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Chapter One Hundred-Eleven–Aria’s Return Home
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2023-09-24 23:43:54Related chapters
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Twelve–Shopping Trip
Julie didn’t like the idea of going shopping in person. Too many variables were possible. What she most dreaded was how strangers responded to her experience. They knew nothing about her life or her lived experience. Nor did they care to be kind or learn anything about it, because it showed how their convenient life inconvenienced someone else. This response often came with permission for them to mock, insult, and be rude to her. With words like “You’re being overdramatic,” “You’re imagining it,” “Just get over it, you’re an adult,” or her favourite response, “You’re just seeking attention.” If she revealed her ADHD to some, she’d heard, “That’s a boy’s disease and women can’t have it.” These thoughts plagued Julie for many years. She knew it was pointless explaining to them how wrong they were for saying these things and believing it all. It’s not a disease. It’s a condition women and men can have, and there’s no cure. Then there’s the stupid rea
Last Updated : 2023-09-25The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirteen–Shopping with Old Enemies
Thankfully, the shop was large, and they separated Aria and Julie from each other. They’d only exchanged names before Leon and Heath intervened at the shop to separate them until their time there ended. They met at the cash register as Michael and Leon paid for their purchases. Aria and Julie spotted each other in their change rooms, coming and going. It surprised Julie when Aria came out in several white gowns and the senior salesclerk helping them mentioned right at the start that she was uncomfortable with the groom seeing the gown before his wedding day. “I feel I should warn you it’s bad luck to see the bride’s wedding dress before the wedding day.” Leon politely shut her down with a smile. “We aren’t interested in anything too traditional, thank you. We’ll see them, anyway.” Julie piped up. “Congratulations. And he’s right. The tradition isn’t about bad luck. This tradition originated from the fear of someone kidnapping the bride on her way
Last Updated : 2023-09-25The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Fourteen–Coffee with Old Enemies
Julie followed Michael to a nearby café where Leon and Aria already sat at a table. “Everything okay?” Leon asked Michael as they approached. “Julie’s hesitant, but she’s willing to keep an open mind, and Aria?” Michael at least had the decency to look toward Aria for her reaction. Julie saw little reaction from Aria. But she noticed Ariad didn’t have her overly bright smile and wasn’t her loud, chatty self. This gave Julie a sinking feeling about this encounter. They sat, and the two men talked business for a while before they ordered their coffee. As they waited for their order to arrive, Leon turned to Julie. “I noticed you have a recent novel coming out soon. Did you know your books have caused quite a stir at the country club with everyone?” “No, I’ve been avoiding the club. Well, I knew a few people took offense. But it’s not something I intended.” Julie said. Her words quietly answered Leon’s question.
Last Updated : 2023-09-26The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Fifteen–Valorie’s Birthday
Julie slipped into a sapphire blue evening dress with intricately draped gathers that stressed her curves. She’d felt fat until she put this dress on because its construction hid the included shape wear in its design. Rather than wearing multiple garments, she only had to struggle with putting on the dress for the desired effect. Michael came out of his closet affixing a cuff link and stopped mid stride. His eyes roamed over her body with a heated gaze Julie now knew well. “Michael Barron no. We can’t do that right now, we’re short on time. We’re running late as it is.” He gave her a cheeky smile. “I could have you sit in my lap in the car, entertaining us both as you bounce.” “My dress will wrinkle. We’ll do it later when we’re heading home.” “You promise?” “How about I promise to give you my panties before we leave the car? You can help take them off.” “Only you could say such things seriously.
