All Chapters of Five Years On The Run: The Billionaire's Secret Baby: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Colette I still didn't know how to react to what was happening. The last time I'd seen Owen was five years ago and looking at him again now, all I could see was the man who broke my heart and cheated on me like he never loved me to begin with. Standing there in the supermarket aisle watching him back away, I felt nothing but the echo of old pain and the sharp relief that I'd gotten away from him when I did. Elijah was still standing in front of me with his arms spread wide and his little body trembling but his voice steady as he said "Stay away from her" one more time for good measure. Oliver stood beside him watching Owen with an expression that said he was only waiting for one wrong move, just one excuse to do something that would probably end very badly for Owen. Owen's face had settled into something cold and dreading and I saw the exact moment he recognized who Oliver was because his eyes went wide and all the fight drained out of him. He knew who he was dealing with and

OliverI suddenly had a lot of questions.Questions I'd never cared enough to ask before, questions about Elijah's mother and who she was and where she'd gone and why she'd taken the money and disappeared without looking back. Part of me wanted to hire an investigator and find her, track her down and demand answers for why she'd left our son behind. The other part thought it was better if I still didn't know who she was because what would I even do with that information, what would change except that I'd have a face to attach to the abandonment.I was still turning those thoughts over in my head when the doorbell rang and Mrs. Park went to answer it. Suddenly Lea was walking through the door with Colette behind her.I found myself smiling.There was just something about Lea's smile that pulled one out of me without permission. I rarely smiled on a normal day. Leon had pointed it out more than once, but this kid with her dimples and her bright energy made it impossible not to.She

ColetteOwen came again.And this time he wasn't alone, Sienna was with him. The moment I saw them both through my office window walking toward the entrance I felt my stomach drop. They'd somehow found out that I was working at the hotel and they were here for me. I could already tell from the way they were moving that this wasn't going to be a pleasant visit.Security tried to stop them at the entrance but Owen got aggressive and pushed past. Sienna started yelling about how they had every right to be there and how dare the staff try to keep them out. I heard the commotion from my office and came down to find Owen shoving one of the security guards and Sienna screaming loud enough that guests were starting to stare."Let them in," I said.The security guard looked at me in confusion. "Ma'am?""It's fine. Let them through."He stepped back reluctantly. Owen and Sienna walked past him with matching smirks on their faces like they'd just won something. I turned and walked back t

OliverI watched her talk and I couldn't deny that I felt proud.The woman standing at the front of the room wasn't just strategic but also very smart.The way she broke down complex problems into simple actionable steps showed a level of understanding that most of these branch managers didn't have despite their years of experience. I'd known she was good at her job but seeing her handle a room full of skeptical executives was something else entirely.I'd started to see reasons for Elijah's likeness to her too and it made sense now in a way it hadn't before. Elijah had always been smart, sharper than most kids his age, and he gravitated toward people who challenged him intellectually. Colette's intelligence was probably what made him pick a liking to her because she talked to him like he mattered and explained things in ways that respected how much he could understand.The branch manager who'd challenged her was still talking and others were nodding along and I was about to step in

ColetteVivian visited me again.But this time it wasn't with tears or pleas or offers of money, it was with a warning that made my blood run cold the moment she walked into my office and closed the door behind her with a quiet click. "I'm going to make this very simple for you," she said without preamble. "If you know what's good for yourself and your daughter, you'll stay away from Elijah and Oliver completely."I stood up from my desk. "Excuse me?""You heard me. Since you don't want to help me, you can at least just stay away from Elijah completely for the remaining time you'll use as this hotel's manager."I crossed my arms. "You sound very sure that I'll only be here for three months.""I'm sure of a lot of things.""And how exactly am I supposed to stay away from them when I'm not the one throwing myself at those two people? They come to me. Elijah asks for me, Oliver calls me, how am I supposed to control that?"Vivian smiled and it was the coldest thing I'd ever seen on a hu