All Chapters of The Billionaire Behind My Divorce: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

70 Chapters

THE EMPIRE BETWEEN US

ALICIASunlight filtered through the lace curtains above the kitchen sink, painting pale golden patterns across the wooden floorboards. Outside, birds argued cheerfully from the branches of the maple tree that leaned over the back fence, while, somewhere deeper in the house, Mei was singing terribly off-key along to a song playing on her phone.It was peaceful.So peaceful, in fact, Alicia still wasn't entirely convinced it was real.It had been a little over a week since she and Tobey arrived. A little over a week since she could sleep without wondering whether a door would burst open in the middle of the night.The strangest thing about this piece, she was discovering, was how ordinary it looked.It wasn’t fireworks or dramatic declarations or triumphant music.It was making her coffee at six in the morning because she wanted coffee. Sitting at the kitchen table and having conversations with more people than just herself.It was a non-threatening silence.Some mornings, she would wa

I WAITED

LEVIEverything annoyed him.Even the strands of his hair that fell loosely against his seemed deliberate. He raked it back into position, but it only fell over again.Levi sat behind his desk while Abel stood nearby with a tablet in hand. The office that had once felt commanding now looked like a battlefield after the soldiers had abandoned it. Files were stacked where they did not belong. Coffee cups sat untouched. Half-open folders occupied every available surface.The room reflected the state of its owner perfectly.“Sir,” Abel started, “Arden Capital has officially withdrawn.”He allowed that rest in the room before continuing, “And Dr. Fischer is on the line.”Levi already knew.“Put him through.”A brief click sounded."Levi."The investor's voice carried none of the friendliness it once had. "We need to discuss our position."Levi leaned back. "No, Robert. You need to tell me whether you're staying or leaving."There was a brief silence.Then, "We're withdrawing."Another per

I'LL BE YOURS, YOU'LL BE MINE

ALICIAThe pancakes disappeared quickly.That was usually how it went whenever Tobey was involved.The little boy sat between Mei and Xinyi at the dining table, happily swinging his legs beneath the chair while everyone praised Alicia's cooking as though she'd personally solved world hunger."This is unfair," Mei declared dramatically around a mouthful. "I’m supposed to be on a diet."“Let me help you,” Xinyi said and pulled Mei’s plate toward herself.Mei pulled it back with a deep frown.Tobey pointed his fork. "Mommy puts extra milk."Alicia laughed. "There. Trade secret exposed."The table erupted with mock outrage.For a little while, she forgot.Forgot Theodore.Forgot Levi.Forgot interviews and scandals and lawyers and signatures.Forgot the terrible feeling that her entire life had been split into a Before and an After.For a little while, she was eating breakfast, laughing, and alive.The feeling stayed with her all the way upstairs.Until she stood before the mirror, then e

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

THEODOREThe call came in when Theodore was at his desk at home, the light from his laptop casting a dim glow on his face.He answered without thought, expecting one of a hundred routine problems demanding his attention, but the moment Uncle Wu's voice reached him, something inside him tightened with inexplicable dread."Theodore."The old man's tone was wrong. It wasn’t frightened or panicked. Theodore only recognised the weight of knowledge he did not yet possess.His hand stilled."What is it?"A silence greeted him first, and then a weary sigh."Don't scare her when you see her."Theodore frowned. The words made no sense."Who?"Another pause."Alicia."His heart faltered inside his chest. The world seemed to narrow around that name."Uncle, what do you mean? Where is Alicia?"The old man hesitated.Theodore already knew he wasn't going to like the answer."She left to find you."For one terrible moment, he forgot how to breathe. The blood drained from his face so swiftly it left

LIAM

THEODOREThe shot resounded throughout the warehouse, echoing both within and beyond its walls.Levi's stance was poor, his grip unsteady, and so his aim was faulty.Theodore easily dodged it, rolling to the left."Stop this!" he barked at Levi.But the deranged man only laughed harder, following him with the gun.He missed every single shot he fired, but he kept laughing, entertained by Theodore's scrambling.Theodore looked over at Alicia, still tied to the chair between the two men. She was far too close, well within range and close enough to fall victim to the thoughtless bullets of the gun-wielding maniac.He'd never imagined this.Rescuing his princess from a tower had never played out like this. Then again, not every fire-breathing dragon had scales.He had to think quickly and move even quicker.He watched Levi closely. The man was almost completely gone, staggering through stances and fumbling his grip around the gun as he pulled the trigger again and again. The bullets had t

