FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

MON

I let myself into the penthouse, the familiar weight of my keys hitting the marble console with a dull clatter. I was already pulling at my tie, my mind still stuck on the memory of Jamie’s lips and the way her voice went all sharp and defensive when that intern was hovering.

Idiot. It was idiotic to feel that way. We had rules.

The silhouette of a woman sitting on my couch, her back to me, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows, made me stop.

“Sylvia,” I called, my voice echoing through the foyer. I barely glanced at the figure on the couch. “Did you let someone in?”

My housekeeper appeared in the hallway, wringing her hands. There was a nervousness about her I’d

never seen.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” she stammered. “She said she was your mother. I didn’t know what to do. She just showed up.”

My blood went cold. My hand froze on the knot of my tie.

“What did you say?”

The cold seeped through me, and the woman stood, turning toward me.

She was older. Much older. More gray in her hair, softer skin, lines that I didn’t remember. But the eyes were the same. That same blue I used to stare up at when I was ten.

“Simon,” she said, her voice thin and trembling. “My God. You’re so handsome.”

I didn’t move. Just watched her. Twenty-some years. Twenty-some years of burying her, exorcising her from my life like you would a tumor. And now she was here, standing in my living room like a ghost who’d forgotten she was dead.

“Leave us,” I said to Sylvia. My voice was flat. Emotionless.

Sylvia nodded and disappeared down the hall. The door clicked shut. And then it was just the two of us.

“Simon, please,” she started, taking a hesitant step toward me. “I know you’re angry with me. I know you have every right to be upset all these years. But I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Angry?” I finally moved, walking past her toward the windows. I couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t. My hands slid into my pockets, a shield. “You’re mistaken, ma’am. I’m not angry. I don’t feel anything when it comes to you. You’re just a stranger to me.”

“I’m not-”

“Why are you here?” I turned to face her. My eyes were hard. My smile, if you could call it that, was cruel. “You certainly didn’t come to see how I’m doing.”

15:26 Tue Sep 29 )) MT.

FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

Tears welled in her eyes. “It’s Ben. My husband. The man I married after I left. He’s sick. He needs surgery. We don’t have the money.”

“What did you say?” I laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound that made her flinch.

“One hundred thousand dollars. I nced one hundred thousand dollars. That must be nothing to you since

“You came here. After twenty-two years. Walked through my door, sat on my couch, and you’re asking me for money.” I stepped closer. “For your lover. The man you left your husband and child for. The man you chose over us.”

“Simon, please-”

“You want me to help the man who destroyed my life?” I was shaking now. I could feel it in my bones. A tremor I couldn’t stop. My chest was tight, my throat burning. I pointed a trembling finger at her. “You broke my father. You broke me. And you expect me to just hand over a hundred grand like it’s nothing?”

She reached for me. I recoiled like she was on fire.

“I want that bastard to die,” I said. The words came out raw and ugly. “I want him to feel every second of what he put us through. I want him to rot. And I want you to rot right alongside him.”

Her face crumpled. But I didn’t care. I didn’t care about her tears or her shaking hands or the twenty-four years of grief she’d poured into my life like poison.

“Get out of my house,” I said, my voice breaking.

I walked past her, grabbed my keys off the console, and didn’t look back.

The elevator doors closed, and I pressed my forehead to the cool metal, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My hands were shaking. I stared at them, willing them to stop.

But God, I felt everything.

I got into my Bugatti and pulled out of the garage with no destination. The city was a blur of red brake lights and neon signs. I drove until I was out of traffic, until the buildings gave way to empty dark along the West Side Highway. I drove until my knuckles were white on the wheel and my vision was so blurred I could barely see.

And then I stopped. Parked the car, killed the engine, and sat in the silence.

And I fell apart.

The tears came like a flood I’d been holding back for twenty-two years. They burned as they fell, hot and ugly, carving paths down my face like they had every right to be there. My shoulders shook with sobs I couldn’t swallow. My hands trembled on my thighs. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop.

I hated her. Hated her with every inch of my being.

So why did it hurt so much to see her?

I slammed my palm against the steering wheel. Once. Twice. I screamed. It was a guttural, animal sound, muffled by the black leather interior of the car. I screamed until my throat was raw and my voice gave out.

TR 26 Tue Sep 24 IMT

FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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