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Chapter One Hundred - The Welcome
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2024-10-10 15:52:45
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A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and One - The Falling
Flashback. âI want to be defined by the things I love, not the things I hate, or the things Iâm afraid of. I just, I think you are what you love.â Taylor Swiftâs voice said the words into Lunaâs ears as she stepped out into the living room and stared at Justin out on the balcony of the penthouse. Justin was standing there, one hand holding a phone to his ear, and the other gesturing as he spoke animatedly to the person on the other side of the call. There was a glass sliding door between the balcony and the living room, and Luna stood and watched Justin through it. She had been doing that a lot lately, she realized. Maybe it was the hormones accompanied by her pregnancy, maybe it was just her feeling melancholic and wistful, maybe it was just random. Luna didnât know, and frankly, didnât care so much about the reason, but she had been standing and just watching Justin these past few days. Just gazing on him and taking him in. She did that now, she rubbed a hand over her stomac
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-18A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Two - The Corner
Present. How did she find herself in this situation? Luna wondered as she stared at the spread of food in front of her. She was in the dining area, Justinâs dining area, because she was in Justinâs house. And had been for a week now. She was seated in the dining area, and there was a spread of food on the table in front of her, just like there had been throughout the entire week. Before he went to work, Justin instructed the kitchen staff- which were more extensive in numbers and thorough in their work than a military squad, in Lunaâs opinion- to cook a healthy breakfast for her. He instructed them to put in everything healthy, the entire balanced diet, the works. And they always delivered. And she was always left alone to deal with it. Before she even woke up, Justin was already gone. Her room was opposite Justinâs, and sometimes, she heard him on the phone as he would be talking to some executive or the other as he was on his way out to work. And that was as much as she usuall
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-18A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Three - The Casualty
Over an hour later, after Luna had taken thirty minutes in the bathroom to settle herself after Honor left, and another twenty in front of the mirror, telling her image that she had nothing wrong, and she had nothing to feel sorry or guilty about, she finally walked out of the front door. She made her way towards her car parked in the driveway of the mansion. As she got in, and dumped her bag on the seat beside the driverâs seat, she stared at her phone in her hand. The face recognition software turned on her phone, she swiped to the message icon and shot a text to Justin. âTalk to Honorâ, it said simply. Luna turned off her phone again and just sat staring out at the house. Even with the prolonged time in the bathroom and the one in front of the mirror, it hadnât been enough to completely clear her mind. There were still lingering doubts and feelings of guilt pricking her chest. And she knew it was due to the image that had been continuously playing in her mind since Honor left;
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-18A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Four - The Lemonade
An hour later, Luna pulled her car up in front of her motherâs house. She turned off the ignition and alighted from the car, she made her way to the front door. She felt defeated, she was wrung out from her conversation with Ashley. Mainly because the conversation hadnât gone as she had imagined it. She hadnât imagined that Ashley was going to be more devastated that angry, she had donât imagined that her little sister had fallen in love with Justinâs brother, she hadnât imagined that by interfering in their relationship and breaking them apart, that she was breaking her sisterâs heart. And she sure hadnât imagined that she would end up feeling like crap after the fact. She hadnât imagined a lot of things when she had gone into her office that morning, because she simply hadnât thought things through before she did them. And now, she felt like the worldâs biggest slime. She trudged up the porch steps and walked into the house. Mira had called her beforehand, just after Ashley ha
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-18A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Five - The Checkup
Luna looked at Justin with bored eyes, she rolled them as Justin continued tapping his fingers on his laps. His laps to which his feet were tapping the floor too. If Luna wasnât so bored and over the whole thing, she would have been impressed by his ability to multitask like that. âUrgh, will you stop it?â she finally said when he just continued to tapping his fingers and feet. Justin turned his head to look at her. âWhat?â he asked. They were in the mansion, both of them were seated on opposite sides of the kitchen countertop, they were waiting for Matt to bring the car around to the front of the house. They were going to the hospital, for Lunaâs routine checkup, except it was Justinâs first hospital appointment since she got pregnant. And he was freaking out, as much as Justin could freak out. âItâs just a routine checkup,â Luna said for what was probably the fifth time in the last two minutes. âAnd you donât know what itâs going to show now, do you?â Justin countered. âYo
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-18A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Six - The Rant
