All Chapters of Hidden No More: The Billionaire’s Plus-Sized Secret: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

172 Chapters

MET SOMEONE ELSE

Quinn's POVI sat behind my desk, staring at the email on my screen with absolutely no interest in opening it.Another production company.Another proposal.Another request for a partnership.I sighed and clicked the message open anyway.The offer was decent. More than decent, actually. They wanted to collaborate with Cardiff Productions on an upcoming project, with their company handling most of the creative development while mine provided funding and distribution.Normally, I would have at least considered it.Today, I couldn't bring myself to care.I scrolled through the proposal, reached the bottom, and clicked decline.Another email arrived almost immediately.I stared at the notification.“Seriously?”I opened that one too.Same thing.Partnership.Collaboration.Expansion.I closed it without reading past the first paragraph.The partnership with Starshot Studios had been enough. That arrangement was temporary, anyway. I had no interest in tying myself to another production com

THE MEDIA LEAK

Laura's POV“Oh my God.”The words barely left my mouth before Baxter leaned forward.“What’s going on?” he asked, his brows drawing together. “What happened?”I couldn't answer.My hands were shaking so badly that I nearly dropped my phone.The headline remained on the screen, staring back at me.Confirmed pregnant.It was one thing to know it privately.It was another thing entirely to see it plastered across a tabloid for thousands, perhaps millions, of people to read.My stomach twisted.“Laura?”I swallowed.“I want to go home.”Baxter watched me for another moment.“Okay. Okay.”He reached across the table and gently took the phone from my hand.I didn't stop him.He read the notification, and his expression changed immediately.“Damn,” he murmured. “I'm sorry about that, Laura.”I looked down at my lap.“I didn't want anyone to know yet.”“I know.”He didn't ask why.He didn't bombard me with questions.He simply placed my phone back on the table and stood.“Let me get us out o

IS IT MINE

Laura's POVThe moment I stepped out of the elevator, I felt like my body had finally reached its limit.The hospital had already been enough. The pregnancy result, the headlines, the conversation with Baxter, and then the ridiculous revelation about Ember had left my head spinning so badly that I wasn't sure which thought belonged to which problem anymore.I just wanted my bed.I wanted to shut the door, crawl beneath the covers, and pretend the entire world had disappeared for at least twelve hours.Baxter walked beside me as we approached the receptionist desk.He had been unusually quiet during the drive back, as though he understood that I needed the silence more than I needed another conversation. I was grateful for it.When we reached my lobby, he stopped."I have to head back to the hospital," he said. "But I'll come check on you tonight."I shook my head immediately."No, don't bother. I don't... maybe I'll call you."He raised an eyebrow."I don't have your number."For some

FOCUS ON WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU

Anto's POVSomething was wrong.I checked my phone for what had to be the tenth time in the last five minutes, staring at Laura's name on my screen as though looking at it long enough would somehow make her answer.Nothing.Not even a stupid little notification telling me she had seen the message I sent earlier.Shooting was supposed to start in a few minutes, and our lead actress was nowhere to be found.I shoved my phone into my pocket and looked around the set.Crew members were moving equipment into position. The lighting team was adjusting the overhead lights while the makeup artists were putting the finishing touches on the other actors. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they were supposed to be doing.Everyone except Laura.And I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.Yesterday, Quinn had called me.It hadn't been a particularly long conversation, but the questions had stayed with me.Was Laura okay?Had anything happened on set?Was anyone bothering her?Was s

THE SCENE AHEAD

Laura's POVI couldn't stay here.I couldn't stay in this hotel.I couldn't stay in this city.I couldn't keep moving from one disaster to another and pretending I was strong enough to handle all of it.Quinn had found me.He had bought the entire fucking building just to get into my room.Anto knew where I was too.I didn't know what I was doing anymore.I pulled my suitcase from beneath the bed and dropped it onto the mattress. The zipper sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet room.I opened it and started throwing clothes inside.A dress.Two pairs of jeans.T-shirts.Underwear.A jacket.I didn't even fold anything.I didn't care.I just needed to leave.But where?I stopped with a shirt clutched in my hand.Where the hell was I even going?I stared at the suitcase.I didn't have an apartment.I didn't have a house.I didn't have anyone I could comfortably call and say, "I'm leaving town. Can I stay with you?"I didn't even know where I wanted to go.I just knew I didn't want to be

