The Billionaire He Pretended Not to Be Chapter 03
Leo claimed I’d been stupid my entire life.
Stupid for enduring my stepdad’s beatings instead of running away back then, stupid for walking out on him now instead of staying where I belonged.
“You’ll be crawling back to me in a week,” he’d said when I stepped out our front door for good.
That week stretched on as the longest seven days of my life.
Everything fell apart all at once—my job, my place to stay, even grabbing discounted groceries; someone always beat me to the shelf first.
I crashed on a college friend’s couch. That morning, she told me I couldn’t stay any longer.
I glanced at the phone she gripped so tight her knuckles went white. “Leo called you, didn’t he?”
She sighed heavily. “What the hell happened? He sounds like he’s ready to ruin everything.”
She didn’t know the full story, and I refused to drag her into this mess. I packed my bags and moved into a cheap motel instead.
Before I left, Lena tried pressing cash into my hands. “You’re still just an intern. Take this, you’ll get your full paycheck once you’re permanent.”
I turned the money down—my permanent staff position was supposed to start the next day.
But when I walked into the office that morning, the air felt wrong.
Dozens of eyes locked onto me. The room went dead silent.
My chest tightened tight enough to hurt. My boss called me into his office.
He sipped his coffee and cut straight to the point.
“I won’t lie, you’re our best intern by far.”
“But we landed a massive client deal, a once-in-a-lifetime shot for this whole company.”
He held my gaze, and my heart sank straight to my stomach.
“They had one non-negotiable condition.”
He took another slow sip of coffee.
“They demanded your termination.”
The rain came down hard on my walk back to the motel, the temperature dropping ten degrees.
Leo was already there, leaning against his car. He popped open his umbrella and walked over the second he spotted me, wearing that familiar lazy smile.
“Forgot your umbrella?”
My eyes fixed on his hand.
He still wore that cheap ring he’d given me for our fake proposal six years prior.
It should’ve been funny, but I was too worn out to laugh.
Rain soaked straight through my jacket, my voice shaking as I spoke.
“Leo, what exactly do you want from me?”
“I love you. I need you. I never once set out to hurt you.”
“I saved for months to plan our anniversary night.”
“I’d hoped—once I locked down a full-time position, we could move somewhere nicer.”
I tilted my head up to look at him.
“Why? Why do this to me? Why me?”
He didn’t answer, his gaze dropping to my bare fingers. “Where’s the ring?”
The cheap band he’d handed me in that tiny apartment, the one I’d worn every single day for six years.
He’d offered to buy me a nicer replacement countless times, but I’d never wanted one.
“I lost it.” I turned and headed toward the motel entrance. “Do whatever you want. My answer isn’t changing.”