Luna sat at the board table with the other executives of the gala event. Justin was at the head of the table, taking expenditure and income. It was a meeting to discuss how well they were doing on those two fronts as regards the gala. Luna glanced around the room. Almost everybody was there, except Jake and Logan and two other executives. Jake and Logan had informed Justin of their absence beforehand, due to their individual schedules that clashed with the meeting time. Moira was there though. And nobody was aware of that fact more than Luna herself. She could Moiraâs burning gaze on her. If looks could pierce skin and sear them with their intensity, Luna would be a burnt crisp by now. And she knew it was one of two things that could make Moira stare at her so intensely like that. It was either Justin had told her about the pregnancy and the fact that they were living together, or honor had. If Luna was a betting woman, she would put her money on the latter. And either of the
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-24A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Seven - The Eruption
The ride back to the mansion was quiet, Luna stared out the window for most of it, stewing over her conversation with Moira. With just a few minutes away from the house, Justin finally talked. âAre you okay?â he asked her. âIâm fine,â Luna mumbled without looking away from the window. âYou donât seem fine,â Justin insisted. âI watched you during the meeting, you didnât seem to be stressed.â He didnât say anything more, and Luna didnât either. The silence remained for the next few seconds. âBut maybe you were,â Justin continued when she didnât say anything. âI knew I shouldnât have let you come. Hell, I should cancelled the damn thing.â At that, Lunaâs eyes narrowed, she turned her head slowly to look at Justin. âIt wasnât the damn meeting,â she spat at him. âAnd âlet meâ? You donât get to âletâ me do any-fucking-thing. Itâs not your place, and nobody lets me do anything, that choice is mine and mine alone to make.â âDonât get upset about it, I was just pointing out-â
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-24A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Eight - The Jilted
The next day, Luna walked into Honorâs studio. Ever since she challenged Honor about putting the childrenâs segment in the fashion show, she had made it a point to check in both the progress of the show itself and the childrenâs segment, most especially. Other times, she didnât bother to check if Honor was in the studio or not before she came over, but today, she had made sure to check. And her informant had told her she was out of the studio for the morning. Having another confrontation was the last thing Luna needed today, not when the memory of her kiss with Justin last night was still seared into her brain. It was the most occupying thought in her head, every time she closed her eyes, she was sure she could still feel Justinâs lips on hers. She pressed her lips together now, and she could almost swear she felt a tingling there. She shook her head, letting the thought fade to the back of her mind. She was here to check on the childrenâs segment, and that was it. But becau
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2024-10-24
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A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Fifty - The End
âI want to say thank you to everyone for coming,â Logan said into the microphone. The gala had been going on for hours now, it was starting to wind down, towards the end. He was giving his speech as Chairman of Lake Industries. âThis would not have been successful without you all,â he continued. âI consider you all family, but I would like to thank my family, the one that I made. Both my sons, Justin and Brian, I am proud of you both. This Gala would not have been successful without you both, I love you.â He raised a toast towards Justin and Brian. âAnd to the ladies who stood by their side, and not just stood, but did their part in making this a success, Luna and Ashley,â he raised his glass towards Luna and Ashley, he smiled, âI love you. You are the best additions this family could have ever asked for, and my sons are lucky to have you in their lives.â He paused. âLove makes the world go around, without it, we would be lost, and I am glad that you four have found your way to ea
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine - The Middle
Luna stood in front of the full-length mirror, she placed a hand over her bump, and stared at her image. She smiled as she felt Justinâs arms wrap around her midsection. She leaned back and rested her head on Justinâs chest, she sighed as he started nibbling on her neck. âCanât we just stay in and not go?â she asked, tilting her neck even better for Justinâs mouth to have access. Justin stopped nibbling, he looked at the mirror, meeting her eyes. âYou are a witch,â he murmured. Luna laughed. âWhat? Itâs just a suggestion,â she said, trying to look innocent. âYeah, a suggestion that you know I am one hundred percent for,â Justin replied. âHell, I suggested it an hour ago, and what did you say?â Luna closed her eyes. âWe really should go,â she echoed her own answer. âThatâs right,â Justin murmured, his mouth already muffled against the side of her neck again. Luna sighed, she twined her fingers with Justinâs on her stomach. âI was an idiot,â she murmured. Justin ma
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight - The Revenge
Present. Now Luna was mad. When the article was released, while they were preparing for the press conference, during the press conference, Luna had been sick all through. But now that the press conference was over, she was mad. She had kept her calm all through the press conference. Even when the questions had turned personal and her answers had left her a little hard to breathe, Luna had kept her calm. Rita had arrived just few seconds after the press conference started, she had stood behind the interviewers, facing Luna. And she had been showing her markers with her hands, thumbs up when she was doing good and stuff like that. That had helped to keep her calm, that, and the solid presence of Justin behind her. He had stood behind her chair, no word, no interruptions, just the occasional squeeze of her shoulder. Quiet support, and steady, even gentle, backing. And then Moira had walked in. The press conference had been nearing its end by then, Luna had watched as Rita had f
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Seven - The Postpartum
