The Billionaire He Pretended Not to Be Chapter 08
Leo never left, not even after I locked myself in my room.
His silhouette lingered under that streetlamp until sunrise.
When I headed downstairs the next morning, he looked worn thin-but he still held out a carton of warm milk and breakfast like he always did.
Warmth seeped into my palms, yanking me briefly back to those quiet dawns from years before.
His voice came out rough and hoarse.
“I never meant to break that cross, not for a second.”
“And don’t forget about work. I found you a much better job. All I want is for things to go back to how they used to be.”
I’d barely slept. He was my worst nightmare, and nothing between us could ever be fixed.
“Quit pretending.” I met his stare and threw his own words right back at him.
“You’re nowhere near as deep or noble as you think you are.”
Leo’s face drained of color instantly.
He stared at me silently, then pulled open his car door. “Let me drive you to work.”
Before he finished speaking, my boss’s unassuming black Bentley rolled to a stop beside us.
“Hey Autumn, heading into the office?”
I didn’t hesitate, yanking open the passenger door and climbing inside. Through the window, I watched Leo stand frozen, one hand resting on the car door, eyes locked on me until the car rounded the corner and he slipped out of sight.
As soon as he was gone, Anthony spoke up. “Need your boss to sort this mess out for you?”
I recognized that calculating lilt in his voice-he was already tallying up what I owed. Sure enough, he pulled out his phone calculator.
“Autumn, you ruined my jacket again last night. That debt’s still unpaid. If I help you handle Leo, I’ll cut you a discount. Ninety-nine percent off.”
A coworker pretending to nap in the backseat cracked one eye open. “Boss, why’re you so dead-set
on squeezing every last cent out of us honest staff?”
Anthony blinked. “Huh?”
The coworker huffed. “We crushed our performance targets. Was that supposed-to-be secret
bonus just a lousy cup of coffee?”
Anthony tucked his phone away. “You made the choice yourselves, didn’t you?”
Back at the office, my coworker linked arms with mine. “Unbelievable. Who knew the mystery
bonus would amount to this? I should’ve taken the cash payout instead.”
I said nothing, replaying Leo’s broken expression on a loop inside my head.
When my shift ended, Leo was still waiting there.
His gaze drifted off me to the car parked behind us, voice dropping to a murmur.
“Do you really have feelings for him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“What about me?”
Leo’s eyes turned red-rimmed. “Autumn, doesn’t anyone deserve a chance to make things right?”
My fingers trembled faintly. “Fine. I’ll give you your chance.”
I told him to drive out to the coast on that frigid autumn night to film the ocean, fish my bracelet out of a public fountain, and cross the whole city to grab pastries from a shop at midnight.
He barely slept for days, dark circles etched beneath his eyes, yet he still smiled every single time
he saw me.
In those quiet moments, he looked like the Leo who’d once shielded me from every harm all over
again.
He handed back the cross I’d given him days earlier. “I fixed it.”
He paused, voice sinking even lower. “I’m sorry. I never meant to break it.”
The cross was intact inside its frame. I studied it for a few long seconds, then tucked it carefully
away.
Shortly after, rain poured down nonstop through the whole night.
I curled up on my sofa and watched the footage he’d filmed.
The ocean water looked freezing cold, Leo’s face pale and numb from the wind and rain.
Early the next morning, someone knocked at my door.
It wasn’t Leo-it was my boss.
“My car broke down nearby, and the rain’s brutal. Can I wait inside a while?”
The downpour really was relentless, so I let him step in.
Three minutes later, I regretted it-he told me we had mandatory overtime all weekend.
“You should probably leave now.”
He ignored me, staring at my unlocked phone screen where Leo’s video still played.
“Heard you sent Don Leo all the way across town for those pastries.”
“How do you know that?”
Anthony dodged the question. “You’re a regular there, you must’ve known.”
“Known what?”
“That shop posted a permanent closure notice yesterday. There was no way he could’ve gotten those pastries.”
He cut himself off abruptly, gaze drifting past me to the front door.
I froze. The door hung slightly ajar.
A second later, I pulled it fully open.
Leo stood right there, soaked to the bone, water dripping from his hair, face ashen white.
He glanced at me, then at Anthony, and let out a sound that was half bitter laugh.
“Autumn, you set me up, didn’t you?”
I had.
Leo drew a slow, shaky breath. “And asking me to come back to Chicago? Was that all an act too?”
I’d never seen him this unraveled, clinging to nothing but sheer willpower to stay upright.
“Yeah,” I said softly. He was eerily calm, just like he’d been two years ago when I’d begged him to unlock that door. “Leo, I already gave you my answer.”
I would never be his mistress again. I wasn’t going back.
The hallway light flickered out, and the faint spark in Leo’s eyes dimmed right along with it.
“Alright.”
He set the pastry box down on the floor-not a single damp mark marred the packaging.
Anthony lifted an eyebrow. “He actually got them.”
That meant he’d driven across two whole cities overnight.
