9
I clenched my fists so tight my knuckles cracked. “So that’s how you wanna play, Dahlia? You think you can just walk out on me like I’m nothing?”
Then my grandmother showed up. She walked in with that smug face and her cold tone. “See? She left with the money. Typical gold digger. I told you, Austin. That bitch was a gold digger Consider it a cheap lesson. She took your billion too, didn’t she? And she walked away. Let her go before she drags your name lower than it already is.”
My chest burned, but I forced my voice steady. Cold. Deadly. “Fine. Let her go. If she wants to vanish, she can vanish.”
Then Yvette slipped her hand into mine then, “Austin,” she whispered, “You deserve someone who stays.”
I squeezed her hand, gentle, “Let’s go. Paris.”
After Paris we went back to the villa. Yvette was smiling like a kid, still humming the songs from that damn concert. She was happy. Me? I couldn’t sleep.
I sat up in the dark, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything. Dahlia’s face when she told me “okay.” The smile she left me with. The silence after. The way she vanished like she neve
existed.
I grabbed a drink, whiskey straight, but it burned useless. Didn’t help. Something was wrong. I
knew it.
Yvette was curled up on the master bed, breathing soft, looking like some delicate angel. I brushed her hair off her face and walked out. My feet dragged me straight to the guest room. Dahlia’s room.
I yanked open her drawer. My chest froze. Two damn checks. One billion. One million. Both stil there. Crisp. Untouched.
sat down hard on the edge of the bed, staring at them like they’d bite me.
She didn’t take it. She never fucking took it. What the hell have I done?
shoved them in my pocket, grabbed my keys, and floored it to Grandma’s mansion.
The old witch was in the sitting room when I stormed in. She raised an eyebrow like she already knew what I was about to say.
I slammed the checks down on the table.
Her face drained. “What… what is this?”
“She didn’t take the money!” I snapped. My voice dropped cold. “Dahlia’s not the gold digger you think.”
She leaned back, lips curling. “That’s impossible. She smiled when she accepted the cheque.” “Maybe she planned to fool us. But she walked away without touching a dime. Tell me, does that look like a damn gold digger to you?”
Grandma’s laugh was sharp. “Then she’s a fool. That much money could have given her a life of a princess. She could have been happy forever. Instead she clung to love. Pathetic. Poor women always think love can raise them.”
Cheater
3:23 pm
DADA.
My fists clenched. “I’m going to find her.”
Her eyes iced over. “And hurt Yvette? You should be happy now. We’re preparing the wedding The inheritance papers are waiting. Once you marry Yvette, you get full access. That’s what
matters.”
“What about Dahlia?” I shot back, my jaw tight. “She’s my girlfriend-”
“I don’t care!” she cut me off, her voice sharp as glass. “Your grandfather hated that woman since the day you brought her home three years ago. Now she’s gone. Do not disappoint us
Austin.”
I opened my mouth to argue when my phone lit up. Yvette’s name.
I picked up. “Yve?”
Her voice came broken, gasping. “Austin… I can’t… I can’t breathe… Austin, help me.”
“Yvette? Yvette!” My heart slammed. “Stay where you are. I’m coming!”
I bolted out, keys in hand, the world spinning red.
I stormed into the villa, still pissed that Dahlia wasn’t answering her phone. The lights were dim staff scrambling everywhere. Then I saw it.
Yvette.
She was on the damn floor, gasping like the life was leaving her, one hand clutching her chest. ‘Yve!” I ran, scooped her up in my arms. My throat went dry. “Fuck, don’t do this to me Somebody get the fucking doctor here, now!”
She looked up at me, pale as hell, tears shining. Her lips trembled. “Don’t… leave me. Promise.. promise you’ll never leave me.”
And just like that, her eyes rolled back. She passed out in my arms.
My chest clenched like a vice. I barked orders, voice booming through the damn halls. “Ten mer outside. Bring the car. We’re leaving now!”
The villa turned into chaos. Guards running, staff crying. But I kept my grip on her tight, carried her like she was porcelain. I was the boss, the underworld king who could slit a man’s throat without blinking. But right now? I was fucking panicking.
pressed my lips against her forehead as I laid her in the car. “Stay with me, Yve. I swear, I won’ ose you.”
At the hospital, it was a blur of flashing lights and doctors swarming. They wheeled her away while I held her hand, refusing to let go until they tore her fingers from mine.
stood there, fists clenched, chest burning, watching them work on her. And then I heard my grandparents’ voices cutting through the mess.
‘Austin, what the hell happened?” Grandma’s voice was sharp, panicked. She marched straight to me, and grandpa followed her.
Chapter 9
212 36.0
3:23 pm
C1
