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The Beautiful Billionaire 58
LINDEN “Any helpful advice?” “Linden, you know I always like you, but I advise you not to go there. It’s not worth it, but I know I’m just wasting my time, and you won’t listen to me or anyone. So, why bother asking for advice?” I let go of a long draggy breath. “I don’t know, Terzo. You know how this family works better than I do.” “It’s not just a family. It’s an organization. Have you heard the Absolom? Bigger than that. Think about it as The Hover without license and certification. That’s how broad and big that is. Even my father doesn’t wanna cross paths with Ilya, the son. And he’s already the bad wolf in the blizzard. That cold doesn’t bother him.” “I have to do this.” “Then did you say goodbye to your wife and your child? Congratulations, by the way. I hope you receive my gift.” “That was kind of you. Thank you, Terzo.” Terzo was a son of a bitch, but he helped us, and I didn’t thank him enough. I thought sending us a gift, a Moka pot, was thoughtful. “Then you just g
The Beautiful Billionaire 59
ESTELLE I returned to work, utilizing my time, hoping to divert my attention from Linden and be productive. It worked for a while because I had to think positively. And I knew in my heart Linden was somewhere with Jasper, drinking beers, laughing together. Still, my stomach churned with dead. “Hey, honey. The finished products just arrived. I love the new packaging.” Mom sang with her smile from ear to ear as she walked into my office. I stood up from my chair as the trolley came. “Me too.” Mom and I sat next to each other as we began unboxing and testing, even if it was already tested. I chose first the organic one. We had a particularly unique type of packaging that the CEO, me, and our designer knew the secret to protect the products from counterfeit fraud. “It’s impressive.” I loved the antioxidant-tinted serum. It was thinner, lightweight, and easy to absorb on the skin. I sniffed it. “It almost doesn’t have a smell.” “You’re pregnant. Usually your olfactory is very strong.”
The Beautiful Billionaire 60
LINDEN I quickly took off my shirt, positioned my stance, and cracked my fingers. Honestly, I didn’t know how to defeat him. I didn’t know if I could. He was an MMA fighter but lost his chance of accidentally killing someone outside the ring. And this was an underground fight against killers, murderers, and gamblers— all criminal activities and ground rules didn’t apply. This was a dirty sport. But I was not going to die tonight. Aleksandr advanced forward. Of course, he did. He wanted to end this fight quickly. I moved forward but maintained my ground, focusing on his possible move. His first jab almost hit my face, and I did a counterattack to push him back. But it was just a warm-up. I took my own emotional and physical injuries in only three minutes. We had bloody faces, but I took the worse. He struck me hard with a kick on my side. I had bruised face and probably cracked ribs. Sure, I endured a broken nose, bloody mouth, and my strength was draining so fast, and I hadn’t bea
The Beautiful Billionaire 61
ESTELLE“Hey, honey.”I hummed to Mom’s soothing voice and the fresh scent of flowers. The room smelled of roses. When I was younger, I got a stomach bug and was absent from classes for the whole day. Mom was a worrier when I was a kid, and I heard this tone before until I remembered talking to Kye. The last thing I knew, I was so dizzy.“Mom?” I quickly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the ceiling in the bedroom. “Hey. Easy there, honey.”“What happened?” I dragged myself to lean against the headboard and took the glass she offered. “You collapsed.” The worry in her voice was evident. “Oh, my God.” My hand came to my tummy.“You’re okay. The baby is okay. Doctor Chesca was here, and she did a bedside ultrasound. She said not to stress out.”I drank the water and nodded. “Sometimes I’m so selfish.”“Enough of that. Someone here wants to see you.”“Who?” I placed the glass on the bedside.“Hey, preggy.” Willa walked in.“Oh, my God. What are you doing here?” I was already
The Beautiful Billionaire 62
LINDEN It was good to be back home, at least in one piece. I was only gone for four days, yet a lot of things happened in my absence. My wife collapsed, worrying about me. Thankfully, she was fine, and our baby was healthy. I didn’t want it to happen again, not on my watch. But that was not what was going on right now. I was in the bathtub, and she was out, rubbing my back with her pink loofah. I couldn’t protest without getting her pissed. When I moved inside, she groaned. “I said, no sudden movements. You’re not wearing your brace.” “I don’t need that, baby. It doesn’t hurt much,” I lied. It still hurt as fuck. Every time I breathed, it fucking hurt like a heavy rock pressed against my chest. “The doctor said, you keep that, then that’s what you will do, Gabriel.” She then put shampoo into my hair. I felt like a king right now. I never thought Estelle would do something like this to me, and I couldn’t help but turn weepy. God, I loved this woman so much. I took her hand an
The Beautiful Billionaire 63
ESTELLE The guys never left the house. Rome called all the way from Guardion to check on his best friend. Striker, Cenric, and Beck just arrived. I wasn’t even aware that Sax just called everyone on his list. The house was filled with testosterone, but everyone was happy. That was all that mattered. “How’s our boy?” Moses might have noticed that I stayed at the corner while I enjoyed watching the guys share their funny stories. “Aside from broken ribs and bruises, I think he’ll live. He barely told me what happened, other than the other who punched him. What do you think?” “Gabe wouldn’t stop looking for Jasper anyway. At least, he found the answer he’d been looking for.” “Did he tell you anything?” “I picked him up from the private airport when I received a call from an associate. I took him to the hospital for a checkup, but the doctor cleared him. All he needs is painkillers and rest, but all he did was complain and wanted to go home.” “Thank you for being there when he need
The Beautiful Billionaire 64
LINDEN “Why do you wanna talk to me alone?” “About what you asked Sax to do.” He took something from his jacket. It was an envelope. “Sorry, I just made the copy to be discreet. The original is at Osmium.” “What did you find?” “Nothing out of the ordinary, or I just missed something. She works in an expert marketing service, just like everyone, she came and left. She has a kid, a boy. Don’t worry. He’s not yours. He’s mixed.” “Of course, it’s not mine. I was on tour. When I came back, she was pregnant. What do you mean by mixed?” “A black father, I guess.” A Black? But Miles is white. “What else? Did she meet someone or go somewhere after work?” “Looks like the boy’s father is not in the picture anymore. No child support. She’d dated a man two years ago and worked different jobs within that span, marketing-related. She frequently moved every few months, though, and just moved in two months ago and lived with her son alone in an apartment, with little savings in her bank accoun
The Beautiful Billionaire 65
ESTELLE “So you married that man.” My father didn’t even take a seat, but I was surprised he came to my office instead of shouting through the phone. The last time he was here, he wanted to take the seat from me by force. “He has a name, Dad.” “I know who he is.” “No, you don’t.” Oddly, I didn’t even care, no matter how many ounces of anger he had in his words. “What you know is what you want to know. That’s biased, Dad. Give him a chance. And I’m pregnant.” He snapped his head. Anger and disgust plastered all over his face. “Are you out of your mind? Let me guess, his?” “I love him. And, of course, he’s the father. And he wants this child, too.” “Of course, he wants. That’s what he wants, to take control of you. He always wants to be the good guy. He steps up to that place when things go wrong and wants to be your hero.” “You get all wrong, Dad. He’s not like that.” “Are you sure about that? He came to the rescue when you were on that island. He pretended to save your compan
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