Last Updated : 2023-09-26The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Sixteen–Aria Finds a Passion
“I don’t understand, Leon. I apologized. Why didn’t she accept it? Is she that mean?” Aria wallowed in her coffee after Michael and Julie left. Leon could see she didn’t understand that unspoken rule. You can apologize to someone for anything, but there’s nothing that says the other person must accept the apology. Leon blamed her father and his cover-ups. Money moved his world. In his world, everything and everyone revolved around the sun. Of course, he’s the sun, so no one else mattered. Leon had grown over the last year after walking away from the plans for him to enter politics on Aria’s father’s coattails. The final nails in his coffin of his political career were when Leon realized Aria’s father could pin his dirty deeds on Leon, his grandfather’s involvement in the mafia back home in Italy. Leon walked away from politics, and he turned the tables on Senator Cain. The senator and his political career could sink or swim. Leon wouldn’t think twice of letting a few secre
Last Updated : 2023-09-27The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Seventeen–Book Release Day
This was Julie’s fifth book release, but the first release Michael was aware of and present for. Julie wasn’t sure how he’d respond to all the craziness. Gathering and shipping everything. Julie spent weeks with Beckett and Stephen, ensuring everything was perfect and it stayed within a firm schedule. Not something Julie liked to do, but she at least had helped. What Michael didn’t realize when she set up her apartment that’s where she stored everything. He never saw the boxes and boxes of books and merchandise. The bookmarks, stickers, postcards, and the boxes of books for her book signing needed her signature. Then there were the giveaway packages Beckett and Julie packed with the help this time of Ms. Higgins. These went out to almost fifty readers and Julie didn’t want anyone thinking they’d received a raw deal, so she researched packaging and ways to pack the boxes decoratively to survive the mail system, look good and impress her readers without being overly bulky. B
Last Updated : 2023-09-27The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Eighteen–Leon Plans a Wedding
Leon hired a wedding planner after he’d received Aria’s ideas for their wedding. She wouldn’t deal with any of the vendors this time. Her name wouldn’t be on any of the wedding and her father wouldn’t have a word in its planning or contribute a single cent to the wedding, reception, or honeymoon. He knew where Aria wanted to go for her honeymoon and Leon figured it was a good start, but he’d add to her idea. When he finished with it, she’d have a honeymoon to remember and something valuable from each location that would remind her of their time there. He took techniques from Michael’s courting of Julie. They went for drinks several times together. They’d discussed the changes in their relationships. He’d shared what he’d learned about Aria’s situation and the help he’d struggled to find. It hadn’t been easy. Without his money and influence, he’d probably still be looking for help. Michael admitted they were looking for help from a specialist with
Last Updated : 2023-09-27The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Nineteen–Moving Day
Julie gladly allowed the movers to take her things and pack them for her. They moved everything to the house and helped with placing many items they took with them. She didn’t have the strength or will to do any of it. If it’d been up to her, they’d be living from the boxes for months. Her recent novel and trying to remember to care for herself took up everything she had to get through the day. Michael seemed fine with this and pushed nothing with her. However, there were things they must unpack personally. One of those things was their clothing, and another was their offices. Copyright issues and risks of piracy or theft of her manuscripts kept her office unpacking for Beckett and Julie. Michael and Albert worked to unpack his office. However, Michael’s home office didn’t have the same level of complexity as Julie’s, with her stock of books and marketing merchandise. Julie now stored her work in various formats to prove her work from beginning to
Last Updated : 2023-09-29
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The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six–Epilogue Two: How I Met Your Mother (Five Years Later)
Julie removed her earbuds as she sat at her desk. She’d just listened to the ready-to-print version of her fifteenth novel. It was survivable, at least. She felt Stephen and her publisher would love it. She could hear everyone out at the pool having fun. Michael entertained the early bird parents and kids as they slowly arrived for Johnathan’s birthday pool party. Their children’s parties seemed to be an event where people wanted invitations and their presence recognized by their peers. Julie couldn’t believe the changes that had happened over the last few years. Johnathan’s birth shone in her brain as the mark when Julie knew Michael was hers. He’d not settled, but he’d found a different direction for his life that made him happier. Michael had help from the parents, nannies, and several staff members minding the chaos of children everywhere. They’d long ago child proofed the house, and currently Michael hid his genuine prized items in a series of locked rooms away from t
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Five–Epilogue One: Aria: A New Life
Aria’s honeymoon was so much more than she had expected, and she used her social media accounts to poke the bear that was her father. She posted teasing photos of the place where she got married. Sold a few of her wedding photos to a couple of magazines with an interview hinting at why her father really wasn’t at her wedding and how disappointed she was at his betrayal of family ties. At the end of the interview, Aria made it good and clear that she’d broken off all ties with her father and she wasn’t interested in ever reconciling at any time in the future. He and his staff burned those bridges. As she went around Europe and saw the unique way of life there, some of it initially felt confusing and complicated. But she investigated other differences in how they treated people. It was something she’d not given much thought about until her life spiralled out of control and she finally understood why she was the way she’d become. It wasn’t pretty, and she had the photos and v
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Four–Julie Gives Birth (Six-Months Later)
