over. "You should stand, dear. People will want to congratulate you." He stood. Shook hands, accepted congratulations, smiled that tight smile he used when he was furious but couldn't show it. I stayed in my seat. Nobody came to congratulate me. Why would they? This wasn't my moment. This was Sophia's moment, the Sterling family's moment, the next generation moment. I was just the current wife. Emphasis on current. Eventually the excitement died down and people returned

THE FIRST PI REPORT

I'd been at Jessica's apartment for two days when she got the call.We were on her couch eating takeout directly from the containers because neither of us could be bothered with plates. I was wearing her sweatpants and an old college t-shirt and hadn't looked at my phone in six hours.Damon had called seventeen times.I'd answered zero.Jessica's phone rang and she looked at the screen, then at me."It's the PI."My stomach did something complicated."Answer it," I said.She put it on speaker."Ms. Martin? This is David Chen. I have some preliminary findings I wanted to discuss with you.""I'm here with Eve," Jessica said. "She's listening.""Good. That saves me a call." Papers rustling on his end. "I'm going to start with what I found and then we can discuss what it means. Is that alright?""Yes," I said."Okay. First item. The doctor Sophia Morgan claimed confirmed her pregnancy. A Dr. Robert Morrison, private practice

TRYING TO TELL HIM

I went home on Sunday, not because I was ready. But because I couldn't avoid it forever and the longer I stayed away, the more it felt like I was giving up. Jessica offered to come with me, but I said no. This conversation, whatever it was going to be, needed to happen without an audience. I got to the penthouse a little after six. Damon's car was in the garage so I knew he was home. I took the elevator up and stood outside the door for a solid minute before I used my key. He was in the living room. Looked up when I walked in like he'd been waiting, which he probably had been. "Eve." "Hi." We stared at each other across the room. He looked terrible. Hair messed up like he'd been running his hands through it, still in sweatpants and a t-shirt at six PM, shadows under his eyes that said he hadn't been sleeping. Good, a part of me thought. Then immediately I felt guilty for thinking it. "I'm glad you came back," he said. "I'm not back. I'm here. There's a difference." "Okay.

THE RESTAURANT

I had a client meeting at Monarch's, this Italian place in Midtown that was nice but not overly fancy. The kind of place where business lunches happen over pasta. I was meeting a potential new client, one of those tech startups with too much money and terrible branding. They'd reached out specifically asking for me after seeing some of my recent work. It was good timing, because I needed something that was mine, something that had nothing to do with Damon or Sophia or the slow-motion collapse of my marriage.I got there fifteen minutes early like I always did. I let the hostess know I was expecting someone and she led me to a table near the back.That's when I saw them.Center of the restaurant, prime table, natural light from the windows hitting them just right.Damon and Sophia.Having lunch.My feet stopped moving before my brain caught up.The hostess turned around. "Is this table alright or would you prefer. ""It's fine," I heard myself say. "This is perfect."I sat with my bac

NO WAY BACK

"Eve...." Eve please "Congratulations on the new client," Sophia said brightly. "We couldn't help overhearing a little. Sounded like it went well." I stopped. Looked at her, then at Damon. His face was doing that thing where he was trying to communicate something without words. Apology, explanation, desperation. All of it right there on his face. "It's not what you think," he said quietly. "I'm not thinking anything." "We were just having lunch..." "You don't owe me an explanation about where you eat lunch." "But I want to explain..." "I have to get back to the office," I said. "I have another meeting in an hour." I didn't. But he didn't know that. "Eve, please..." "Enjoy your meal." I walked past them toward the door. Made it three steps before Damon caught my elbow. "Wait," he said. "Just wait." I stopped, then looked pointedly at his hand on my arm until he let go. "I talked to her," he said. "About what you told me. About the doctor." "And?" "

DAMON'S POV

Lunch with Sophia was supposed to be quick. That's what I told myself when she asked if we could talk, said she had something important to discuss about the doctor situation Eve had brought up. Said it would be better to talk somewhere neutral, away from the apartment, away from the tension that lived in every room now. I should have said no. Should have insisted we talk at home, should have known how it would look, should have thought about optics and appearances and all the things I was usually so careful about. But I was tired and I wanted answers and I thought maybe if I could get Sophia to explain the doctor thing in detail, I could bring that explanation back to Eve and finally, finally we could move past this. So I said yes to lunch. Monarch's at noon on a Tuesday, busy enough that we'd blend in, quiet enough that we could actually talk. Sophia ordered a salad she barely touched. I had pasta I wasn't really tasting. She explained about the doctor's office in Rome, about

THE BREAKING POINT

I ended up at this diner in Queens I used to go to in college.The kind of place with cracked vinyl booths and coffee that tastes like it's been sitting since morning and waitresses who've seen everything and care about none of it. I ordered fries I wasn't going to eat and sat there watching the door like I was waiting for someone even though I wasn't waiting for anyone.My phone kept buzzing. I'd turned it face down on the table after the first dozen calls but I could still feel it vibrating against the laminate, insistent, like if Damon just kept trying eventually I'd crack.Maybe I would.Maybe that was the problem, I always cracked eventually and he knew it.The waitress came by with the coffee pot. "Refill?""Sure."She poured, eyeing the phone that was buzzing again. "Boyfriend?""Husband.""Worse." She topped off the cup. "He screw up or you screw up?""Does it matter?""Nope. Either way you're sitting in my diner at five thirty on a Tuesday looking like your world ended, so so

I WANT TO

"That's not what I asked. I asked who you believe."He looked at me across the table and I watched him try to find the answer that would make everyone happy, that would keep all his options open, that would let him avoid making the choice he'd been avoiding for months."I believe there's something wrong with her story," he said carefully. "But I need more before I can act on it."And there it was.The answer I'd been dreading."Okay," I said."Okay?""Yeah, okay. You need more. You always need more. More proof, more time, more certainty. And while you're waiting for more, I'm dying in our apartment watching her take my place piece by piece." I stood up. "I'm going home.""Eve...""I'm going home to our apartment and I'm going to pack enough clothes for a week, maybe two. And then I'm leaving.""Where are you going?""I don't know yet. Jessica's, a hotel, maybe I'll sublet something. But I can't stay there anymore, Damon. I can't watch

DID YOU RECORD?

Damon walked in, took one look at us standing there facing off in the entryway, and stopped."What's going on?" he asked.I opened my mouth to tell him everything, to explain what I'd just heard, to finally expose what Sophia had been doing.But Sophia was faster."Eve and I were just talking," she said, her voice shifting back to that sweet concerned tone so quickly it gave me whiplash. "She seems really upset about something.""I heard you," I said. "On the phone just now. I heard you talking about the London clinic, about faking the pregnancy, about your exit strategy...""What?" Sophia's eyes went wide. "Eve, I don't know what you think you heard but I was talking to my agent about an audition. The clinic thing was about a scene in the script...""That's bullshit...""You've been so stressed lately," Sophia continued, talking to Damon now, her hand going to her bump. "I'm worried about her, honestly. She's been accusing me of things for weeks and now she's hearing conversations th

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