All Chapters of The Billionaire's only exception : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The next morning arrived grey, the kind of morning that seemed designed to remind people how small their problems were against the ordinary day. Buses ran. Coffee shops opened. Children walked to school with heavy backpacks and heavier eyelids.But for three people in that city, the morning felt like the last quiet morning before a storm come upon them.Denver hadn't slept.He had tried — stretched out on his bed, staring at the ceiling, counting the minutes. But his mind refused to settle. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Officer James. Not the words the man had said, but the way he had looked at him. That scaring, mean look. Like someone who already knew the answers and was simply giving you a second chance to confess your sins.By three in the morning, Denver had moved to the kitchen. By four, he had made and abandoned three cups of coffee. By five, he was sipping bourbon standing close to the window watching the street below with the face of a man who knows karma i

Sleep did not come that night either.James lay on his back in the dark of his bedroom and stared at the ceiling the way he had been doing a lot lately. His bedroom was small and organised in the way that a man living alone organises a space.The notebook was on the side table.He had written eight pages in it before leaving the station. Eight pages of everything he remembered, everything he had observed. The recovered image. Lydia's composure.The envelope that had been prepared before he arrived. The fact that she knew his daughter,her university,her apartment building. Eight pages.He had not written Denver's name many times in those pages. Not because Denver was unimportant, but because James understood now that Denver was not the center of this thing. Denver was a man caught between his own guilt and a woman far more capable than him, and men like that were useful as witnesses.The mastermind behind everything was Lydia.But Lydia had made herself untouchable at least for

Elara woke up to the smell of coffee.She lay still for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, letting herself to fully wake up. The light coming through her curtains was the soft one that meant it was still early. The house was quiet.Then she remembered the night before and everything in her chest went warm at once.She sat up slowly and listened.There were sounds coming from the kitchen. Small sounds.The quiet sound of a cup being set on the kitchen table. The sound of the coffee machine.Movement.She frowned.Adrian was supposed to be resting.She pushed the blanket back and got up, as she walked down to the kitchen.She pushed the kitchen door open softly and stopped.Adrian was standing at the corner.He was in a White shirt and dark trousers, his feet bare on the kitchen tiles. His movements were slower than usual and more careful, and she could see from the way he was holding himself that his side was still hurting him, but he was standing there anyway, pouring two cups of

It started with a phone call.Elara was in the hallway putting on her shoes when she heard Adrian's voice from behind his office door.Low and even, the way it always was when he was talking about business. She didn't pay it much attention. His work calls were frequent and she had learned not to read into the tone of them because he sounded the same whether he was discussing something small or something that would change the direction of an entire company.She finished with her shoes and went to the kitchen to start the coffee,but the chef already did.She took the two cups of coffee.She just set them out when she heard the office door open.She looked up.Adrian came into the kitchen with his phone still in his hand and a look on his face that she had learned to read too.It was his thinking look. The one where something had been put in front of him that he hadn't decided what to do with yet."Everything okay?" she asked.He set his phone on the counter and looked at it for a mo

The drive home was quiet with Elara resting her head on the car seat,with her head almost on Adrian's shoulder.They were that close to each other in the car.His hands were still over hers just the same way it has been all evening,like he had found something he wasn't ready to let go.She was tired from the evening of good conversation,good food and the pleasure of going out with someone you really care about.She thought about the question Dian had asked.What changed!And how Adrain had answered her.It made her smile quietly.Alex was driving in an unhurried way while the city moved in slow gold and dark blue.It was late enough,for the streets to be clear and the traffic light seemed to change just for them.“Did you enjoy it? He asked her .She looked up at him,he was looking at her with that quiet attentive expression that she has known him with.“More than I expected,”she said honestly. Therine was wonderful and watching you make an entire table of powerful and wealthy people