“Edward has everything in the car, Julie. We’re ready to head for the hospital. Now, you’re sure you’re okay with going through with a c-section? I mean, if you change your mind, you can still back out.” Michael could see how large Julie grew and wondered how his son hadn’t torn his way out. Michael worried Julie could no longer stand and walk safely. Life kept changing and he couldn’t believe he’d once thought this part of his life could go on without him. Over the last eight and a half months, he’d learned so much about a woman’s body he had to wonder if they were the same species. Women were so complicated, and Julie had some unique complications. A common comorbidity Julie had called EDS would complicate even the epidural she would need. Her joints had more range, and it caused her shoulders, back, and hips to be uneven. It could complicate administering the epidural. If she couldn’t get it, then she’d have to give birth naturally without it. This terrified Julie, alon
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Three–Aria Gets Married
“I’m glad you’re doing this, Julie. Honestly, I don’t know what her father is thinking. But if he thinks she could embarrass him normally, to not come to his daughter’s wedding. Campaigning or not, he’s going to look bad. He recognized her as his daughter when it was convenient for him. Now he pulls this because it’s not convenient. His poll numbers will go down and he’ll lose the public confidence. If it gets out and it will that we showed up after that entire mess that started all of this. He’s sunk.” “You don’t think this is a mistake? She will not pull something fast. Like become caught in someone else’s bed?” “Julie, Aria’s been through a lot in the last six months. Leon didn’t just send her to rehab to just get off the medication. He sent her to a location that deals with complex abuse cases. She doesn’t realize it, but they did. He had to wait for over two years to get her a place there. It’s why I took her in like I did. I admit there were other stupid
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Two–Julie and Michael Arrive
The small plane landed at the secluded island airport, and Julie sighed in relief. There was something about travelling she disliked. To come all this way for a wedding for someone she didn’t like seemed crazy. But Leon was Michael’s best friend and Julie would muddle through it for five days there. What she still couldn’t get over was Aria’s request to come and bury the hatchet somewhere other than Julie’s back. She’d apologized. The hadron collider must have tested something again, and the world altered in reaction to the outcome of that test. That’s how Julie thought of why things changed in ways she didn’t see coming. Not that she believed the conspiracies; it was just a humorous way to look at her problem because Julie didn’t believe she’d ever find out the true reason these things changed. But jumping off into another timeline felt as sane as any other reason, and perhaps sometimes more logical. They stepped off the plane with the other guests, and a protracted line
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-One-Julie Meets Michael’s Father
Michael had said that he didn’t want to celebrate something that didn’t change. He didn’t want to admit he’d changed, and that changed their relationship. His explanation for this was he’d not been aware that he could be any other way until he’d seen how she lived in perpetual difference. Her effort to give him an easier existence while ignoring her own struggles had him questioning and rejecting much of his father’s teachings. It’d crossed over into his work life to and several people mentioned it over the months. So much so it became part of the water cooler gossip. Julie only found out about this after they’d gone back to the gym, and she heard the gossip at the juice bar. Michael hadn’t gone with her today as he now often did. Julie still struggled to become used to his constant presence around her. But she knew why this time around she struggled with it. Julie had to fight putting up a mask for the world and in that moment with Michael at the gym, she couldn’t figure
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Thirty–Aria Learns More About Who Leon Is
Christiana brought Aria upstairs, showed her the room, and helped her to unpack her things. Aria had to wait an hour before Leon came upstairs to her. But once Christiana ended with that, she gave Aria an odd warning before she left Aria to her own devices. “My dear, you’re not as sweet as you pretend to be, but that’s not a mark against you with me. The problem you will have been with the men of this family. They run this family with an iron fist, and we are not part of the conversation or the family business. So, if you think you will control anything or anyone within this family, then you’ll be walking a thin line between surviving or disappearing within an unfortunate accident. Please be careful what you say and do. This is something we say to all women who enter this family. Think carefully and long. If you stay, learn to keep your head down and your mouth shut. You can do and say anything outside of the family but don’t allow the bad to reflect on the family.”
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Twenty-Nine - The Birthing Plan
“Julie love, you fell asleep. We’re here now. Let’s go in for our appointment.” Julie woke up to Michael’s voice. During their trip to her doctor’s appointment, she’d fallen asleep. Today she would talk to the doctor about her pregnancy and what to expect, including her birthing plan. Something she’d been avoiding because it absolutely terrified her. With pain, she had an odd relationship with it. There was no normal response to it for her. It either didn’t register or she was in a world of hurt that no one understood. Medications didn’t seem to work correctly either when dealing with pain. She’d believed that she was imagining this issue for most of her life, but Julie learned not too long ago that wasn’t the case. Her body resisted many pain medications, and she did in fact register pain differently to other people. “Great, let’s get this over with because there’re things I need to get done today.” She’d been grumpy for most of the day. Between
The Billionaire's Alternate Plan Chapter One Hundred-Twenty-Eight–Decision Day
Julie sat there in the conference room with her lawyer. They’d been hashing out exactly how things would go from here on out. Michael had given her a file of documents which gave her terms he was willing to work with and he’d changed all the wording. Her lawyer had to review it all over the last few days and he had admitted to Julie that the generosity in the new offer was off the charts compared to the first time they sat down to get through this. But to stay was more beneficial for both parties. However, he warned her not to do anything if it wasn’t in her heart, or best for her safety. She should do what she believed was best for her and her child. “I will, I promise you that. But I will have to say that things have changed greatly in the last six months. I’m still unsure what changed things. If it was a single event or multiple events, but he’s not the same man. No, before you say it’s temporary, understand he’s happier now with the changes he’s made. It’s
