Lahat ng Kabanata ng Five Years On The Run: The Billionaire's Secret Baby: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

ColetteI clutched Lea to my chest as she slept that night.She was curled up against me in my bed instead of her own because I couldn't bear to let her out of my sight after what had happened at school. She'd sensed my worry and hadn't argued when I'd asked her to sleep with me. Her breathing was soft and steady and I ran my fingers through her hair and tried to calm the panic that had been sitting in my chest since I'd gotten that text from Vivian.I looked around our cramped apartment. The peeling paint on the walls, the kitchen that was barely big enough to turn around in, the bathroom with the leaky faucet I'd been meaning to fix for months. We were moving out tomorrow even though our rent wasn't due yet and I'd already packed most of our things into boxes stacked against the walls.The move wasn't because of Vivian's threat, at least not entirely. I'd been wanting to change apartments for weeks now because Lea needed more space to grow and play and be a kid. This place was t

ColetteThe next day I went to the office and settled down at my desk like it was any other morning.But the moment I walked through the lobby I knew something was wrong because the workers at the hotel were acting strange and I couldn't figure out what had happened to make everyone so uncomfortable. Some of them even forgot to respond to my greetings and they just stared at me with these stunned expressions like they'd seen something they couldn't unsee.Priya knocked on my door five minutes after I'd sat down and she looked worried in a way that made my stomach drop."Have you seen it?" she asked."Seen what?"She pulled out her phone and handed it to me without saying anything. I looked at the screen and felt the floor tilt under me.I was trending.Not in a good way either but on a gossip blog that specialized in tearing people apart for entertainment and the headline made me feel sick.Hotel Manager Uses Child's Emotional Vulnerability to Climb Social LadderThere were photos o

OliverShe felt perfect in my hands.That was the only thought running through my head as we stood there on the dance floor with barely any space between us. The music playing around us was like background noise I couldn't quite hear. Her waist was small under my palm and she fit against me in a way that just felt right. I couldn't stop thinking about how natural this felt when it shouldn't.Her cologne was hitting me in waves and it was so similar to the scent from my dream that it made my head spin. I'd been trying to place that scent for days and here it was wrapping around me and making it impossible to think clearly about anything except how close she was and how easy it would be to close that last bit of distance between us.The slow music ended abruptly and shifted into something more pop.We were supposed to break apart now. I should loosen my hold around her waist and step back and thank her for the dance like a normal person would.But I couldn't bring myself to do that.

LeaWe were allowed to study and discuss in the yard. I was really happy about that because being outside was always better than being stuck inside at a desk. The yard at Elijah's house was huge and beautiful with flowers and trees and a little fountain that made peaceful sounds. I thought that if I lived somewhere like this I'd spend all my time outside.Elijah spread our books and papers out on a blanket on the grass and we sat down next to each other and started working on our assignment which was about family history and traditions. Miss Andrea had said we should interview someone in our family and write about what we learned but since Elijah and I were both kind of missing pieces of our families we decided to just talk to each other instead.I started to think about how I felt more closer and comfortable with Elijah than any other friend I had at school and that was saying something because I had lots of friends and I liked most of them. But with Elijah it was different beca

ColetteI was at home relaxing from the stress of the day and waiting for Lea to come back when my phone rang.Oliver's name appeared on the screen and I answered without thinking much of it because maybe he was just calling to say Lea's assignment was done and they were heading back. But the moment I heard his voice I knew something was terribly wrong."Colette, there's been an accident."My whole world stopped."What?""The car taking Lea and her nanny home was hit by a truck. They're at Saint Catherine's Hospital right now and I'm on my way to pick you up. I'm two minutes away."I couldn't breathe and I couldn't think and my hands started shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone. "Is she okay? Is Lea okay?""I don't know yet. Just be ready. I'll be there in two minutes."He hung up and I stood in my living room frozen because my brain couldn't process what he'd just said. Accident. Hospital. Lea. Those words kept repeating in my head but they didn't make sense together because