The Billionaire's Ultimatum のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

LAURA I didn’t plan on coming to Xavier’s meeting let alone anywhere close to Grace’s office. I was supposed to stay home, stay safe, stay out of the way like the good little wife I was expected to be, but that email from Vanessa Whitmore had been eating at me all weekend.I’d tried to ignore it. I really did—telling myself it was just some professional contact reaching out. It was probably nothing and I was simply overthinking the whole thing.Plus Xavier had said it was spam, he’d dismissed it completely if I was being entirely honest but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.Saturday morning, while Xavier was in the shower getting ready, I’d finally snapped and done something I wasn’t proud of. I’d googled Vanessa Whitmore.And found exactly what I was afraid of.A stunning woman in her early thirties—with perfect bone structure, blonde hair, and an Ivy League education from one of the top universities in five states—stared back at me across multiple search results.Corporate att

XAVIER Laura turned to face me, and my heart plunged to the very depths of my stomach. Her expression was broken, clouded with hurt and it killed me knowing I was the one who made her feel this way.“Nothing to do with us?” She laughed, but I knew it was nothing close to a joyful one. “Xavier, everything about your business is entangled with us. Our marriage exists because of your business. You came for me when I was kidnapped because I’m connected to your world now, because Alexei saw me as leverage against you.”She took a step toward me, her eyes blazing.“You can’t keep some parts of your life separate and locked away and expect me to just be fine and accept it. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after—”She stopped, her voice cracking slightly.“Not after what we did,” she finished quietly.“That’s different,” I said, but even I could hear how dumb and insensitive that sounded.Why was I like this? Why couldn’t I just put my pride aside and explain things like a

LAURA I didn’t even give Xavier the chance to say another word. I was already out the door. I couldn’t stand being in that room for another second.Feeling like the complete idiot I probably looked like.Vanessa Whitmore was everything I wasn’t, and seeing that—live and direct—burned something inside me.She was polished, confident, fluent in business talk. Completely at ease in Xavier’s world, while I was just—I was just me.I could barely hold my own against her.Those lifeless blue eyes saw right through my façade, like she already knew I wasn’t worthy. That I didn’t stand a single chance against her. That I was nothing more than an imposter in a life that could never be mine.The way Vanessa looked at Xavier killed me even more—the familiarity in it. That stupid, syrupy tone she used with him. That devious smile of hers.For a split second, I felt like nothing—like an intruder in my own marriage. And I hated every single moment of it.I didn’t realize when I started running inst

XAVIER I didn’t get home until 4am in the morning.Exhausted didn’t even begin to cut it. I was running on zero sleep, my patience stretched out to nothing, and my entire body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.The warehouse situation had turned out to be a complex waste of time—one of my newer guys had gotten paranoid over absolutely nothing, going on about moving shadows and convinced we had intruders when it was just the building settling.Marcus should have handled the situation because he was mainly responsible for this sector, but he had other things on his hands to handle.He was keeping a close eye on Alexie and if I was being completely honest, that’s all I needed him to do.By the time I’d gotten there and personally verified that everything was fine—no threats, no break-ins, nothing worth the emergency call that had pulled me away from Laura—it was past 2am. I’d crashed at one of my safe houses nearby rather than making the long drive back to the penthouse. It had s

LAURA I knew I should send Xavier away.Should protect myself by maintaining safe distance after our fight, after everything he had done and how hurt he made me feel. Should build my walls so high that he couldn’t hurt me again. But I was so tired. I was so tired and so sad. And the truth was I didn’t want to be alone.When Xavier climbed into bed behind me and pulled me against his chest, I let him. Even as tears continued to slide down my face, part of me wanted to push him away. I just couldn’t.Eventually, exhaustion won and I drifted off, still wrapped in his arms.When morning came—or what passed for morning since we’d barely slept—neither of us moved.The sun was just starting to filter through the curtains, painting the room in shades of grey and gold. I could tell Xavier was awake from the change in his breathing, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it yet. I didn’t want to ruin this quiet peace we found in the night.Finally, he spoke, his voice rough and raw in a way I’d ne