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Chapter 36; The need for control
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
Melissa GeniusHeeeehheeeee
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Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 37; Feelings
(Bella’s POV)It had been hours since Adrian left, but I was still replaying the night over and over in my mind. The warmth of his body next to mine, the way he held me like he never wanted to let go. His kisses, full of both desperation and tenderness, left my heart pounding long after he’d gone.I was falling for him. As much as I tried to resist, to keep my guard up, it was impossible. There was something about him that pulled me in, despite the walls I had carefully built. Adrian wasn’t just the cold, calculated businessman I had initially thought. There was more to him—layers I was only just beginning to peel back.But that didn’t mean everything was perfect.I couldn’t ignore the things I was learning about him. The ruthless business deals, the way he seemed to bulldoze anyone who stood in his way, even Lucas’s warning that Adrian could be unpredictable. It was all starting to pile up, and as much as I wanted to believe in the version of him I saw when we were alone, a part of m
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 38; how do I fix it ?!
(Adrian’s POV)I had spent most of the day staring out of the large windows in my penthouse, the city sprawling below me like a maze of lights and shadows. A glass of whiskey sat untouched on the coffee table. It used to help—the burn in my throat, the warmth in my chest. But not today. Not with everything that had happened recently.I couldn’t stop thinking about her.Bella had a way of getting under my skin, of making me question every decision I’d made up until now. It wasn’t just the way she looked at me, her eyes always searching for something deeper beneath the surface, but how she made me feel vulnerable—like I wasn’t just Adrian Langston, CEO, the ruthless businessman who crushed anyone standing in his way. With Bella, I was... different.And that terrified me.I couldn’t help but think about how far I’d gone in my life to build this empire, to prove to everyone, especially my father, that I was worth something. That I could rise above the expectations, the suffocating famil
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 39; Brotherly reckoning
(Adrian’s POV)The tension in the air was palpable as I walked out of the foyer and into the study, my mother’s ultimatum ringing in my ears. Reconcile with Oliver? She had to be joking. The resentment between us wasn’t something you could just wipe away with a handshake and a few words. It was years of bitterness, miscommunication, and betrayal that had festered into a wound neither of us was willing to address.And yet, here I was. About to do just that.The study was dimly lit, the warm glow of the lamps casting long shadows on the walls. My father’s presence seemed to linger in every corner, his influence still a weight on my shoulders even after all these years. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to push the anger down, but it was boiling just beneath the surface.Then the door creaked open, and there he was—Oliver. My younger brother. He walked in with that same cocky confidence that had always grated on me. Dressed in a casual suit, dark grey with a black shirt, he looked eve
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 40; You’ve got a child?!
(Third person pov)The weight of betrayal lingered in the air like a suffocating fog. Oliver stood in his apartment, staring at his phone. The unexpected message from Lucas had been gnawing at him for hours now, but he couldn’t shake the need to know what was truly going on. After all the years of bitterness and distance between him and Adrian, was this just another layer of deception? Another crack in the foundation of their relationship?Lucas had reached out to *him*—not Adrian. And that in itself was unusual.He replayed the message over in his head: “I need to explain everything. Meet me at our old spot. It’s not what you think.”It was vague, cryptic, and reeked of desperation. Oliver couldn’t help but wonder what was driving Lucas to reach out now. What had he been hiding all this time? The Lucas Oliver had known growing up had been loyal to Adrian—a confidante, his right-hand man. That was until Monica Tate had come into the picture.Oliver had never liked Monica. She was manip
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 41; The price of secrets
Oliver waited until the hallways of the building were quiet, shadows stretching long across the floor as most of the team filtered out for the evening. He’d decided to find Adrian in his office, knowing this was a conversation that couldn’t wait any longer. After learning the truth from Lucas, Oliver felt a simmering mix of anger, urgency, and an unexpected protective instinct toward both his brother and Lucas.He found Adrian standing near his floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the city, his usual strong stance softened by the dim light filtering in from the buildings beyond. Adrian looked like a man who carried the weight of the world, and in a way, he did.Adrian didn’t turn when Oliver entered, but his voice was steady. “You’ve been quiet lately,” he said, as if sensing Oliver’s presence. “Everything all right?”Oliver clenched his jaw, trying to figure out the best way to start. He knew that pushing Adrian too hard could backfire, but there was no easy way to explain this.
