All Chapters of The Lover Behind my Back: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Helena’s POVHe was too close. Close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath brushing against my lips, close enough that if I tilted my head just slightly, just a bit, it would happen. My body reacted before I could think, leaning in without my mind following, like it already knew the ending to this moment and was just trying to get there faster.This is Liam. Not a stranger, not someone new. But someone I had known, someone I had trusted, someone I had once chosen without thinking twice. There's so much history in his eyes, moments so deep, so familiar that my body begged for a taste. Moments that had already carved a space inside me long before tonight.My fingers twitched at my sides, my chest rising slowly as everything in me softened towards him. It felt natural in a way that scared me, like slipping back into something I had already lived through. Like my body remembered him better than my mind wanted to admit.This is right. That thought settled quietly, almost gen

Barron’s POVI stayed quiet for a second after saying it, my fingers resting against the edge of the counter, my mind already running ahead of me.This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.Six months. That was the timeline. Six months of distance, six months of control, six months of structure. No interference, no unnecessary entanglements. Just a contract, clean and simple. But now, I’d already crossed into it.I'd met her.I exhaled slowly, my jaw tightening as the breath left my lips. I didn’t even plan it. That was the worst part. It just… happened.“Grandma,” I called, turning slightly towards her as she stepped fully into the living room.She hummed, watching me closely. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”I hesitated. Then, I sighed. Damn it.“I wanted to talk about…” I paused, dragging a hand over my jaw before forcing it out, “the contract marriage.”She lifted her brow slightly, but she didn’t interrupt. “Okay… what about it? Is there a problem? You’re not backing out, are

Barron's POV She didn’t move after I said it. Her fingers stayed still by the side of her now closed computer.Her eyes stayed on mine for a second longer than they should have, like she was trying to read something labelled on my head, something I couldn't remember putting up there. Then she blinked quickly, almost like she had to force it, and her gaze dropped back to the desk.I kept my hand resting gently on the PC, then slowly pulled back, resting slightly on the desk.She let out a small breath, a barely audible one, and nodded like she understood everything just from that. Like she was already bracing for whatever came next.“Okay,” she said, her voice quieter this time. “Then… what do you mean?”I didn’t answer immediately. Cause I was still trying to come up with something clean to give her. As of now, I had no explanation, no prepared line. Just a mess of thoughts that refused to settle into anything I could control.My jaw tightened slightly as I looked at her. She was s

Helena’s POVThe rest of the day didn’t feel real.It moved, sure it did. The clock kept ticking and people kept talking when I stepped out. Phones rang from every corner while footsteps passed my door like nothing had happened.But I couldn’t find myself in any of it. I was just… there. Sitting, writing, typing, sorting out files and answering calls when they came.Like my body showed up, but everything else stayed back in that moment.He didn't call after that, didn't send a message. Almost like he'd been plucked out of the earth from there.My fingers hovered over the keyboard longer than they should have, my eyes scanning the same line over and over without actually reading it. Every now and then, I’d catch myself drifting again, my mind slipping back to it before I could stop it.The kiss.My lips pressed together unconsciously, like I could still feel his lips against mine if I tried hard enough. Like it hadn’t completely left.I swallowed and looked down at the file in front o

Barron's POV “I feel peace.”The words brought a kind of silence in my head I hadn't felt in weeks. I didn't feel empty, I didn't feel numb.I just felt… quiet.I leaned forward on the edge of the bed, my gaze drifting past my feet, past the mart beside me, past the version of myself I had been carrying into every room like armor. It moved past the me in meetings, the me when making decisions. The constant awareness of how I sounded, how I moved, how I was seen.It used to feel necessary. Now it just felt… loud.Cause underneath all of that, beneath the control and the structure and the discipline I had convinced myself I needed—There had always been something simpler.I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face. I didn’t need to think any longer. I already knew.I felt like myself when I was with Helena.The realization didn’t hit hard. It didn’t shake anything. It just melted into me. Soft and certain. Like the only truth I'd ever told myself.I didn’t feel like the man who me