TRIBUTE

ALICIAAlicia did not remember climbing over the barricade.One moment she was screaming Liam's name from behind the crates Theodore had hidden her behind, and the next she was stumbling across the warehouse floor on shaking legs that barely felt attached to her body.The world had dissolved into noise, the sound of her own heartbeat, the ringing in her ears, the distant struggle between Theodore and Levi, the sharp, metallic scent of blood."Liam!"She dropped to her knees beside him.The concrete bit painfully into her skin, but she scarcely felt it.Her eyes were fixed on the spreading crimson stain beneath him, watching it grow larger with every passing second as though the floor itself were drinking him away from her.Behind her, Theodore reached Levi and tackled him with enough force to send both men crashing to the ground. The gun skidded across the warehouse floor one final time, spinning uselessly before disappearing beneath a stack of crates.But nothing existed beyond Liam.

LOVE ISN'T ENOUGH

THEODOREThe first thing Theodore became aware of was the sound of a television.He was only hearing every other word at first, the sounds muffled and distorted, as though it were reaching him from the other side of a dream.Consciousness returned in fragments - the sharp scent of antiseptic filling his nostrils.His muscles were stiff, and there was a dull ache that seemed to inhabit every part of his body.The steady beeping of hospital machines rang in his head, making him open his eyes slowly.He gazed at the white ceiling for a while, trying to remember. Ahead of him, the white walls offered no hints, and the sounds from the television only grew irritating.From the smells and the white, and the aches at different parts of his body, he finally deduced he was in a hospital.Gradually, memory returned, tightening his chest with every scene. It seemed to play vividly on the white ceiling above him. He stared as he watched; the warehouse, Levi, the gun.Liam.The television continued

WILLOW

ALICIAThe day arrived beneath a sky the colour of ash. Soft winds blew in the morning, carrying leaves and fallen petals whichever way it went.Alicia stood among mourners dressed in black, staring at the polished coffin resting beneath a canopy of white flowers, and found herself unable to reconcile the stillness before her with the brother who had wrapped her in his sweater.How many losses could fate test her heart with before being satisfied?The worst possible outcome of any situation was the one she always dealt. Raised by parents who despised her, married off to a psychopath who detested her, and just when a glimmer of hope shone in her dark life, fate couldn’t leave it alone.She blamed herself, bitterly cursing her every action that led up to his death.‘I should never have left Uncle Wu’s. I should never have even been there. I should never have taken Tobey and ran. I should never have left… Levi.’That’s right. She managed to convince herself that one life had just been tr

IT'S ALWAYS RAINING

THEODOREWillow eyes drifted past Alicia, resting on Theodore.When their eyes met no words were exchanged.None were necessary.There was an acknowledgment there. A silent understanding between two people who cared for Alicia in entirely different ways.He had never really known Willow. Not the way he knew the rest of her family. He always saw her as the stereotypical rich girl who pretended to have opinions on everything but was too shallow to relate to anything.Her internet fame was solely tied to her Rutherford name, and it didn’t seem like she had any other ambitions.Watching her with Alicia, he still couldn’t believe they were sisters. They had nothing in common apart from the last name.Yet now, with Willow’s features softened by grief, the gentleness of her movements and a dim countenance, coupled with that weary smile, he actually saw the resemblance.Willow gave a small nod, taking a step back from Alicia and Theodore returned it. She said something else to Alicia before

A NEW STORY

ALICIAEIGHT MONTHS LATER.Life had settled into something Alicia scarcely recognized.Peace.Not perfect peace, because she had learned long ago that such a thing did not exist, but something close enough to make her grateful whenever she paused enough to notice it.The mornings belonged to Tobey.They always did.The condominium she now called home woke each day to the sound of little feet racing across hardwood floors, to cartoon theme songs playing too loudly from the television, to forgotten shoes, unfinished breakfasts, and endless questions about things no adult could reasonably be expected to know.“Mom?”“Yes baby,”“Do dinosaurs prefer pancakes or waffles?” He asked with all seriousness, kicking his feet back and forth under the counter.“Uh.. waffles, I think.”“ Do clouds get lonely?” He asked after swallowing another bite of his pancakes. “Do superheroes pay taxes?”Alicia stopped trying to understand the logic behind them.Instead, she laughed.“We’ll research that when y

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