The Billionaire’s $500,000 baby のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

Darian’s POVI watched her not like I wanted to, but I couldn’t help it. She was standing there, ruining my floor with every second she didn't move. She looked like a drowned rat in that ridiculous pink uniform. It was stained,cheap in fact.It was everything I hated…unrefined, messy, and loud in its poverty.I expected the tears. Usually, when people enter this office and see me, they either start talking too fast or they start crying. Especially the desperate ones. And she was the definition of desperate. Twelve dollars in a bank account? That wasn't a balance; it was an insult.I took a sip of the scotch. It was warm, but the ice in my chest stayed frozen. I was waiting for the sob. I was waiting for her to drop to her knees and tell me she’d do anything if I just saved her mother. I had the script ready in my head. I’d tell her to be quiet. I’d tell her to sign. I’d tell her she was lucky I was even looking at her.But she didn't cry.She stood there, shivering so hard I could hear

I pulled my wrist back. It wasn't easy. Darian’s grip was firm, but he let go, a look of genuine surprise crossing his face. I didn't let myself look at the red marks his fingers left on my skin. I didn't let myself look at the pen.Instead, I closed the folder. The heavy leather made a dull thud as it hit the desk."Not enough," I said.The room went so quiet I could hear the rain tapping against the glass a hundred stories up. Xavier actually stepped forward, his eyes wide, but Darian held up a hand to stop him.Darian leaned back against the edge of his desk. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes scanning me like I was a glitch in a program he’d spent millions to perfect."Not enough?" he repeated. The amusement in his voice was sharp. "We are talking about a half-million dollars, Liora. We are talking about clearing a debt that would have seen you in a homeless shelter by Monday. You are in a wet diner uniform, dripping on a rug that costs more than your life. You think yo

POV: Liora HayesThe pen felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as I finally let it go. It rolled across the desk with a tiny, metallic clicking sound. I stared at the paper. My name looked messy. It looked like a scream caught in ink. It was official…I had just traded my life for a heart that was still beating in a hospital three miles away.Darian didn’t waste a second. He didn’t offer me a tissue for the tear that had ruined his paper. He didn’t say he was sorry. He just reached over my shoulder and snatched the folder away.He picked up the phone on his desk."Wire it," he said. No greeting. No "please." Just a command. "The Hayes account is under Volkov protection now. Tell the surgeons they have the green light. I want a status report every thirty minutes."He hung up.Just like that, the world shifted. I felt a strange, hollow relief in my gut. The debt was gone. The landlord couldn't touch us. The hospital wouldn't kick her out. But as I stood there, shivering in my wet pink u

Liora’s POVThe car hummed. It was a low, expensive vibration that felt like it was trying to lull me to sleep, but I was too wired to close my eyes. I sat as far away from Xavier as I could, pressed against the door, watching the city turn into a blur of grey and black."Is the hospital still reporting?" I asked. My voice sounded small in the leather-scented cabin…Xavier didn't look up from his tablet. "Stable, Liora. I told you. Results are being managed. The surgeons won't leave the room until she's out of the woods.""Stable," I whispered. I looked at my reflection in the window. My hair was drying into a frizzy, tangled mess. My uniform was damp and smelled like old dishwater and rain. I was the opposite of stable. I felt like I was falling apart."You should try to rest," Xavier said. He finally looked at me, and for a second, I thought I saw a flicker of something…maybe just basic concern. "It’s a long drive. And the intake tonight won't be easy.""The mapping?" I asked. The

Liora’s POVThe bathroom was so big. The echo of the running water sounded like a waterfall in a cave…I stripped off the pink uniform and left it in a wet heap on the heated marble floor. I hated that dress, but seeing it lie there felt like seeing a dead friend. It was the last thing that belonged to my old life.I scrubbed my skin until it was red. I wanted the smell of the diner and the grease and the rain gone, but when I finally stepped out of the tub, I felt even more exposed.I walked into the bedroom. The maids had left a dress on the bed. It was deep emerald silk. I touched the fabric. It was cool and felt like water. When I put it on, I realized something that made my stomach twist: it fit perfectly. They didn't just guess. They knew my height, my waist, the width of my shoulders. They had measured me before I even knew they existed.A quiet knock sounded at the door. One of the stone-faced maids brought in a tray of food…steak, asparagus, and some kind of sparkling water.