The Billionaire's Intern (Maya Thompson) novel Chapter 307

Chapter 144: Silent Battles-1

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By the time Ashcroft emerged from the cave, Harper was already gone-her jet ski cutting across the water, leaving a trail of white foam behind. With a low growl, he mounted his own, the engine roaring to life as he followed her path, keeping her in sight. Every wave between them seemed charged, he could feel deep in his chest that whatever heat they’d shared wasn’t close to cooling.

The salt wind bit at his face, but it did little to clear the storm inside him. She rode like she was running-from him, from what had just happened-but she wasn’t fast enough to outrun what was

between them.

He could still taste her on his tongue. Still feel the defiance in her breath when she whispered his

name like a curse.

Harper’s figure grew smaller ahead, but he didn’t speed up. Not yet. He wanted to give her space- to see where she went, what she’d do when she thought he wasn’t watching.

Because one thing Nicholas Ashcroft had learned? Harper Lin always ran… but she never ran witho

ut reason.

And this time, he wasn’t sure if she was fleeing him or herself.

Ashcroft’s sharp eyes locked on her retreating figure-steady, focused, unrelenting. To him, she looked fearless, untouchable. The wind whipped her hair, under the cold glow of the moon, the sea stretched dark and endless, and she cut through the waves like a storm incarnate-untamed,

unstoppable.

But what he couldn’t see-what the waves and distance hid-was the truth behind that image.

On the side where his gaze couldn’t reach, Harper’s vision blurred. The sting in her eyes wasn’t from the salt or wind-it was the tears she refused to let fall. The sea spray mixed with them, masking her pain in the rush of speed.

Her throat tightened as she gripped the handle harder. The engine’s hum drowned out the turmoil in her chest. She told herself last night was a mistake. And tonight… tonight should never have happened.

She knew better. She always did.

Getting that close to Nicholas Ashcroft had awakened something inside her-something she’d buried deep beneath logic and duty. He was danger, temptation, the one man she should’ve never allowed near her heart.

But the heat between them inside that cave had been unbearable. His breath on her skin, the

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They both agreed to preserve that friendship, but it broke her far more than it broke him- especially when she learned he got married three months later. It hurt even more when she met his wife… and saw how happy they were.

On the surface, she wore her armor well-thrill-seeker, hardheaded, carefree, the liberated woman most people admire. But behind that mask, beneath the laughter and rebellion, lived a woman who was terrified. Terrified of feeling again. Terrified of giving herself to someone, only to watch her heart shatter all over again.

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