Billionaire's Betrayal a contracted revenge (Aurelia) novel Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Rieck’s POV

54

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I walked into the office the next morning and found her waiting near the elevators, like she had been standing there just for me, arms crossed, hip leaned against the marble wall.

“Rieck.” She said my name slowly, almost fondly, the way an old habit says a word it has said a thousand times before. “Nice building. Better than I expected, honestly, though you always did have good taste in structure, if nothing else.”

I didn’t stop walking. “Good morning.”

“That’s it? No hello, old friend? No how have you been?” Her voice trailed after me, light and teasing, following me straight to my office door. “You used to be more fun than this.”

“I have a full schedule, Selene.”

“Of course you do.” She fell into step beside me despite myself, like no time at all had passed since the last conversation we ever had. “Congratulations on the marriage, by the way. I read about it. The gala pictures were really lovely, though I never took you for a man who liked being photographed.”

I stopped walking long enough to look at her directly, my jaw tight. “Was there something you needed?”

“Not really.” She smiled, slow and knowing, the kind of smile that used to mean trouble was already on its way. “Just saying hello to an old friend. I missed you.”

I closed the office door behind me without answering, and took a deep breath.

“Selene.”

I sat behind my desk, my heartbeat still not settled from the sight of her, the same blonde hair, the same knowing tilt to her mouth I remembered from a lifetime ago, before Aurelia, before the contract.

Without really meaning to, I started to remember things that I hadn’t let myself think about in years.

The way she used to disappear for weeks without warning. The way her family had left the city just as suddenly, no goodbyes, no explanation, nothing.

And now she was standing in my building, hired by my own wife, heading a department I had built with my own two hands. Somehow interviewed, vetted, approved, and none of it had crossed my desk before the decision was already made.

I pressed my palms flat on the desk, forcing my breathing steady, forcing the growl in my chest back down where it belonged.

This couldn’t be a coincidence. Nothing about Selene had ever been a coincidence.

1/4

16:26 Mon, Aug 3

Chapter 113

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Dinner sat quiet between us that evening, candlelight flickering low across the table, Aurelia trying twice already to pull a real sentence out of me.

“The applicants for the design team look promising,” she said, watching me carefully over her wine glass. “Two of them start Monday.”

“Good.”

“Rieck.” She set her fork down. “You have said maybe ten words all evening.”

“Work.” I forced my eyes up to meet hers. “Nothing important.”

“You keep saying that lately.” Her gaze sharpened. “Nothing important, nothing wrong, business call. I’m starting to notice a pattern.”

“It has been a long week, that’s all.”

“It has been a long month, Rieck.” She reached across the table, her fingers brushing mine. “I’m not asking you to explain everything. I just want to know you are alright.”

I almost told her then. The words were right at the edge of my tongue, Selene’s name, the office, the strange coincidence of it all.

But before I could answer, the doorbell rang.

Marta’s footsteps crossed the hallway, and a moment later the door opened.

“Selene.” Aurelia’s voice carried genuine surprise from where she sat. “What are you doing here?”

I stood up so fast my chair nearly toppled, every instinct in me rising sharp and cold at the sight of her standing in my own home, in the doorway of the life I had built with someone else entirely.

“I’m sorry to intrude.” Selene held up a folder, her expression the picture of polite apology. “Aurelia left some files at the office. I thought I would drop them off myself, since I live close by.”

“How kind of you.” Aurelia rose, already moving to take the folder, with a sweetness in her voice that made my jaw tighten further. “You really didn’t have to.”

“It was no trouble at all.” Selene’s eyes moved past Aurelia towards me and something knowing flickered there, gone before Aurelia could see it. “I wanted to be thorough. First month on the job, after all.”

“You didn’t need to come all this way for paperwork.” My voice came out colder than I meant it to. I crossed the room and took the folder from her hands myself, deliberately, putting distance between her fingers and Aurelia’s, my knuckles brushing hers just enough to feel how cool her skin still was, exactly as I remembered it. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Rieck.” Aurelia’s tone changed, surprised at my sharpness. “She came all this way. The least we can do is offer her dinner.”

“That’s not necessary.” My voice carried an edge I didn’t bother softening.

2/4

16:26 Mon, Aug 3

Chapter 113

គ 54

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“I insist.” Aurelia turned to Selene with an easy smile, already gesturing towards the empty chair across the table, entirely unaware of the tension twisting tight in my chest. “Please. Good relations with our staff matter to me. Sit.”

Selene’s eyes flicked towards me, something almost amused hiding behind her polite hesitation. “If you are

sure.”

“I am very sure.” Aurelia was already pulling out the chair.

1 sat back down slowly, every muscle in my body twisted tight, staring at the two women settle into an evening I had never once wanted to happen.

The table stayed silent for a long moment, with only the clink of cutlery breaking the tension, Marta setting down an extra plate with a quiet apologetic glance in my direction, clearly sensing the mood without understanding why.

“So,” Aurelia said finally, turning towards our unexpected guest with genuine curiosity, “where are you from originally, Selene?”

“Here, actually.” Selene took a slow sip of wine, her eyes flicking briefly towards me before returning to Aurelia. “I grew up in this city. Left for a while.”

“What brought you back?”

“Work, mostly.” A small smile. “And unfinished things I never quite got to settle before I left.”

“That sounds intriguing.” Aurelia leaned forward slightly, curious in a way that made my chest hurt with how little she understood what she was digging into. “What kind of unfinished things?”

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