บททั้งหมดของ THE BILLIONAIRE HIDDEN SIN : บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Edwin’s POVThe penthouse was dark when we got there, only the city lights bleeding through the windows like distant stars that didn’t care about what had just happened. Daniel hadn’t turned on any lamps. He guided me inside with one hand at the small of my back, the other carrying the small bag Ruby had packed for me at the apartment , a change of clothes, Mom’s favorite scarf I’d grabbed without thinking, and the letter she’d written me months ago that I still hadn’t been able to read.Ruby had stayed behind with the night nurse and a family friend who’d shown up the moment the news broke. She’d hugged me so hard I thought my ribs would crack, whispered “I love you,” and told me to go with Daniel. “He’ll take care of you tonight,” she’d said. “I need to be with Mom’s things for a little while.”I hadn’t argued.Now I stood in the middle of Daniel’s living room, still wearing the same shirt from the hospital, the same jeans that smelled like antiseptic and grief. My body felt hollow

Edwin’s POVThe funeral had been four days ago, but it still felt like it happened yesterday.I kept replaying the same moments on loop: the way the rain had fallen in thin, cold sheets over the cemetery grass; the way Ruby had clutched my hand so tightly her nails left half-moon marks in my palm; the way Daniel had stood at the very back of the small crowd, coat collar turned up, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, never once stepping forward. He’d respected my request to stay hidden. Mom’s friends and the few relatives who still spoke to us didn’t need to know about the billionaire who had quietly paid for everything , the casket, the flowers, the plot beside the tree she always liked.I hadn’t cried at the service. Not really. The tears had come later, in Daniel’s penthouse, when he’d pulled me into the shower and held me while the water ran cold. But now, back at work, the grief had settled into something heavier. A dull, constant ache behind my ribs that made every breath feel li

Edwin’s POVThe envelope burned a hole in my pocket all the way up to the forty-fifth floor.I hadn’t opened it again after tearing the business card inside. I didn’t need to. Victor’s words were already branded behind my eyes: *A clean slate. A job where your past stays buried.* The way he’d said it , like he was offering salvation instead of a cage with a prettier lock , made my skin crawl every time I remembered.Daniel had messaged me ten minutes ago: *My office. Now.* No explanation, just the quiet command that always made my pulse jump. I’d left my desk without telling Sarah where I was going. She already knew. Everyone did. The photo leak had been scrubbed from the servers, but the memory of it lingered in the air like smoke that wouldn’t clear.The executive elevator carried me up in silence. When the doors opened, Margaret looked up from her desk, her expression carefully neutral.“He’s waiting.”I nodded and walked past her.Daniel’s office door was ajar. I pushed it open an

Edwin’s POVThe apartment was too quiet.It had been quiet since Mom died, but now it felt like a tomb. The oxygen machine was gone , Daniel’s people had arranged for it to be picked up the day after the funeral, along with the hospital bed and the medical supplies. All that remained was the faint indent in the carpet where the concentrator used to sit and the lavender scent from her favorite detergent that still clung to the sheets in her room. I hadn’t washed them yet. I couldn’t bring myself to.Ruby was at school. She’d gone back three days after the funeral, insisting she needed the routine. I’d driven her myself, the black SUV humming silently beneath us, Daniel’s security detail trailing two cars behind like shadows we could no longer shake. She hadn’t spoken much on the ride. Just stared out the window with red-rimmed eyes and said, “I miss her already,” when I dropped her off.I missed her too. Every second.But the silence wasn’t just from Mom being gone. It was from Daniel

Edwin’s POVThe copy room door had barely clicked shut behind Daniel when the silence hit me like a slap.I stood there, trousers still around my thighs, the copier humming uselessly behind me, pages spitting out one after another like nothing had happened. My legs felt weak. My chest felt raw. The ache between my legs , sharp, deep, still pulsing with the memory of him , was the only thing that felt real.He’d fucked me like he hated me.Then he’d cleaned me up like I was something precious.Then he’d left.No goodbye kiss. No “I love you.” Just the sound of his belt buckling, the quiet click of the lock, and the empty space where his body had been.I pulled my clothes back into place with shaking hands. The fabric felt wrong against my skin , too tight, too rough, like it belonged to someone else. I stared at the scattered pages on the floor. The Meridian deck revisions. Clean numbers. Safe strategy. Everything I was supposed to be focusing on while Daniel fought a war I wasn’t allo