All Chapters of The Billionaire’s Discarded Bride : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Bella pov Just my name, spoken in that voice I'd tried so hard to forget. I stopped walking, my entire body going rigid. Turn around, I told myself. Face him. Show him you're not afraid.But I was afraid. Terrified, actually. Because hearing his voice again made me feel like that girl standing in the rain, alone and broken and begging for someone to care."Bella, please. I just want to talk."I forced myself to turn around, to meet the eyes I saw every day in my son's face. Caleb Black stood ten feet away, and he looked like hell.He'd always been handsome in a cold, aristocratic way, but now there was something desperate in his grey eyes, something haunted. He'd lost weight, his expensive suit hanging slightly loose on his frame. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his usually perfect hair looked like he'd been running his hands through it.He looked like a man who hadn't slept in years.Good, I thought viciously. I hope every night was torture, i hope you suffered a fraction of wha

Bella pov He didn't know years of searching for me, and he still didn't know whether I'd terminated the pregnancy like he'd demanded. Whether his child existed or not.Part of me wanted to tell him, wanted to see his face when he realized Tom was alive and perfect and everything he'd thrown away. Wanted to watch him suffer knowing his son was growing up without him, that Tom called me Mommy.But the larger part, the part that had kept us alive and safe for years, knew that telling Caleb about Tom would change everything. He was a billionaire with unlimited resources and lawyers. He could fight for custody, could take Tom away from me, could hurt my son the way he'd hurt me.I would die before I let that happen."Mommy?" Tom twisted in my lap to look at me again. "When is Aunt Maya coming? You said she was visiting soon."Maya. I'd almost forgotten she was flying in tonight. She'd insisted on coming after I'd texted her about seeing Caleb, said she needed to be here to make sure I did

Bella pov "Or," Maya said gently, "you could stop building walls and start building a real life. One where you're happy, not just successful. One where Tom has a mother who smiles instead of just survives."Her words hit harder than any of Caleb's apologies. Because she was right. I'd spent years surviving, building, proving myself, but I hadn't spent a single day actually being happy.I'd forgotten how."I don't know if I can," I admitted quietly. "I don't know if I remember how to be anything other than angry.""Then learn." Maya pulled me back into a hug. "You learned how to be a CEO. You learned how to be a mother. You can learn how to be happy again. It just takes practice."We sat like that for a long time, me crying into her shoulder while she held me together, until I finally ran out of tears and just felt hollow."Thank you for coming," I said eventually, my voice hoarse. "I don't know what I'd do without you.""You'd survive," Maya said. "Because that's what you do. But I'm

walked away before she could respond, my composure intact but my heart racing. Victoria Lane and Caleb. Of course. A beautiful socialite with connections and no moral compass, exactly his type. Not that I cared. I absolutely did not care."Bella." Ethan appeared at my elbow, his timing impeccable as always. "You look like you could use a drink.""I could use several drinks." I accepted the champagne he offered and took a long sip. "Thank you.""Victoria Lane is a snake," he said casually, his eyes following her as she made her way across the room. "She's been trying to get her claws into Caleb Black for months. Throwing herself at him at every opportunity.""That's none of my business." I kept my voice light and disinterested. "Caleb Black can date whoever he wants.""Can he?" Ethan studied me with those perceptive hazel eyes. "Because you look like you want to throw that champagne in someone's face right now."I forced myself to relax my grip on the glass. "I'm fine. Just tired of ne

Caleb POVI watched Bella walk away from me on that dance floor, her spine straight and her head high, and felt like I was drowning, years of searching, years of guilt and regret, and when I finally found her, she looked at me like I was poison.I deserved that look, infact i deserved worse. But God, seeing her again, touching her, feeling her body stiffen under my hands like I was something dangerous, it was agony.I left the reception early, couldn't stand watching Ethan Pierce hover around her like a concerned puppy, couldn't bear the sight of her smiling at other men while treating me like a stranger. I went back to my penthouse suite and poured myself a scotch I didn't want, then stood at the window looking out at the city.Somewhere in this city Bella was probably sleeping. Hating me with every breath.My phone buzzed with a call from James."Sir, the quarterly reports need your approval before Monday's board meeting.""Email them to me. I'll review them tonight." I took a long d