All Chapters of My Ex-husband Wanted My Money, The Billionaire Wanted Me : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

ELENAHis hand was on my face.I stared at him. He stared back. Neither of us moved. His thumb rested just beneath my eye, right where he'd wiped away that last tear, and my heart was going way too fast for how still everything else felt."Adrian…"His eyes flickered. For a second neither of us seemed to know what came next. Then he glanced down at his own hand, like he'd only just clocked where it was."I...."He didn't get to finish. Something shifted beside me, and I turned to find Elias awake, watching us both."Oh." I turned my attention to him fast, grateful for the excuse. Adrian cleared his throat, standing up almost too quickly.I looked at Elias properly. His hair was a mess from sleep. "You slept in my room?"A nod.I smiled. "Did you sleep well?"Another nod, then....a smile this time. My chest went soft at the sight of it."I'm glad."He crawled closer without warning and climbed straight into my lap. I wrapped my arms around him on instinct, and then his small hand reache

ADRIAN"You're whipped, dude."I stared at Edward. He stared back with a stupid grin plastered on his face. I'd barely hung up with Elena, and somehow this idiot had already found a way to make the next ten minutes of my life miserable."I don't know what you're talking about.""Oh, you know.""I absolutely do not."He leaned back in his chair with the particular grin he reserved for moments he considered himself hilarious. Then he cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and delivered the worst impression of my own voice I'd ever had the misfortune of hearing."'You're my wife, Elena. You deserve everything I have to offer.'" He puckered his lips at the air. "Mwah, mwah. Anything for you, my darling....""Shut up."That earned a full laugh, head tipped back and everything. "Why?""Because you're insufferable.""I have free will.""Unfortunately.""I have every right to speak my mind whenever the mood strikes." He pointed at me. "The mood is currently striking.""Save it." I reac

ELENADaniel and I stared at each other, and for a moment neither of us managed a single word. My mind had gone completely, unhelpfully blank.What is he doing here?Surprise crossed his face first, then hardened into something I recognized instantly. Contempt, the exact flavor he used to reserve for me on his worst nights."What are you doing here?""Nothing that concerns you.""Oh." One syllable, loaded with enough arrogance to turn my stomach.Then the insults started.... the same old script, reminding me of the woman who used to cry over him, who used to beg, who'd once believed every lie he'd fed her like it was scripture. He spoke like that woman still existed somewhere in front of him, waiting to lower her head and cower on cue.I just watched him talk. I didn't defend myself. Didn't argue back. Didn't even blink, and somehow that silence seemed to get under his skin far more effectively than any comeback could have.His voice sharpened. I let it. Eventually I tilted my head sl

ADRIANI stopped outside Elias's door without meaning to. I'd only come up to say goodnight.Then I saw them through the gap.... Elena on the edge of his bed, a picture book open in her hands, Elias curled into her side like he'd found exactly where he was supposed to be. Comfortable. Safe. Happy, in a way I still wasn't fully used to seeing on his face.I stood there longer than I meant to, just watching.Her voice stayed soft through the story, pausing now and then to show him a page. He barely moved, fully absorbed, tucked against her like this situation had been true his whole life instead of a few months.Something in my chest pulled tight, and I didn't like it. Not even slightly.Because I could see everything happening in real time.... the way he looked at her now, the way he reached for her without being asked, the way he'd started trailing her through the house like gravity had shifted in her direction. The way he ate without a fight. The way he'd started, slowly and without a

ELENAI barely made it to my bed before I dropped onto it, flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling without any words in my head at all.Then it hit me.We almost kissed!I sat up so fast my hair fell into my face. "Oh my god."Adrian and I. My husband.... well technically fake husband, though that distinction was doing a lot less work than it used to. My heart was already racing just replaying it.What would've happened if he hadn't pulled back? If our lips had actually met instead of stopping an inch short? If I'd kissed him back, which, if I was being honest with the ceiling, I absolutely would have?I covered my face with both hands. "No. No, no, no."That would've broken every rule we'd set before I signed anything. Separate rooms. Separate lives. No intimacy, no falling for each other, no crossing whatever line we'd drawn in that office the night he offered me the job. And for a few seconds in that kitchen, I'd forgotten every single one of them existed.Because I'd wanted to k