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 42; A fragile alliance
Bella entered Adrian’s office early, the silence of the space giving her a chance to gather her thoughts. The past week had left her with questions she couldn’t shake, pieces of a puzzle that didn’t quite fit, and an odd tension she sensed every time she was around Adrian and his brother, Oliver. She’d even felt a trace of that tension in Oliver’s hesitant smile, a look that made her wonder what he wasn’t saying. As she arranged her notes on the sleek table in front of her, she looked up to see Adrian walk in. He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit, a shade darker than his usual choice, and his expression was as intense as ever, but there was something different—an exhaustion clinging to the edges of his otherwise steady demeanor.“Good morning,” Bella greeted, trying to hide the nerves she felt every time she saw him lately. She knew her feelings were getting tangled in a way that was dangerous, in a way that felt irreversible. “Morning.” Adrian’s voice was softer than usual, a
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 43; Unveiling
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Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 44; Unmasked intentions
The room felt both intimate and heavy with tension. The evening's silence was broken only by the distant hum of city traffic and the soft tick of the wall clock. Adrian’s eyes, softened just moments before, were now watchful, as if bracing himself.“Adrian, I need to know something,” I began, my voice more unsteady than I’d anticipated. I let go of his hand, pulling back slightly to see him more clearly. “Did you… did you know who I was before you hired me?”He seemed taken aback, his brow furrowing slightly. “Bella, I—” His gaze shifted, the truth simmering beneath the surface.“Just tell me, please,” I pressed, feeling the weight of every encounter, every moment shared, hanging in the balance. “Did you hire me because of my father?”He exhaled, running a hand through his hair, and his hesitation told me more than any words could have. “No, not exactly,” he finally admitted. “When I first met you, I didn’t know you were *that* Martinez. But… there are protocols for hiring. We do a bac
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Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 48; The Deal
The boardroom was filled with a heavy silence as Ethan set up his presentation. The air felt thick with tension, as if everyone was waiting for the moment when his polished facade would slip. Adrian sat at the head of the table, his eyes sharp and unreadable, while Lucas and Diana took their seats beside him. I settled into my chair, steeling myself for whatever Ethan had planned. The lights dimmed, and Ethan began, clicking to the first slide of a crisp, visually sleek presentation titled *A New Future: Synergy Between Innovation and Tradition.* “Thank you all for taking the time,” Ethan said, casting a wide smile across the room, his gaze landing on me just a moment too long. “Today, I’ll outline the ways our companies can benefit from a partnership.” His voice was smooth, rehearsed; each word polished to convey a blend of opportunity and respect. But something about his tone felt off—a bit too insistent, a bit too eager to convince.He shifted to the next slide, filled with a dia
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 47; one step at a time
The next morning, I arrived at the office early, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and caution. The memory of last night lingered—Adrian’s kiss, the way he held me, the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he saw me as more than just a business partner. But I had no time to savor the memory; I was here early for a reason. Something wasn’t adding up with Ethan’s sudden reappearance, and I wanted to get a step ahead before Adrian found out I was looking into it.I made my way to the archives, where files from the early days of Langston Enterprises were kept. A dim light illuminated the room, casting long shadows across the shelves. I pulled up some of the older files on Adrian’s father’s partnerships and contracts, searching for any record of Ethan’s involvement—or, more significantly, his family’s ties to Langston Enterprises. As I scrolled through digital records and skimmed pages of dusty folders, a name kept coming up that made my stomach twist: *Harold Langston.*Harold Langston,
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 46: An unwelcome return
I was reviewing final edits on a presentation when my phone buzzed with a message from Grace: *"Guess who I ran into? Ethan!"* I blinked at the name. It had been years since we’d last spoken, and honestly, I’d thought he was well out of my life. But that familiar unease crept in; I remembered all too well the way things had ended, and the reminder was enough to unsettle me. Then came the knock at my door. My pulse quickened as I turned, expecting Diana or maybe even Adrian with an unexpected update. Instead, standing there in a sharply tailored suit, dark hair styled in that effortlessly arrogant way, was Ethan, smiling as if the past didn’t matter.“Bella,” he said, voice smooth as ever, like we were just picking up where we’d left off. “Ethan.” I felt my spine straighten, every professional instinct kicking in. “What are you doing here?”“I’m here on business, believe it or not,” he replied, his gaze drifting around the room before landing back on me with that same cocky glint. “L
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 45: The truth we bury
