All Chapters of SECRETS OF A BILLIONAIRE HUSBAND: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

By the time Rivera's flight landed in New York, the rush of adrenaline that had carried her out of Arizona had worn off.The city looked exactly the same through the taxi window. There were yellow cabs, morning traffic, and people hurrying across sidewalks with coffee cups in their hands.Nothing had changed. Only she had.She unlocked her phone and stared at Reagan's address for a long moment. Going back to the Royce mansion suddenly felt impossible. She couldn't walk into that house pretending everything was normal after what she'd learned.Instead, she scrolled to another contact. Lina. The call barely rang once."Rivera?" Lina sounded surprised. "Where have you been? I missed you baby.""Can I come over?""Of course you can. Are you okay?"There was a short pause. Rivera looked out of the window. "No.""I'm texting you my address again. Get here."Lina lived in a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park. The door swung open before Rivera even had the chance to knock.Lina stood t

The lunch hour emptied the executive floor. The constant ringing of phones had stopped. The hurried footsteps outside faded until only the distant hum of printers and air conditioning remained.Rivera stayed at her desk pretending to read through the quarterly report on her screen. Pretending. She had reread the same paragraph four times without taking in a single number.She could feel him. Not looking at him didn't stop her from knowing exactly where he was.Across the glass partition, Reagan sat behind his desk, jacket folded neatly over the back of his chair, sleeves rolled to his forearms. His attention appeared to be on the stack of contracts in front of him, pen moving steadily across each page.But he hadn't turned a page in several minutes. He wasn't reading either.Reagan finally pushed his chair back and headed for her office. As soon as he came inside, she stood up. "I should probably eat.""You skipped breakfast.""Why would you think that?""You always skip breakfast whe

The chairman's office occupied the entire corner of the topmost floor.Rivera had only seen it from the outside before. It was nothing like Reagan's office. Reagan's felt lived in. There were open files on the desk, jackets thrown over chairs, coffee cups forgotten beside reports. Stanton Royce's office looked untouched, as though nobody had ever dared leave anything out of place.Dark walnut shelves lined one wall from floor to ceiling. Awards, old photographs, framed newspaper covers, and leather-bound books were arranged with almost military precision.Behind the wide desk, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Manhattan.Stanton Royce stood with his back to her. His hands were clasped behind him as he watched the city below.He didn't turn when she entered. "Close the door."Rivera obeyed. The soft click of the door echoed through the room. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. She wondered if he had forgotten she was standing there.Then, without looking at her, he said qui

By the time Rivera returned to the executive floor, the conversation with Stanton still lingered in her mind.She hadn't expected to walk out of his office feeling sympathy for him. She had gone in expecting another battle.Instead, she had found a tired father who had spent years carrying guilt in silence, just like everyone else in this family.As she stepped through the glass doors leading to Reagan's office, she caught herself smiling faintly.She wanted to tell him. Not everything his father had said, that wasn't hers to share, but enough for him to know that perhaps there was still hope.Maybe the distance between father and son wasn't permanent after all.The thought barely settled before she sensed something was wrong.As she entered her office, she saw Reagan pacing impatiently, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other holding his phone so tightly his knuckles had gone pale.His shoulders were rigid. He hadn't even noticed she'd come in."Reagan?" No response. She walked cl

The first night was the hardest. The house had never felt this big. Reagan hadn't called and she couldn't reach him either. She was getting worriedRivera lay on her side staring at the faint strip of light beneath the bedroom curtains, her phone resting on the pillow beside her. Every few minutes she picked it up, unlocked it, checked for notifications, then locked it again.She turned onto her back and let out a long breath. It wasn't like him. Reagan wasn't the type to disappear without saying anything. Even when he buried himself in work, there was always a short message. A reminder to eat, a question about whether she had reached somewhere safely.Sometimes it was nothing more than a single sentence. 'Busy. Sleep early.' She never realized how much comfort those tiny messages gave her until they stopped coming. Sleep never came.The days blurred together after that. The staff went about their work as usual, trying not to disturb her.James remained outside the estate every mornin