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CHAPTER NINETEEN

Author: Joy Richards
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-26 22:34:08

“You’re staring,” Alex said, his voice low and sharp, cutting through the morning quiet of the dining room. He sat at the head of the shiny table, his wheelchair positioned like a throne, his dark eyes flicking up from his tablet to meet the blue's of Lauren.

She froze, her coffee mug halfway to her lips, heat creeping up her cheeks. A small smile threatened to stretch on her lips. “I’m not staring,” she said, too quickly, setting the mug down with a clink. “I’m just… thinking, you know.”

“About?” His tone was cold, but a faint smirk tugged at his lips, the kind that made her heart stutter. It was the same smirk he’d worn last night, when he’d admitted he wanted to try love—for her. She wanted to giggle at the mere thought of it.

Lauren shifted in her chair, her fingers twisting the hem of her sweater. “Us,” she admitted, her voice softer. “What we said last night. Making this work. It’s… a lot to take in.”

His smirk faded, his gaze sharpening, assessing her like a deal he wasn’t sure
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    Lauren stood at the passage of Alex’s house, her travel bag slung over her shoulder, the weight of her grief heavier than the load itself. The modern glass-and-steel facade loomed before her, cold and unwelcoming, a stark contrast to the warmth of her mother’s small apartment. Her chest ached so painfully she urged to clutch them in her hand, her eyes still raw from tears that wouldn’t stop. The threatening text from the unknown number burned in her mind—Stop, or you’ll end up like your mother—but it was her mother’s still face that haunted her the most. Who would want to hurt a woman like that? She wanted to believe it was all a dream, but everyday, it hot more realer than the last Coming here, to Alex’s, felt like surrender, but she had no choice.The door opened quietly before she could knock, and Alex was there, his wheelchair framed in the doorway, his face unreadable, as usual. “You made it,” he said, his voice softer than she had expected.“Don’t make a mountain out of it,” s

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    The hospital waiting room was a blur of blinding whites and hushed voices, the fluorescent lights humming above Lauren’s head. She sat still, her hands clenched in her lap, and eyes sore from her constant crying and sleepless night. Her clothes now rumpled from the two days that she had continuously worn it—clung to her like a second skin and her mother’s still, pale face haunted her every thought. Dr. Patel’s previous words from the other night before echoed relentlessly, haunting her every minute: tampered medication. Someone had stolen her mother's life from her, and the weight of that truth pressed heavily against her chest, sharp and unyielding.She glanced at the wall clock mounted on the wall—8:05 a.m. Dr. Patel had promised to update her on the toxicology test result, and every second shevwaited for him, she felt the overwhelming sense of betrayal from her mother's memory. Her legs continued to bounce, her nails digging painfully into her skin. She needed answers instantly,

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    Lauren's sob filled the hospital room that was once a tomb of silence. She knelt beside her mother's bed, her hands holding her mother's cold ones. This hands that had once stroked her hair softly, wiped her tears as she sang beautiful melodies in her ears, until Lauren could fall asleep..The white sheets were now pulled back a smidge revealing a still pale face that once glowed with a lively colour. She was too peaceful, too peaceful that Lauren wanted to bawl her eyes out and weep on the cold tiles, till someone opened the door and told her it was all a prank.But no one was jumping into the room and laughing anytime soon, because unlike her shitty life, this one where her mother was no longer moving was the realest and most painful experience.But she didn't want to be in this part. “I'm sorry mum. I'm so sorry,” she sobbed into her mother's hand. “I should have been here sooner. I was a bad child even to your last breath.”“I was not hardworking enough to raise your surgery mone

  • Cripple Billionaire Husband    CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    Her father's word__”she might not make it through the night” kept haunting her. Tears streamed down her face, Alex's hesitation __” I‘d__” burning like acid on her skin. Everything seemed to be going wrong at the same time. It was all so overwhelming.“Lauren! Open the damn door, now!” Alex growled at the other side of the door, banging it crazily.“You can't lock yourself inside there forever, let me in.”Lauren quickly grabbed her phone off the door before she went ahead to open the door. Alex quickly wheeled in, grabbing her hand before she could escape again.“What's wrong? Tell me,” he says softly, his eyes holding a deep concern. Lauren wanted to believe that the look in his eyes was honest and he truly cared about her. But his actions that night had left a deep doubt in her mind. Alex was not the kind of man to care for someone so quickly. His acts was all just a pretense, nothing more.But what was the need? She was already leaving, why does he need to pretend?“My mum…she's

  • Cripple Billionaire Husband    CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    Lauren stumbled into the mansion, her heart still twisting painfully from his earlier words. How did they get here?Why did Melissa have to ruin everything?The words kept flowing in her head.Tears streamed down her face as she walked pass the sitting room, heading towards the room that she had come to love since she got to Alex’s mansion.‘wretched wh*re!’ ‘you’re just a contract.’ Their words made her let out a shaky breath. She grabbed her box and flung the wardrobe open, grabbing the dress that caught her eyes first.“He still loves her. He didn't fight her, so he's still so much in love with her,” she muttered, as she sobbed quietly.Her door creaked opened, as Alex came in, a deep scowl on his face.“Lauren,” he called.But she didn't respond. She continued to grab her clothes from the dresser, throwing them into her small box.“Lauren, look at me,” he said again, but she still didn't look at him. It was like she was totally deaf, and the only things she could hear at that m

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    The ballroom hummed with chatter, but it all faded when Melissa glided forward, her black gown slicing through the crowd like a blade. Lauren’s arm trembled in Alex’s, her grip faltering as Melissa’s sly smile locked onto them, venom dripping from her lips.“Well. Well. Well,” Melissa said, her voice loud, cutting. “If it isn’t the golden boy and his favourite little shadow.”Lauren shrank back, her breath catching, eyes darting to the floor. Alex tensed beside her, his hands gripping his chair.Melissa’s gaze raked over Lauren, slow and cruel, lingering on her dress, her ring. “Interesting,” she sneered, louder now, drawing stares. “You just can’t stop picking up my scraps, can you, Lauren? Always the sad little stray begging for what I don’t want.”Lauren flinched, her voice barely a whisper. “Melissa, please, don't do this here.”“Please?” Melissa mocked, stepping closer, her laugh sharp. “Oh, look at you…pathetic! What, did you think dressing up in that cheap silk makes you somebod

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