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Lahat ng Kabanata ng In Love With The Hot Billionaire.: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

126 Kabanata

~The Man Behind The Mask~

Chapter Eleven Adrien's POV The gala had been a mistake from the start. I'd only attended because my mother had insisted. After all, it was an event where Paris's elite gathered to write checks and feel virtuous about it. I hated these things. The false smiles, the networking that felt more like circling sharks, the women who saw my bank account before they saw my face. My mother wanted me to get married, but I didn't want to be with any woman in life. However, my mother didn't let me breathe. I suffered through an hour of champagne and empty conversations, and left early. The rain had started but I didn't care. I wanted to leave this place! I'd been adjusting my cufflinks when I saw her. A woman in a red dress, standing alone on the terrace. She was so weak-looking like something abandoned. At first, I'd thought she was waiting for some ride that was running late. But as I watched, couples passed her, some whispered and even laughed. And she just stood there. Somethin

~The Unwanted Guest~

Chapter Twelve Camille's POVThe Paris streets blurred past the car window as Elodie navigated evening traffic, but I barely saw them. My mind was stuck at the Trocadéro fountain, replaying the moment our eyes had met across the water.Adrien. With a child."You good Camille?" Elodie's voice cut through my thoughts. "You've been staring out that window for ten minutes without blinking.""Sorry. I'm just... processing.""Processing that Adrien Duval is a dad?" She glanced at me, then back at the road. "He's famously private about his personal life. No one really knows where his wife is."My stomach dropped. "His wife?""Well, theoretically. I mean, he has a kid, so there must have been a woman at some point. But she's never photographed with him, never at events. The rumors range from divorced to separated to…" she lowered her voice dramatically, "dead.""Dead?""I don't believe that one. Too soap opera. But the point is, no one knows. Some people think he's a single dad. Others think

~The Dinner Trap~

Chapter Thirteen Camille's POV Theo stood at the stove, somehow looking perfectly at home in my kitchen, stirring something in a pan. The dining table had been set for two. On the table were candles, wine glasses and cloth napkins arranged like this was a romantic dinner instead of whatever this was. He looked up and smiled. "Perfect timing! I hope you like coq au vin. I found everything I needed in your pantry." "Theo, you didn't have to..." "I wanted to." He gestured to the table. "You need to eat, and I'm a decent cook. Consider it my contribution to keeping you company." Every instinct screamed at me to refuse. Every instinct screamed to say I wasn't hungry. But Julien's voice echoed in my head: Theo is like family. Y If I refused Theo's dinner, he'd tell Julien. And Julien would be angry and he would accuse me of being ungrateful, difficult and paranoid and he would find some way to punish me for the disrespect and I wasn't ready for that. "That's very thoughtful,"

~The Poison In Kindness~

Chapter Fourteen Camille's POVMorning light filtered through my bedroom curtains, but I'd been awake for hours. I'd barely slept, jumping at every sound, my dresser still shoved against the door like a barricade against whatever Theo's words had implied.We have shared the same woman before The words had played on repeat all night, twisting my stomach into knots, making me question everything I thought I knew about my marriage.Around nine AM, I heard a gentle knock on my bedroom door."Camille?" Theo's voice, soft and concerned. "I'm so sorry about last night. Please, can we talk?"I didn't move the dresser. "What do you want?""To apologize. Properly, please."Every instinct told me to stay locked in here until he left. But I couldn't hide forever. And if I told Julien I'd barricaded myself in my room because of his best friend, he'd only find a way to make it my fault.Slowly, I pushed the dresser aside and opened the door a crack.Theo stood there holding a tray. On it was coff

~The Betrayal~

Chapter Fifteen Camille's POVThe movie played on. Some scenes with witty banter and romantic tension that I would have normally enjoyed. But I found it hard to focus on the dialogue. The words seemed to blur together, bleeding into each other like watercolors left in the rain.I took another sip of the jasmine tea. It really was perfect, with a slight sweetness that lingered on my tongue. Theo had gone to so much trouble to find it for me. The thought made warmth bloom in my chest.Or was that the tea itself making me feel warm?I shifted on the couch, suddenly aware of how heavy my limbs felt. Like someone had filled them with sand while I wasn't paying attention."You okay?" Theo's voice seemed to come from very far away, even though he was sitting just across from me."Mm-hmm." I nodded, but the motion made the room tilt slightly. "Just tired, I think. It's been a long week.""Of course. You should rest more."I took another sip of tea, trying to clear the fog that was settling o

