From Heartbreak to Payback: The Billionaire's Ex

BAILEE“Bailee!” Caleb yelled as I threw open the door and rushed down the hall.I needed fresh air. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I could hear my blood pumping in my ears.“Bailee, would you stop for a minute?” The sound of my name on his lips as he zipped his pants made me feel queasy, but I held it down. A hand wrapped around my forearm, and I was yanked to a stop just before the elevator. “No!” My scream came out in a hoarse sob. “No! Get off of me, you lying piece of garbage!” The rage and venom behind my words made him release me immediately, but he stayed close as he glared down at me. I took a step back, shaking my head at him. “You don’t get to touch me. You don’t get to ever touch me again!” The elevator dinged behind me, and the doors opened, but I didn’t pay any attention to the people getting off until I heard them speak. “Bailee! Lower your voice! That is no way to speak to your husband!” “Mom?” Caleb asked, and I turned to face Helen and Georg

BAILEEI went home alone that night. The backstabbing nanny was already fast asleep like she was deliberately avoiding me, and as much as I wanted to confront her for what she had done, I moved past her room and into mine. I was hurt, angry, and exhausted. After a long, hot shower, I had curled up in my empty bed and muffled my sobs with my pillow, so I wouldn’t wake Brinley, until I fell asleep.The cold sheets sent a chill through me as I rolled over in bed, my head pounding from crying myself to sleep.I was so angry at myself for letting it get this far, so angry at him for not even trying to make this work, and for throwing away our family like it meant nothing to him. There had been signs and red flags throughout our relationship that should have had me packing up and leaving.But I was stubborn, refusing to give up on the years we had spent together. I fought to make things better, over and over again, ignoring all the ways Caleb had mistreated me and ran straight toward that

ALEXANDER “I’m telling you, Alex,” Mason said, slapping his hand on my shoulder as he shook me back and forth. “This is the best news we could have gotten in a long time. A wife? That’s gold! He must have been hiding her for a reason! She could be the key to everything.” I lifted the glass of scotch in my hand in acknowledgment, not taking my eyes away from the large flat screen over the bar. Every other television in here had one game or another on, but not this one. At my insistence, this one had the evening news playing the recap of the day, and I sat up straighter when they showed the front of the courthouse. It was said to keep your friend close but your enemies closer.I wanted to know who she was and who had managed to get that close to him.I couldn't tell if I'd like it if this Bailee was truly my Bailee. But I needed to find out. “Turn it up,” I demanded. Even over the noise of the crowd cheering on their favorite teams, the snap of someone starting a pool ga

BAILEEIt had been a horrible day, and it just kept getting worse.Alexander. Fucking. Kingston.That wasn’t his middle name, but that was how I had said his name in my head for the past seven years.No one on this Earth, including Caleb, had caused me as much pain as Alexander Fucking Kingston.This man had taken my virginity, told me he loved me, and then tossed me aside like I had been nothing more than a piece of trash on his way out of my life.I had been young and stupid. I had loved him with everything I had and had cried over him for months after he left me shattered and hollow.Getting over him was one of the hardest things I have ever done until today.Now, at the lowest point in my life, he just had to show up again, and dared to provoke me in the worst possible way. It was a cruel joke.Seeing him made me feel like I was cursed. It was as if higher forces had looked down at me and said, “Did you think this was over? Buckle up, sweetheart. Things are about to get a whole lo

BAILEEThe look in Alex’s eyes when I had walked away from him was burned into my mind, and as I sat next to Brinley in the back of our Uber, I couldn’t stop picturing him. After what he had done to me when we were younger, after he had taken my virginity and then tossed me aside, I shouldn’t have been affected by him. I should have been able to ignore him. Yet, I was sucked in, just as I had been as a teenager. I had heard once that no one ever fully gets over their first love, but I had refused to believe that. Now I was wondering if there was any validity to it.The way he had been looking at me had caused all of the hurt of his betrayal to resurface, and I was struggling to stop thinking about him.Brinley moaned as I pulled her from the car seat. Her cheeks were pink, and her clothes were damp with sweat.“Come on, sweet girl. Let’s get you some medicine and into a cool bath, then bed.” I whispered, pressing my lips to her forehead as the Uber driver pulled away. “Wait! My car