Lahat ng Kabanata ng She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife: Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

(Eleanor)I’ve been at the Polo Lounge for forty minutes when Natasha walks in.I honestly didn’t expect her to come.I sent the note three days ago.Delivered by hand, because I don’t entirely trust email.And if my daughter-in-law wanted to tear it up I wanted her to do it with stationery in her hand.The note said I would like to take you to lunch on Wednesday at the Polo Lounge. I will be there at one regardless.She didn’t reply.I sat in front of my mirror this morning for fifteen minutes deciding whether to come.Eventually I let the driver know to have the car ready by twelve so I could be here by twelve-thirty.Now I’m sitting here drinking a sparkling water instead of the crisp Chablis I really want.It’s not appropriate to drink alone in public at any time of day.I can see my reflection in the mirror opposite me, and I’m becoming increasingly sure that the pale blush jacket I’m wearing doesn’t flatter my collarbones.I’m hating every second of all of this.She arrives at t

(Mason)Chloe shows up to dinner in a slip dress the color of a scarlet macaw and earrings shaped like tiny mushrooms."Mason!""Chloe.""I love your shirt, it's giving banker who reads poetry.""I read poetry.""Oh my God I knew it."She kisses me on the cheek.She smells of something citrus and expensive.We sit and she orders sparkling water with three lemons and the burrata salad to start.She tells me, with great seriousness, that the moon is in something tonight and we are going to feel everything more than usual.I drink half my wine in one go.She talks.God, does she talk.She talks about her astrologer, who’s a man named Bryce.She talks about her sister, who’s a vegan but a fun vegan.She talks about a documentary about coral reefs that made her cry on a flight to Aspen.She’s exhausting in exactly the way I need.Which is to say, the topic is never me."Chloe.""Mm.""I should be honest with you.""Oh my God I love honesty.""I’m not in a place to commit to anything. I’m g

(Gloria)I’ve been watching Nathanial across the desk for forty minutes.He hasn't noticed.He’s chewing on a capped ballpoint while he reads the document in his hand, a small furrow between his brows.He’s done that since he was twenty-five and it’s going to give him a stroke one day if he’s not careful.He’s scribbling in the margins.That cramped, left-handed scrawl I haven’t had to decipher in years, and somehow still can.They say messy handwriting is a sign of intelligence.There’s no denying how book smart the man is.His sleeves are rolled to the elbow just to test me.I’ve been staring at his forearms like a love-struck teenager for two weeks now.At the espresso machine.In the elevator.Last Tuesday in the conference room, when he reached across the mahogany for a folder and the tendon shifted under his skin.That was the moment I stopped pretending it was professional observation.I’m thirty-five years old. It’s pathetic.He’s sexy and I want him."You’re staring."I look

(James)I take a long breath and look once more at the file open on my desk.Nathanial's panel sits on top of the stack.A viable match.Not an optimal one.The other panel is underneath it, filed under the false name I gave the lab when she came in.I’ve looked at it four times this morning.The numbers haven’t changed. Clarice is Lily’s best option.I walk to Lily’s room and find Natasha sitting in the chair by the window with her bag clutched in her lap and her face the color of paper."Natasha. I’d like to have a word with you in my office please."Chase looks at me with an inquiring frown.“It’s best if you stay with Lily, Mr. Warren.”Natasha follows me down the corridor without a word.I close the office door behind us.She doesn’t sit.She stands in the middle of the room with her bag still in her hands and waits for me to tell her."As I already explained when you arrived, Lily needs an urgent transfusion.”Natasha nods impatiently, probably wondering why I dragged her away f

(Nathanial)James catches me in the corridor with a folder under his arm and his mouth set tight.He seems to be having a hard time meeting my eyes.The reunion with my uncle is nowhere near as intense as meeting Nat.I barely remember him from my childhood.Just a vague feeling that he was always trying to avoid me.I’m in no hurry to build a bridge.For now he’ll just be Lily’s doctor to me."I would like to take donations from you and your mother," he says. "Just in case. The fewer surprises today, the better."I nod and start rolling up my sleeve immediately.The procedure room he leads me to is on the second floor.Two recliners, two IV trees, that smell of antiseptic and faint vending-machine coffee that lives in the walls of this place.I sit in the left chair, peel the cuff back a fold, and think about Natasha's face in the corridor twenty minutes ago.The way she pressed into my shoulder and stayed.I wish our reunion could have happened under different circumstances, but the