~Fractured Awakening~

Chapter Sixteen Camille's POVConsciousness returned in fragments.The first thing I felt was pain. I felt a deep, brutal ache between my legs that made my breath catch. Then, I felt soreness everywhere else. I felt pain on my wrists, my shoulders, and my neck.My eyes opened to morning light filtering through curtains I didn't remember closing.I was in my bed. The sheets were tangled around my legs, and I was wearing…nothing.My pajama top was gone. My pants. Everything.The memories hit like a freight train.Theo. The tea. The dizziness. Being carried upstairs. His mouth on mine. His hands tearing…I lurched upright and immediately regretted it. Nausea rolled through me in waves, and I barely made it to the edge of the bed before dry heaving, my empty stomach offering nothing but bile and horror.No. No, no, no. Tears rolled down from my eyes before I could stop them.But the evidence was everywhere. In the soreness of my body. In the torn fabric of my bra lying on the floor like

~The Positive Test~

Chapter Seventeen Camille's POVJulien's text had come two days ago: ‘Business extended. Staying another three weeks. Behave yourself.’Another three weeks. With Véronique, undoubtedly. Another three weeks of freedom I couldn't enjoy because every moment alone in this house was a reminder of what Theo had done.What I was pretending hadn't happened.I'd avoided him since that night. Ignored his calls, his texts asking if I was okay, his attempts to check in like he was actually concerned. Like he hadn't drugged me. Like he hadn't touched what wasn't his! The audacity!The nausea that started two weeks ago. The exhaustion that no amount of sleep could fix. The tenderness in my breasts made wearing a bra painful. The missed period I'd tried to convince myself was just stress…they all befell on me.Come on Camille. It's just stress and trauma. It's just my body shutting down from everything it had endured.Not this.Please, God, not this.But the pregnancy test balanced on the edge of t

~The Breaking Point~

Chapter Eighteen Camille's POVI lasted three more days.Three days of carrying this secret alone,waking up nauseous and terrified, of staring at my phone wondering if I should call someone, anyone, just to hear a voice that didn't belong to the nightmare my life had become.Three days of pretending I was fine when I was splintering into pieces too small to ever put back together.On the fourth day, I texted Elodie: ‘Can we meet? I need to talk.’Her response came immediately: ‘Of course. Usual café? 20 minutes?’‘Yes. Thank you.’I dressed carefully, choosing clothes that hid everything. I chose a cloth that hid the weight I'd lost from not eating, the exhaustion etched into my face and the way my hands shook when I thought too hard about what I was about to say.The café was quiet when I arrived, tucked into a corner of the Marais where tourists rarely ventured. Our spot. The place we'd been coming to since before Julien, when life was simpler and I still believed good things could

~Julien Returns~

Chapter Nineteen.Two weeks later, I heard the car pull into the driveway at three in the afternoon on a Thursday, so he left me for five weeks.Five weeks that felt like five years.I was in the kitchen pretending to care about the grocery list I'd been staring at for the past hour, my hand unconsciously resting on my still-flat stomach. The baby was barely there, just cells dividing and growing, but it felt like the only real thing in my entire existence.The front door opened and closed. I heard footsteps in the foyer."Camille?"Julien's voice. I'd almost forgotten what it sounded like.I took a breath, steadied myself, and walked out to meet him.He looked good. He looked relaxed, like five weeks with his mistress had been exactly the vacation he needed. His suit was perfectly pressed despite the travel, his hair artfully tousled, his smile easy and satisfied.The smile of a man who'd been well-fed and well-fucked by someone who wasn't his wife."There you are." He set down his b

~Accusations And Violence~

Chapter Twenty.Camille's POV I didn't sleep that night.How could I? My cheek throbbed where Julien had hit me, and his words echoed endlessly in my head. ‘Who have you been fucking?’ The accusation was so wrong it was almost laughable, except nothing about my life was funny anymore.I lay in the dark, listening to Julien's breathing beside me, and wondered if this was what dying felt like. This slow erasure of everything that made me human until only survival remained.The baby fluttered again. It was still my imagination, but I clung to it anyway.Morning came eventually. Julien left for work without speaking to me, his anger became a living thing that filled every room he passed through.I sat at the kitchen table with cold coffee and my phone, staring at my Aunt’s last text: ‘Have you arranged the money for the wine cellar? I’m getting impatient.’How was I supposed to tell them Julien had refused? That he'd denied the money because he thought I was cheating on him? They'd blam

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