Flashback Luna sat on the sofa in the living room, staring at nothing. Moira was in front of her, pacing and reprimanding her about something. Luna wasnât sure what, she hadnât been listening when Moira started, she wasnât listening now, and she simply just didnât care. She didnât have the energy to care, she barely had the energy to be seating here as she was. She just wanted to lie down. For the past two weeks now, that was all she had been wanting to do. Just lie down, preferably in a dark quiet corner, but at this point, she would take anything she could get. But she wanted to lie down, pull a thick, dark cover over her head, and just go to sleep. She wanted to sleep, and go on sleeping, she wanted to sleep for a long period of time. And whenever she thought of the concept of waking up from that sleep, she didnât like it. Her heart sunk at the thought of waking up, and having to face all of this again. If she woke up, she had to sit up, she had to stand, she had to walk, she
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Six - The Debunking
The next day, the whole issue with Honor took a back seat in Lunaâs mind as she found herself with an entirely different, and bigger, situation on her hands. Another article was leaked, this one about her father. It dug up the old news about her father, and the issue he had with Lake Industries, the debacle that had brought Luna to New York and to Justin. The article was all about rehashing what her father did, how he âbetrayedâ Lake Industries for a handout, and how he disappeared from the grid because of his shame. His name, face and story were plastered all over the news article. Even her mother and sister were not left out, Mira and Ashleyâs faces and names were printed in it too. Feeling sick about it all, Luna pressed a hand to her stomach, she stood still, trying to get in a deep breath. She was at home, people were in the house, Justin had called an emergency press conference immediately the news had hit the media. Camera men and their crew were moving about the living
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Five - The Truce
âI really needed that,â Luna said two hours later, as she and Justin walked back into the studio. Justin wiggled his eyebrows at her. âWhich part?â Luna laughed, she swatted his arm playfully. âThe food and nice view part, you pervert.â Justin shrugged. âHey, you sounded like you enjoyed the other part very much too when we were doing it.â Luna laughed again, she shook her head. âYouâre an idiot.â âAn idiot you were screaming his name,â Justin leaned down and whispered into her ear. Luna looked up at him, her eyes widening. âJustin!â Somebody cleared their throat behind them, Justin and Luna both turned at the same time to look. The smile and teasing glint in her eyes were still there when Lunaâs eyes met Honorâs. âHonor,â she said, startled. She sobered up immediately, Honor looked at Luna, like she focused on her like she was determined to act as though Justin was not there. Luna felt the freeze, but somehow she felt like Honorâs acknowledgement of her was not part
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Four - The Continuation
One week later. Luna rubbed the kinks out of her neck, she had been stuck going through things that needed to be put in place for the Gala, all morning. All week too. Ever since Honor pulled her company out of the Gala event, there had been slacks in the work that needed to be done. Both in the parts that Honor had taken up to do, and in the aspects that her company had been taking care of. The fashion aspect. âThese are really good,â Luna commented, looking at the design sketches that had been left by Honor and her company before she left. âYeah,â Temperance, the assistant working with Luna on deciding the fashion angle for the Gala, said beside her. âMiss Kosarin and her people really worked hard on it, they worked almost round the clock too. It was like there was some competition or something.â Luna knew better that Temperance just what she was saying. From the first day they had met, she and Honor had both known there was going to be a competition between them. They had
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three - The Respect
Present. Luna and Justin were both in Justinâs car, they were driving after Honor. After her announcement, Honor had dropped the mic and immediately left the party. Moira had been livid, she hadnât shown it, of course, or at least not in an explosive way. She hadnât screamed or shouted, or done anything of the sort. Even in the face of what someone like Moira would probably term the greatest betrayal of all time, she still hadnât lost control. She hadnât shown her anger to the guests or given them a show that they could go talk about to the blogs. No matter her personal feelings towards Moira, Luna had had to admit that she found that impressive. But even with her composure, Luna had known she was angry. In fact, it had been very obvious to her, and no doubt to her family members too. She saw the look Justin, Logan and even Brian, had exchanged when it happened. The vein that had popped out on Moiraâs forehead had been the first tell, followed by the twitching at the corner of
A Second Life With The Billionaire    Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two - The Miscarriage
Flashback. âSo youâre saying thereâs nothing you can do?â Brandon asked the lawyer. Luna was in her room, the room she shared with Justin, although âsharedâ was a strong word for how much time Justin actually spent in the room with her these days. Luna shook her head to shake off those thoughts, thinking about the ever increasing distance between she and Justin for the past month would only just make her depressed. And she didnât have the time or head space for that. She refocused her attention on the matter at hand. She was in the room, her mother and father were on a call with her, Luna stared at their faces on the laptops screen. A man was seated beside her, Carl James, her lawyer. He was a low budget lawyer, the type she had been able to afford on her own, hers and her parents, that is. She couldnât tap into the generous money Justin kept depositing into her account almost every day. And she couldnât do that because she couldnât very well use his money to hire a lawyer who
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