FUCKING BASTARD

Quinn's POVI had never been good at losing control, even when Laura was kidnapped I couldn't handle the absence of knowing exactly what to do next.It was one of the things people liked about me.Quinn Cardiff was always composed. Always calculated. Always three steps ahead of everyone else.Tonight, I was none of those things.I sat alone in the darkest corner of a club, staring at the amber liquid in my glass while the music pounded around me.The bass was loud enough to shake the table.People were laughing.Couples were dancing.Someone at the bar was arguing with a bartender.None of it reached me.All I could hear was Laura.Her voice had been following me since I left her hotel room.I lifted my glass and took another drink.It burned going down.Good.I needed something to burn.I had spent the entire drive home trying to understand what had happened.Laura was pregnant.That much was certain.But was the baby mine?She hadn't answered me.She hadn't even looked at me properl

THINK THINGS THROUGH

Laura's POVI had been driving for what felt like thirty minutes when the fuel warning finally blinked across my dashboard.Of course.Because apparently, fleeing the city in the middle of an emotional breakdown wasn't enough. My car had decided to remind me that even running away required preparation.I pulled into the nearest gas station and parked beside one of the pumps. For a few seconds, I simply sat there with both hands wrapped around the steering wheel, staring through the windshield.My chest felt tight.I didn't know where I was going.I only knew that I needed to go.I got out, filled the tank, paid, and climbed back into the driver's seat. I barely made it three minutes down the road before my phone began ringing.Baxter.I answered immediately."I've been trying to reach you," I said."Laura, what's going on?" His voice came through the speakers, slightly breathless. "I was attending to some patients. I couldn't use my phone for a few hours. Are you okay?""It's okay, Ba

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Hemsworth's POVI had never seen my name dragged through the mud this thoroughly.Everywhere I looked, there was another headline, another opinion, another person who suddenly believed they knew everything about my life.Ember's fake pregnancy had become a national spectacle.People were dissecting our marriage as though it were some television show they had been watching for years. Strangers were analyzing photographs, interviews, old social media posts, even the way I had looked at Ember at public events.Somehow, I had become the villain.The irony wasn't lost on me.I hadn't been the one wearing a fake pregnancy stomach for months.I hadn't been the one lying about carrying a child.Yet apparently, I was the one who deserved every ounce of humiliation coming my way.I sat on my couch, scrolling through my phone, my jaw tightening with every comment.Some fans defended me. A few insisted that Ember had manipulated me and that I had been deceived just as badly as everyone else.But

WHERE WOULD SHE GO

Quinn's POVThe courtroom felt colder than it had any right to be.I sat in my seat with my hands clasped together, staring toward the front as the judge read through the final details of Elena's case. I had heard most of it before. The evidence, the statements, the accusations, the things she had done to Laura and the consequences that had followed.Still, hearing everything spoken aloud made it feel different.More real.Elena sat several feet away, dressed in plain clothing, her hands folded tightly in her lap. She had barely looked in my direction since the proceedings began.I wasn't sure whether I was relieved or disappointed by that.Maybe both.The judge eventually delivered the sentence.Ten years of imprisonment.Five hundred hours of community service to be completed under the conditions determined by the court, along with the other restrictions attached to her sentence.For a moment, Elena didn't move.Then the officers stepped toward her.She finally looked up.Her eyes m

NE LIFE NEW BEGINNINGS

Laura's POVThe first thing I noticed about Dewdrop was how quiet it was.Not quiet in the uncomfortable way, where silence made you feel like something was waiting around the corner. It was the kind of quiet that seemed to settle naturally over everything. The roads weren't crowded. There were no flashing cameras, no people staring through car windows, no familiar faces walking around as if they belonged in every part of my life.Just trees, small buildings, and the occasional car passing by.I drove slowly beneath the welcome sign.WELCOME TO DEWDROP.Underneath it, in smaller letters, someone had painted, STAY A WHILE.I almost laughed.That was exactly what I needed.To stay a while.I had no idea how long that would be.I continued down the road until I spotted a small building that looked more like a motel than a hotel. A wooden sign hung above the entrance, its paint slightly faded.I parked outside and stepped out of the car.The woman behind the reception desk looked up as so

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