All Chapters of my mum's billionaire husband: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

AVAThe wedding reception had barely begun when Alexander came for me.I had been standing near my mother for less than twenty minutes, smiling whenever someone looked my way, pretending I wasn't counting every second until I could get away.My mother was surrounded by guests.People wanted photographs with her.They wanted to congratulate her.They wanted to touch her arm and tell her how beautiful she looked.She loved every second of it.I stood a few feet away, watching her laugh with relatives I barely knew.Then one of Alexander's men appeared beside me.“Mr. Black wants you.”My stomach dropped.“Where?”“The car.”I looked toward my mother.She was speaking to an elderly woman, her attention nowhere near me.“I need to say goodbye to her.”“You can do that outside.”I followed him through the reception hall.The moment I stepped outside, I saw Alexander waiting beside the car.He had removed his jacket.His tie was slightly loosened.He looked relaxed.Almost ordinary.That ca

AVAI stared at the envelope through the glass.My name was written across it in the same precise handwriting I had learned to recognize before I ever knew the man behind it.Alexander.I tried the handle again.Locked.“Of course.”I stepped back.The house was silent around me.Whoever had designed this place had understood something about silence. It wasn't peaceful here. It pressed against the walls. It made every small sound feel deliberate.I looked at the envelope again.What had he left me?A warning?A threat?Another set of rules?My fingers curled around the handle.I pulled once more.Nothing.I walked away.If Alexander wanted me to find something, I would find it on my own terms.I went downstairs and found the woman who had spoken to me that morning.“You.”She turned.“Yes, Miss?”“Who has the key to that room?”She hesitated.“Mr. Black.”“Where is it?”“I don't know.”“Then find it.”Her expression tightened.“I can't.”I stared at her.“You work here.”“Yes.”“And I

AVABy morning, I had stopped crying.That was the first thing that changed.The second was that I stopped thinking like a prisoner.Prisoners waited.I wasn't going to wait.I sat at the edge of my bed with my mother's last photograph still open on my phone.I studied it for a long time.Not her smile.Not Alexander's arm around her.The background.The balcony.The ocean beyond it.A resort.A place far away from me.I deleted the photograph.Then I deleted the others.Not because they hurt.Because I didn't want my mother occupying any more space in my head than necessary.I placed the phone beside me.Someone had left breakfast outside my room.I ignored it.Instead, I opened the curtains.Morning had transformed the property into something almost beautiful.Mist hovered between the trees.The lawn stretched toward the forest, perfectly maintained despite the wilderness surrounding it.Beyond that were the gates.And beyond the gatesI didn't know.That was the problem.I needed i

AVAThe first sign that something had changed was the silence.By late afternoon, the house had settled into its usual rhythm, yet something about it felt subtly misaligned. Doors opened and closed with greater frequency. Footsteps crossed the corridors. A vehicle arrived, remained for less than ten minutes, then disappeared again.I noticed.I said nothing.From the library window, I watched a security guard speak into his radio before turning toward the main entrance.Then another guard joined him.My fingers tightened around the book in my lap.Something was happening.I closed the book.A moment later, Grace entered carrying a tray.She set it down without meeting my eyes.“Grace.”She paused.“Is someone coming?”Her expression remained carefully neutral.“I don't know.”That answer was enough.I waited until she left before moving.The photograph I'd taken was still open on my laptop.The northern road.The cottage.The old service track disappearing between the trees.I studied

AVAThe messages replayed in my mind once moreYou shouldn’t have left, Ava.I know where you are.The bus lurched over a pothole, throwing my shoulder against the window. Outside, the countryside slid past in blurred fragments tin roofs, roadside stalls, fields scorched gold beneath the afternoon sun.My laptop screen stared at me.For several seconds, I did nothing.Then I opened my banking application.If Alexander could reach me through the devices I had carried out of that house, then they were liabilities. Every photograph, every password, every account, every piece of information stored inside them was another thread leading back to me.I transferred almost everything.My savings.The money accumulated from months of content creation.Every payment I could move without leaving myself completely stranded.I kept enough for immediate necessities and nothing more.The balance that remained was almost insulting.The amount I had transferred, however, was enough to buy me time.Tim