The Billionaire He Pretended Not to Be Chapter 09
I thought that was the last time I’d ever see him.
But he showed up again the next morning with breakfast in hand.
“Please, Autumn,” his throat tightened, voice thick. “I just need to see you. Santoro and 1-there
was never any real feeling between us. It was nothing more than a business deal. Once the
wedding’s called off, we cut all ties completely.”
“Autumn, can we just-”
“No.” Weariness washed over me, and I lifted my head to meet his eyes. “It’s impossible. Even if there was some deal, nothing changes.”
“Leo. Just leave me alone. I can’t keep seeing you.”
My voice didn’t shake as badly as I’d expected, yet every word stung-I knew I’d lived this painful cycle too many times before.
It felt like a dull knife dragging slow across my ribs.
Leo parted his lips to speak, then clamped them shut the second he caught the look on my face.
After that, he seemed to head back to Chicago. My life slipped back into its usual routine.
Until a gray, bitter winter day, when an unknown number lit up my phone screen.
I recognized the voice instantly. David.
He told me Leo had broken off his engagement to Santoro. The fallout had been catastrophic. The Romano Family’s old don had beaten him severely over it.
Somehow, though, Leo had forced the family to accept the cancellation.
“He’s going to come find you,” David warned.
I gripped my phone tight, heart hammering against my ribs.
The street outside was nearly empty. Across the road, Leo’s figure slowly came into focus.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Then his voice dropped to a broken murmur. “I’m so sorry.”
“The engagement’s off.”
“Autumn… can we go back to how things were?”
I stiffened where I stood.
It felt surreal. For years, I’d dreamed of this exact moment-Leo free of his engagement, coming
back to me.
Now that it was actually happening, all I felt was a strange, hollow calm, like finding a carton of expired milk. You’re glad to see it, but you know you can’t drink it.
Leo opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off first.
“Let it go, Leo.”
My eyes burned hot with unshed tears. “Just leave the past where it belongs.”
The winter air was dry and biting cold. I tilted my head up and watched snowflakes drift silently down from the gray sky.
“I can never forget everything you did. I can’t pretend none of it happened.”
The second you lied to me, whatever we had was already over.
Even calling off that engagement doesn’t change a single thing between us.”
Leo’s face blanched completely. His eyes were bloodshot, voice trembling uncontrollably.
“Autumn, please don’t say that.”
“I haven’t told you yet-our new house is all ready. The living room glows gold every sunset, and there’s a huge garden stretching out the windows. When spring comes-
“Leo.”
Cold melting snow trickled down the back of my neck.
“Go home.”
