Billionaire's Match (by Tangy Candy) novel Chapter 1177

Every time Khloe closed her eyes, all she could see was the way Nick had looked at her today.

So tender, so full of longing—yet restrained and controlled.

They had stood inches apart, and yet it felt as though the distance between them had stretched into an endless chasm.

Her phone buzzed with messages and missed calls.

Everyone had been checking in on her lately—some concerned about her and Nick, others about her pregnancy. There were too many to keep up with; she'd read some, missed others.

But Khloe hadn't replied to much of anything.

There was so much she didn't know how to say, and her friends understood that. Their messages were simple—well-wishes hoping that she and Nick would take care of themselves and stay strong. They didn't press for answers or ask too many questions.

As for the greetings from business partners, replying felt more pointless than not. Khloe had already set her status to "recuperating" anyway.

After quickly clearing out the notification clutter, she spotted the messages Lenny and Michelle had sent her today.

Lenny had kept it brief—just a simple check-in, mentioning in passing that Nick wasn't in the best mood today and telling her not to take it to heart.

She knew this was Lenny's subtle way of smoothing things over for Nick. Hoping, perhaps, that the two of them might still find some common ground.

But she didn't need Lenny to tell her—she knew Nick. He was still angry. Of course he was.

Yet despite his anger, his concern for her was written all over his face. The harsher his words, the more they betrayed just how much he still cared.

Michelle had messaged her too, volunteering the news that she and Lenny were officially together. She also mentioned how much Nick had helped them along the way, adding with a wry tease that his efforts felt like he was settling his affairs.

Michelle had said that on purpose, and Khloe could see right through her little scheme—she was just trying to provoke a reaction.

Those two, one after the other, in their own ways, were practically nudging her to go find Nick.

But she didn't need any nudging. He was all she could think about.

Khloe swiped past their messages and opened Nick's chat on her own.

Their previous conversations were still there, crystal clear. Every short exchange was steeped in gentleness. She had been gentle; he had been gentler still.

He slumped on the couch, casting a sidelong glance at it, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

Khloe... since you won't show me an ounce of consideration, don't blame me for what comes next.

The Morrison family. Nick. Everything you hold dear—I'll tear it all down.

…

The next morning, a bombshell broke across Goldmont City.

Within less than three hours, the story had hit the top of the national trending charts, igniting a firestorm of public outrage:

"No way—the Morrison Group secretly teamed up with Naraida to manufacture a banned drug domestically?"

"Rumor has it the drug is called T7—an illegal compound extracted by Naraida, supposedly linked to those human experiments from a century ago..."

"Yeah, I heard the ingredient is derived from newborn infants... can't get into the details, but it's strictly prohibited in our country. Other countries ban it too—only Naraida would be twisted enough to use it."