FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 125

CHAPTER 125

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Jamie came out of the bedroom twenty minutes later in a navy dress, her hair pinned up, wearing the expression of a woman who had already reorganized her entire day in her head.

I was leaning against the kitchen counter drinking coffee when she appeared. There was no sign of the destroyed nightgown. Only a faint flush still marked her neck, almost completely hidden by the neckline

of her dress.

“Don’t make that face,” she said.

“What face?”

“We’ll talk later. I’m late.”

She grabbed an apple and walked off taking a bite, and a moment later the kids started drifting in for breakfast, still half asleep.

Chloe arrived a few minutes later carrying a small bouquet of roses. She wore a pale long-sleeved blouse, a modest skirt, and that soft smile that always seemed to appear whenever I looked at her.

“Good morning.”

Lily was the first to notice the flowers.

“Are those roses?”

Chloe smiled and held the bouquet out to her.

“They’re yours.”

Lily went still for a second, as if she hadn’t understood.

“Mine?”

“Don’t you remember? The other day you told me your dream was to get roses like a princess.”

Lily’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“You remembered, Miss Chloe!”

“Of course I remembered.”

Lily practically threw herself into her arms.

“You’re the best friend ever, Miss Chloe.”

The nanny laughed and hugged her back.

“You’re my best friend too, sweetheart.”

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Chloe said it while looking at me.

y took the bouquet in both hands and studied every flower as if Chloe had just given her something far more valuable.

She seemed normal. Thoughtful. Exactly the kind of nanny any family would consider themselves lucky to find.

Still, there was something about her I couldn’t accept without examining more closely.

Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was simply too many tiny details piling up, none significant enough on its own to call a problem.

“Let’s get these in water before they wilt,” Chloe said.

She reached for a vase in the upper cabinet. As she lifted her arm, her sleeve slid back to her forearm.

The watch came into view.

My entire body went still before I had time to think.

Stainless steel. Black dial. Narrow-link bracelet. I had worn it for years. It had disappeared two years ago after a party I remembered only in fragments.

“Where did you get that watch?”

My voice made Chloe freeze.

She lowered her arm and looked at her wrist.

“This one?”

“Yes.”

Her smile returned, smaller this time.

“It was a gift from an ex-boyfriend.”

I stood.

“Can I see it?”

Chloe hesitated for less than a second. Anyone who wasn’t paying close attention would have missed it.

“Of course.”

She opened the clasp and placed the watch in my hand.

I recognized the weight first. Then the tiny scratch beside the crown from when I had dropped it on a staircase in Milan. I turned it over. The engraving on the back had nearly worn away with time, but I could still make out the initials S.H. and the date my father had given it to me.

The noise of the kids seemed to fade around me.

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“What was his name?” I asked.

My ex?”

“Yes.”

Chloe glanced toward Lily, who was still admiring the roses on the table.

“Michael.”

“Michael what?”

She gave a nervous laugh.

“Is this turning into another job interview?”

Jack looked from me to her. I lowered my voice.

“I had a watch exactly like this,” I said.

“Really?”

Her surprise looked convincing.

Almost perfect.

“Can I take a picture of the serial number? I want to check something.”

“Simon, if this is making you uncomfortable, I can stop wearing it.”

She spoke softly, as if her main concern was keeping me from feeling uneasy. It was a smart response. Instead of defending her possession of the watch, she offered to give it up. Instead of taking offense, she looked embarrassed.

I took out my phone and photographed the number engraved between the links.

“That won’t be necessary. Thank you.”

I handed the watch back.

Chloe held it against her palm for a moment before fastening it around her wrist again.

“Michael said it used to belong to a friend of his. Maybe there are a lot of them out there.”

“Maybe.”

There weren’t a lot with that scratch.

Even fewer with my initials.

Sam knocked over his glass of juice, sending it across the table. Chloe reacted before anyone else. She moved Lily and her roses out of the way, grabbed a towel, and turned the whole thing into a joke about an orange flood. Within seconds, the kids were laughing.

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I watched as she helped Sam change out of his wet shirt.

Chloe knew the watch was mine, wearing it in front of me would have been incredibly stupid. Maybe some man had found it before eventually giving it to her.

But the simplest explanation wasn’t always the true one.

I sent the photo to the head of security at Hart Enterprises.

“Confirm its origin and service history. Absolute discretion.”

I put my phone away when Chloe returned to the table.

“Did Jamie already leave?” she asked.

“She did.”

“She seemed anxious yesterday. Working while planning a wedding must be exhausting.”

“She knows how to handle pressure.”

“Of course. I really admire that about her.”

Chloe smiled and began clearing the plates. The compliment was flawless, but my eyes dropped to the watch on her wrist again.

“You said this Michael was your boyfriend. How long were you together?”

She stopped with two plates in her hands.

“A few months.”

“When?”

“About two years ago.”

The same time the watch had disappeared.

Lily tugged on her skirt.

“Chloe, will you help me put the roses in my room?”

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