The Billionaire’s Regret のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 41 - チャプター 50

The car door closed with a soft, final click.Amelia leaned back into the seat, her chest still tight, her pulse refusing to slow. The city lights streaked past the window as Daniel eased the car into traffic, the engine’s low hum filling the silence that followed them out of the restaurant.Neither of them spoke.Daniel kept his eyes on the road, posture relaxed—too relaxed. One hand rested lightly on the steering wheel, the other tapping once against it before going still again.Beside him, Amelia stared ahead, her thoughts anything but calm.“I didn’t expect… that,” she said finally, her voice quiet.Daniel glanced at her briefly, then back to the road. “Yeah,” he replied simply.No questions. No pressure.Amelia swallowed. Part of her had expected him to ask—Who was he? What was that about? But he didn’t.And somehow, that made it worse.She shifted slightly in her seat. “I’m sorry about tonight.”“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”“There is,” she insisted softly. “That wasn’t s

The door clicked shut behind her.For a moment, Amelia just stood there, back pressed against it, fingers still wrapped around the handle like she needed something solid to hold onto.The silence inside her apartment felt… different tonight.Too still.Too aware.She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes, letting her head fall back against the wood. The events of the night replayed immediately, uninvited and relentless.Alexander.The way his voice had cut through everything else.The way her name sounded on his lips, familiar, dangerous.Her chest tightened.Amelia pushed herself away from the door, dropping her purse onto the small table by the entrance before slipping off her heels. The relief should have felt grounding.It didn’t.Nothing did.She walked further inside, the soft glow of the lights doing little to warm the unease settling under her skin. Every step felt heavier than it should have, like she was carrying something she couldn’t quite put down.“I chose,” she whispered to

Morning came anyway.Amelia knew it before she opened her eyes, the thin, pale light slipping through the curtains, the quiet hum of the world waking up outside, the faint heaviness sitting in her chest like something that had settled there overnight and refused to move.She hadn’t slept.Not properly.It had been the kind of night where time blurred, minutes stretching into hours, thoughts looping endlessly until exhaustion dragged her under in short, restless bursts.Her eyes finally opened, staring up at the ceiling as everything came rushing back.The restaurant.Alexander.Daniel.Her choice.A slow breath filled her lungs, then left just as unevenly.She turned onto her side, pulling the sheets closer around her like that could somehow contain the storm she had gone to bed with.It hadn’t worked.It was still there.Still loud.Still unresolved.Her mind replayed the confrontation first.Alexander standing in front of her, looking at her like nothing had changed, like he could s

Alexander hated this feeling.It sat beneath his skin, sharp and unrelenting, like something he couldn’t quite grab hold of, something slipping just beyond reach no matter how tightly he tried to close his hand around it.Lack of control.He had always despised it.Even before the money. Before the influence. Before the name he had built from nothing into something people respected, feared, even.Back then, control had been simpler.Smaller.But it had still been his.And one thing had always made it easier.Amelia.Alexander leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular as his thoughts dragged him further into the past he rarely allowed himself to sit with.She had never fought him.Never questioned him the way others did.Never made him feel like he had to prove anything.With her, things had just… worked.She understood him.Adjusted to him.Fit into his life in a way that felt natural, effortless.Perfect.His jaw tightened slightly.Because now.Nothing about

The weekend finally came.Sunlight spilled through Amelia’s curtains in soft, golden streams, warming the room in a way that felt almost intentional, like the day itself had decided to be gentle with her. Outside, the distant hum of the city was lighter, slower, softened by the quiet rhythm of a Saturday morning.And the birds.She could actually hear them.Clear. Bright. Alive.Amelia stared up at the ceiling, wide awake.She had been for a while.Long before the sun fully rose.Anticipation had done that.It had crept in sometime during the early hours, pulling her out of sleep and refusing to let her go back. Now it sat in her chest, light but persistent, like something fluttering just beneath the surface.Daniel.Her lips curved slightly as the thought settled.His message from last night replayed again in her mind, word for word, tone and all.Ice cream… pizza… Chinese… just want to spend time with you.Simple.So simple it almost felt unfamiliar.And yet.It had stayed with her.