The Billionaire's Regret: A Silent Amends

physical blow, sharp and unwelcome as

y-first

ation, but a

rd-protected world where I' d poured out al

friend. He' d taken me in after the plane

. And I, a lonely, grieving teenager

his study, that gra

is mahogany desk, my blo

rah," he' d said,

, hot and suffocatin

vate thoughts, Ethan. It

short, harsh. "It' s a catalogue of ina

p, towerin

e difference, a power dynamic that you clea

s a perfectl

ears welling. "I didn' t mean...

a mask of disapproval. "Forget such inappro

e feel dirty

I choked out, desp

ks, it was

university in some remote Midw

ively,

od, to give me a fresh start

everything I knew

e gave me an enve

ses. My lawyers will handle the trust

ords. Just a busi

th after I was gon

gaged to Victoria Sterling,

nasties, the p

sophisticated on his arm. The lavish engagement p

blic confirmation o

ing embarrassment to him. His

meone like me in his per

a constant companion during those firs

umiliation.

jected my feelings

ears later, he

his triumph? To rub

lap, her small hand

ly, anchoring myse

one who wrote th

o I