บททั้งหมดของ The Billionaire’s Favorite Mistake: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

The elevator doors opened on the fortieth floor, and Ellie Calder already knew she'd made a mistake coming alone."Mrs. Sterling will see you now," the assistant said, not looking up from her tablet."It's Calder," Ellie said. "Ellie Calder."The assistant's mouth twitched into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Of course."Damien's office took up the entire west corner of the building, glass on two sides, the city spread out beneath him like something he already owned. He didn't stand when she walked in. He didn't offer her a chair either, so she stood, arms crossed, in front of his desk like a student called to the principal's office."You look well," he said."You look like you've been expecting me.""I have." He slid a folder across the desk without lifting his eyes from his monitor. "Sit down, Ellie.""I'll stand.""Suit yourself." He finally looked up, and there it was: the flatness she remembered, the way he could look straight through a person like they were made of glass. "

The courthouse wedding was supposed to be private. Nine minutes, a judge, two witnesses pulled from the hallway, and it would be over.It took less than that for the first camera flash to go off."Mrs. Sterling! Over here!"Ellie flinched at the name, at the flash, at the sudden crush of bodies pressing against the courthouse steps as she and Damien walked out. The name hit her like a physical blow. Mrs. Sterling. She'd barely had time to process the words inside, the judge's voice echoing in the small chamber, the cold metal of the ring sliding onto her finger. Nine minutes. That was all it had taken to erase twenty-eight years of being Ellie Calder.Microphones jabbed toward her face. Someone shouted a question about her father's company. Someone else shouted something crueler about gold-diggers, and she felt Damien's hand close around her arm, not gentle exactly, but solid. She could feel the tension in his fingers, the controlled strength that kept her moving forward when every ins

Damien didn't come home until nearly two in the morning.Ellie heard the door, heard him moving quietly through the apartment like a man trying not to wake someone he assumed was asleep, and she lay still in the unfamiliar bed and let him think it had worked.By the time she came out at seven, he was already at the kitchen counter, laptop open, a cup of black coffee steaming beside a second mug she hadn't asked for. Made, she realized, exactly the way she used to take it. Two sugars, splash of cream, stirred and left to cool for ninety seconds before drinking, because she hated it too hot.She stared at the mug longer than she meant to. The steam rose in gentle curls, carrying the familiar scent of the brand he'd always bought, the one she'd mentioned in passing once, years ago, and he'd remembered. Of course he'd remembered. He remembered everything, and that was precisely what made him so dangerous."There's coffee," Damien said, not looking up."I can see that." She picked it up, to

"Say it again," Damien said into the phone, his voice low enough that Ellie had to lean in to catch it. "Slowly." She'd found him exactly where she'd left him hours before, still by the window, phone pressed to his ear as though he hadn't moved since Marcus's voice had gone quiet the night before. The city outside had turned from black to gray, and still he hadn't answered whatever question had been sitting in the silence between them. "I said the file's been altered," Marcus repeated, his voice thinner than it had been, worn down by a night without sleep. "Not fabricated, altered. Someone accessed Julian's personnel record eight days ago and changed something in it. I don't know what yet. The metadata's been scrubbed." "Eight days ago," Damien repeated. "Before the wedding." "Before the wedding." Damien closed his eyes. "So whatever Ellie and I have been dealing with all week, the badge, the footage, the reporter, someone set that in motion before either of us knew it was coming.

The abstention bought Damien time, but not peace. By the time they left the boardroom, his phone had already lit up with a dozen notifications, press requests, board members demanding private meetings, the single text from Marcus that simply read: Call me. Now. "What is it?" Damien asked the second Marcus picked up, Ellie close enough to hear. "There's a recording," Marcus said, and something in his tone made Ellie's stomach tighten before he'd even finished the sentence. "It's already circulating. A private conversation between you and Ellie, from two nights ago." "That's not possible. We were alone in the penthouse." "It's out, Damien. Playing on three different news sites right now." "Where did it come from? Who uploaded it?" "An anonymous tip, sent to all three outlets within the same four-minute window. Whoever did this wanted it to spread fast and wanted it to spread everywhere at once. This wasn't someone testing the waters, Damien. This was a coordinated release." Damien