The unexpected knock sliced through the tension between us, snapping us both out of the intimate, fragile moment we’d been sharing. Adrian’s expression shifted from vulnerability to guardedness, his brows knitting as he pulled away. “Excuse me,” he muttered, getting up and heading toward the door with an air of wariness. I watched him go, a thousand thoughts tangled in my mind, a hundred emotions lingering in the space between us.As he opened the door, the sound of a familiar voice drifted in. “Hey, I just wanted to drop off these files for tomorrow's meeting—”Lucas stood there, papers in hand, his gaze shifting from Adrian to me in a flash. A beat of silence stretched uncomfortably. I couldn’t read Lucas’s expression, but there was something in his eyes—a flicker of something I couldn’t quite place, like he was hiding a secret of his own.“Lucas,” Adrian greeted him with a forced calm. “Thanks. Leave them on the desk, I’ll look them over later.”“Of course,” Lucas replied, his gaz
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 44; Unmasked intentions
The room felt both intimate and heavy with tension. The evening's silence was broken only by the distant hum of city traffic and the soft tick of the wall clock. Adrian’s eyes, softened just moments before, were now watchful, as if bracing himself.“Adrian, I need to know something,” I began, my voice more unsteady than I’d anticipated. I let go of his hand, pulling back slightly to see him more clearly. “Did you… did you know who I was before you hired me?”He seemed taken aback, his brow furrowing slightly. “Bella, I—” His gaze shifted, the truth simmering beneath the surface.“Just tell me, please,” I pressed, feeling the weight of every encounter, every moment shared, hanging in the balance. “Did you hire me because of my father?”He exhaled, running a hand through his hair, and his hesitation told me more than any words could have. “No, not exactly,” he finally admitted. “When I first met you, I didn’t know you were *that* Martinez. But… there are protocols for hiring. We do a bac
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 43; Unveiling
The days that followed were a whirlwind of damage control and calculated moves on Adrian's part. The storm Monica had tried to create was quieting, yet the questions still lingered, gnawing at the edges of my mind. The text I had sent Adrian back in the thick of things weighed heavily on me, a delicate balance between trust and suspicion.One evening, after the buzz of work had faded and I found myself alone in my apartment, I finally allowed myself to review everything I’d uncovered. The image I’d found in the archives, buried beneath decades of dust and silence, had shifted everything. My father and Adrian’s father, standing together in what looked like a boardroom, their expressions serious, as though they were on the verge of something monumental. They were once business partners, possibly even friends—an alliance that, somehow, had been completely erased from our family’s history.My thoughts wandered back to Adrian’s reaction when I’d hinted at this discovery. He’d dismissed it
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 42; A fragile alliance
Bella entered Adrian’s office early, the silence of the space giving her a chance to gather her thoughts. The past week had left her with questions she couldn’t shake, pieces of a puzzle that didn’t quite fit, and an odd tension she sensed every time she was around Adrian and his brother, Oliver. She’d even felt a trace of that tension in Oliver’s hesitant smile, a look that made her wonder what he wasn’t saying. As she arranged her notes on the sleek table in front of her, she looked up to see Adrian walk in. He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit, a shade darker than his usual choice, and his expression was as intense as ever, but there was something different—an exhaustion clinging to the edges of his otherwise steady demeanor.“Good morning,” Bella greeted, trying to hide the nerves she felt every time she saw him lately. She knew her feelings were getting tangled in a way that was dangerous, in a way that felt irreversible. “Morning.” Adrian’s voice was softer than usual, a
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 41; The price of secrets
Oliver waited until the hallways of the building were quiet, shadows stretching long across the floor as most of the team filtered out for the evening. He’d decided to find Adrian in his office, knowing this was a conversation that couldn’t wait any longer. After learning the truth from Lucas, Oliver felt a simmering mix of anger, urgency, and an unexpected protective instinct toward both his brother and Lucas.He found Adrian standing near his floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the city, his usual strong stance softened by the dim light filtering in from the buildings beyond. Adrian looked like a man who carried the weight of the world, and in a way, he did.Adrian didn’t turn when Oliver entered, but his voice was steady. “You’ve been quiet lately,” he said, as if sensing Oliver’s presence. “Everything all right?”Oliver clenched his jaw, trying to figure out the best way to start. He knew that pushing Adrian too hard could backfire, but there was no easy way to explain this.
Hold on, Mr billionaire. Chapter 40; You’ve got a child?!
(Third person pov)The weight of betrayal lingered in the air like a suffocating fog. Oliver stood in his apartment, staring at his phone. The unexpected message from Lucas had been gnawing at him for hours now, but he couldn’t shake the need to know what was truly going on. After all the years of bitterness and distance between him and Adrian, was this just another layer of deception? Another crack in the foundation of their relationship?Lucas had reached out to *him*—not Adrian. And that in itself was unusual.He replayed the message over in his head: “I need to explain everything. Meet me at our old spot. It’s not what you think.”It was vague, cryptic, and reeked of desperation. Oliver couldn’t help but wonder what was driving Lucas to reach out now. What had he been hiding all this time? The Lucas Oliver had known growing up had been loyal to Adrian—a confidante, his right-hand man. That was until Monica Tate had come into the picture.Oliver had never liked Monica. She was manip
