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All Chapters of Reborn: The Billionaire Second Chance Bride: Chapter 81 - Chapter 87

87 Chapters

Chapter 81

MIA’S POVI don’t answer him with words. I let him lead me instead, his hand at the small of my back, both of us a little unsteady from the wine we just had. The bedroom is dark except for the city glow through the windows, and Ethan pauses just inside the doorway, some last flicker of the careful version of himself still holding on.“Tell me if you want to stop,” he says, voice rougher than I’ve ever heard it. “Any point. I mean that.”“I know you do.” I reach up, my fingers finding the top button of his shirt. “I’m not going to.”That’s all it takes. Whatever restraint he’s spent three months building around himself finally gives out completely, and he kisses me like he’s been rationing himself and just ran out of patience for it one hand cradling my jaw, the other pulling me flush against him, and I feel the low sound he makes against my mouth more than I hear it.“You have no idea,” he murmurs between kisses, “how long I’ve wanted this without letting myself want it.”“I think I

Chapter 82

MIA’S POVI wake up first again, tangled in Ethan’s sheets with sunlight cutting soft lines across the bed, and for a moment I just lie there listening to him breathe, still half convinced last night was something I had pulled out of my imagination.He stirs when I shift, arm tightening around me on instinct before he’s even fully awake. “Where are you going.”“Nowhere. I’m still here.”“Good.” His voice is rough with sleep, eyes still closed. “Stay a while longer.”I do, until my phone buzzes with a reminder I set myself “see Peterson” and I finally sit up, reaching for yesterday’s sweater off the floor the image of last night flashed in my mind, a small smile formed on my lips.“You’re leaving,” Ethan says, awake fully now, watching me with the particular focus he gets when he’s already three steps into an objection he hasn’t decided whether to voice.“I’m going to see Peterson.”He doesn’t answer right away. His jaw sets, and for a second I catch something flicker behind his eyes

Chapter 83

MIA’S POVEthan’s waiting in the living room when I get back, eyes buried into his laptop, like he hasn’t moved in the hours since though, I know that’s not true, David’s already texted me twice confirming Ethan spent most of the afternoon on calls I wasn’t looped into.“How was he,” Ethan asks, not looking up from his laptop.“Fine. Surprisingly warm, actually. I caught a glimpse of a photo of his sister and then hid it from me before I could look properly.” I drop my bag on the counter harder than necessary. “And then I got a text telling me to ask him what he was doing the week my grandmother got sick.”That gets his attention. He closes the laptop slowly. “You didn’t ask him.”“No.”“Why not?”“Because I wanted to talk to you first.” I hear the edge in my own voice and don’t bother softening it. “Is that not allowed anymore?” “That’s the whole point of this arrangement” the words hit me hard, the way it came out easily for him bothered me.“Arrangement?” My brows furrowed, but Et

Chapter 84

MIA’S POVDavid has the full trace ready by noon, spread across three monitors in Ethan’s office like a crime scene nobody’s bothered to tape off yet.“The third shell,” David says, pointing to a cluster of transaction codes, “isn’t just registered to a property under Ryan’s name. It’s actively funded by a personal account he opened eight months ago, under an LLC that doesn’t show up anywhere in the company’s official structure. Whoever built this wanted it invisible to standard audits.”“Eight months,” Ethan repeats. “That’s before the FBI investigation started.” He pointed out.“Before Lily even started dating Jason again, actually.” David pulls up a timeline, dates stacking neatly against each other. “This isn’t a coincidence. this is a well thought out plan ahead of anything that’s happened recently.”I stare at the screen, at Ryan’s name sitting quietly at every point of this well planned fraud, a complete contrast to who I thought he was, and try to reconcile it with the versio

Chapter 85

MIA’S POVThe air around the house filled my lungs even more refreshing than the lies it covered, and I couldn’t help but imagine if that was the resin I stayed quiet for all those years.The house looked the same as it always does. Same manicured hedges out front, same too white columns, same feeling in my chest like I’m walking into a war zone clearly built to fight against me and win at all cost. Nothing about this hour felt like home anymore.Margaret my supposed mother is in the foyer when I walk in, dressed like she’s headed somewhere important heels, pearls, a dress that belongs at a luncheon, not a Tuesday afternoon at home. She startles slightly when she sees me, recovers fast, the way she always does. “Mia. I wasn’t expecting you.”“I didn’t tell anyone, or am I not welcome at home anymore” I give her a fake smile, as she blinked at my sudden jab.“Why would you ask that” she reached for my hand but stopped, “just that things have been tensed lately and you are almost never

Chapter 86

MIA’S POV Grandma room smells like lavender and something medicinal underneath it, a combination that’s become so familiar over the past few months I barely notice it anymore, except on days like today, when I notice everything. She’s sitting up in bed when I walk in, a blanket over her knees despite the warmth of the afternoon, and her face brightens the second she sees me, the only genuine reaction in this entire house that for the most of the time has not felt performed. “There’s my girl.” Her voice is thinner than it used to be, but her eyes are as sharp as ever, tracking me across the room like she’s already read into my expression trying to decode before I need to say anything. “You look exhausted my child.” She said genuinely concerned. “You’ve been fighting haven’t you” her face wrinkled in worry. “Something like that.” I settle into the chair beside her bed, the one that’s practically molded to my shape now from all the afternoons I’ve spent in it waiting for her arr

Chapter 87

MIA’S POVI’m curled on Ethan’s couch, half-asleep over a file I’ve read four times without absorbing a word of it, when the elevator chimes and Sophie walks in like she’s never once been gone.I glance up, and roll my eyes at her, her disappearance dont shock me anymore but it was becoming more frequent than usual.“Don’t get up,” she says, dropping a duffel bag by the door like she owns the place. “Dont stress over the return of your beloved friend” she said feigning her vexation.“Oh no her supreme is back” I mocked closing the file on my lap, “how did you get in anyways. “I let myself up. David gave me the code, which I’m choosing to interpret as him finally trusting me.” He beamed with pride.“Sophie.” I’m on my feet before I finish saying her name, and she catches me in a hug that smells like airport and something faintly like gun oil, which I choose not to think too hard about. “You’ve been gone too long, you just keep disappearing without a word.” Her face turns sad, with the

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