Billionaire's Match (by Tangy Candy) novel Chapter 213

Chapter 213

“Nick…” Khloe felt herself completely undone. She didn’t know how to respond, so she simply pressed herself closer to his face and closed her eyes.

She had never wanted to get involved in love again-but Nick was different. He was too good, too perfect, too impossibly himself. Good enough that she couldn’t rein in her heart. Even if it meant being hurt in the future, she only wanted to surrender fully and without reservation.

The next morning, just as the sky was lightening, Khloe was awakened by Nick’s kiss.

Opening her eyes, she saw him already dressed, sitting at the edge of the bed, his arm around hers. “Get up. I’m taking you somewhere today.”

“Where?” Khloe glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was still early-only six-thirty. She tilted her head to look at him, and in the soft morning light, the usual sharpness of his features seemed somehow softened.

“To see my mother,” Nick said quietly.

Khloe froze. She knew his mother had passed away long ago. That loss was a wound he carried deep in his heart. For him to suddenly say he wanted to bring her here… the meaning was unmistakable.

Without hesitation, she nodded. “Okay.”

Before leaving, Khloe arranged a bouquet of flowers. She asked Nick about his mother’s preferences, wanting to prepare something more, but he simply held her hand. “You don’t need to prepare anything else. Just seeing you will make her happy.”

An hour later, Nick’s car arrived at a quiet cemetery in the suburbs.

He spoke little along the way, holding her hand tightly. Khloe could feel it-the closer they got to the destination, the more he restrained his usual cold, commanding presence, and the rarer, fragile loneliness shone through. She said nothing, simply accompanying him silently.

At the grave, Nick placed the flowers and half-knelt, brushing away the thin layer of dust on the headstone. The cemetery was silent, the morning mist not yet fully lifted. He moved carefully, as if afraid of disturbing the eternal rest of the one beneath.

Khloe stood a step behind him, her chest tightening with an ache she couldn’t name. Here, she saw Nick not as the powerful, feared man of the business world, but as a child who had finally let his guard down, revealing his vulnerability.

His mother had been frail, and she had died from complications caused by giving birth to him. Nick had never known her, yet even in childhood, he carried the heavy shadow of her death as his own burden. –

When Loretta had spoken about this, she had been subtle, but Khloe had understood: the strained relationship between Nick and his father, George, stemmed from his mother’s passing. George had never wanted his wife to risk her life to bear a child, and after her death, he had even tried to avoid seeing Nick. Young Nick had grown almost entirely in isolation.

Khloe could not imagine what it must have been like for a small child to process the kind of hurt and blame powerful enough to consume him. Her heart ached uncontrollably.

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Chapter 213

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She looked at the tombstone. The photo depicted a gentle, beautiful woman, her features faintly reminiscent of Nick, her smile soft and warm.

Nick gazed at the photograph for a long time before finally speaking, his voice huskier than usual, as if whispering to his mother-or perhaps introducing her to Khloe.

“Mom, I brought someone to see you.”

He turned slightly, holding out his hand to her.

Khloe placed her hand in his cool palm. His grip was firm, as if drawing strength from her.

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