All Chapters of The Secret Billionaire's Return : Chapter 181
- Chapter 190
204 chapters
Why did you do it?
Leo sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Chloe was beside him, her head on his shoulder. They'd been quiet for a while. Thinking. The kind of quiet that happens when you're both circling the same problem but neither wants to be the first to say it out loud. "So," Leo finally said. "Something's up with Iden and Bella." Chloe nodded against his shoulder. "Big time." "They're both miserable. Won't talk about it. But it's obviously about each other. I mean, come on. Even a blind man could see it." "Obviously." Leo turned to look at her. Shifted so he could see her face. "We gotta fix this." "How? We can't force them to talk. You can't make people have feelings conversations. Trust me, I've tried. It never ends well." "No, but we can put them in the same room. Make them be around each other." He sat up straighter, the idea taking shape. "A party." Chloe raised an eyebrow. "A party." "Housewarming. We never had one. New house, new start. Invite Bella. Iden's already he
Wake me when the craziness is over
Bella opened her mouth to speak but a loud crash from inside stopped her. Glass breaking. Then a thud.They all ran in.Sarah was on the floor. On her side. Not moving. A lamp lay broken beside her. She must have grabbed it on the way down.Iden got there first. Dropped to his knees. Felt her neck for a pulse. His face was tight."She's alive. Faint pulse. Help me turn her."Leo helped roll her onto her back. Her face was pale. Too pale. Like all the color had drained out."What happened?" Chloe asked. "Did she fall?""I don't know. I just heard the crash." Leo looked at Iden. "What do we do? Call 911?""No." Sarah's eyes fluttered. Weak voice. "Don't... don't call anyone.""You just collapsed," Bella said from the doorway. She hadn't come all the way in. "You need a doctor.""No doctors." Sarah tried to sit up. Iden helped her. She leaned against him, breathing hard. "It happens. I have... a condition. My medicine is at home. I just need to get there."Chloe knelt beside her. "You ca
Mark of the faceless
The sun was warm on Bella's face. She woke up slow, stretching in her bed. The RV felt different today. Not cramped like usual. Just right. Cozy.She made coffee. Got dressed. Looked in the mirror and felt okay for once. Not great. But okay.Groceries. She needed groceries. Normal people did normal things. So she grabbed her keys and went.The store was busy. People pushing carts, looking at lists, grabbing things off shelves. Bella moved through the aisles on autopilot. Milk. Bread. Eggs. Stuff she actually needed.Then she saw him.Iden. At the end of the aisle. Holding a box of pasta like he was studying it. He hadn't seen her yet.Her heart did a stupid flip. She looked away. Turned her cart around.Too late.He looked up. Saw her. His face changed. Soft. Sad. Hopeful maybe.He walked toward her."Bella."but she didn't answer him. she pretended she didn't hear him but he kept running after her."Bella, please wait."She kept walking. "Yeah. I'm busy.""Please." He caught up easy.
She's planning something
Bella sat in her RV for a long time after leaving the library. The book was on her lap. The page open to that drawing. That mark.She couldn't go to the others. They'd already made it clear. They thought she was jealous. Paranoid. Seeing things.So she'd do this alone.The next morning, she parked near the police station. Found a spot with a good view of the entrance. Waited.People came and went. Cops in uniform. People in suits. Normal morning stuff.Then Sarah walked out. Coffee in hand. Heading somewhere.Bella followed. Kept her distance. Stayed behind cars and corners. Sarah walked to a little café. Sat outside. Made a phone call. Smiled. Looked normal.Bella watched from across the street. Nothing weird. Nothing glowing. Just a woman having coffee.Sarah finished. Walked back toward the station. Bella followed again. But somehow, between one block and the next, Sarah was gone. Just gone. Like she'd vanished.Bella spun around. Looked everywhere. Nothing.How? How did she just d
use your powers to check
The bedroom was dark except for the small lamp on Chloe's nightstand. Leo lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Chloe was curled against his side, her head on his chest. Neither of them had spoken for a while."I can't stop thinking about her," Chloe finally said. Quiet."Bella?""Yeah." She shifted. "The way she looked at us tonight. Like we'd betrayed her."Leo sighed. Ran a hand through his hair. "I know. It was rough.""We just stood there. Let her walk out.""What were we supposed to do? She was wrong. Sarah's just a normal woman with a birthmark. There was nothing there."Chloe was quiet for a minute. Then she spoke slow, like she was thinking out loud."But here's the thing. Bella doesn't just make stuff up. She's dramatic sometimes, sure. But she's not a liar. And she's a Dreamer, Leo. What if she saw something? A vision? What if that's what this is about?"Leo turned to look at her. "You think she had a dream about Sarah? About the mark?""I don't know. Maybe." Chloe sat u
Bella was right
The front door opened. Iden walked in. His face was tired. Empty.Chloe ran to him. "Did you find her?"He shook his head. "The library was empty. She was not there. The book she was reading was on a table, but she was gone."Leo came in behind him. He looked just as tired. "Nothing. Checked the café, the park, that little diner she likes. No one's seen her."Chloe's heart sank. "Where would she go? She doesn't have anywhere else."No one had an answer.Iden sat down heavy on the couch. He pulled something from his coat. A book. Old. Familiar."I found this," he said. "At the library. Open to a page. She had been reading it."Chloe took it. Looked at the page. The mark. The words.The Mark of the Faceless."What if She was right," Iden said. Quiet. "and the whole time. We called her crazy. Jealous. Paranoid. But she was right."Leo read over Chloe's shoulder. His face went pale. "if she was right then Sarah really is one of them? One of Darwin's?""It would seem so." Iden rubbed his f
Mirrors give us strength
The library was dark. They moved through the stacks fast, pulling books, checking pages, looking for anything.Chloe found the first clue. A book on old buildings in the city. She flipped through. Stopped at a page."Here. There's a list. Places with lots of mirrors. Old dance hall on Third Street. A theater downtown. A funhouse at an abandoned fairground on the east side. And a chapel. Old chapel on Northridge.""But there's four places." Leo pointed. "Dance hall. Theater. Funhouse. Chapel. Which one would she pick?"Chloe kept reading. Turned more pages. Found another section."Listen to this. It says faceless draw power from mirrors. They can use them to strengthen themselves. But mirrors can also expose them. Show their true face. If you catch them off guard, make them look at their reflection when they're not expecting it...""They'd be revealed." Iden nodded. "That's what she's planning. Lure Sarah somewhere with mirrors. Expose her.""But there's more." Chloe read further. "It
He's dead
Sarah stared. Shocked. Her hand dropped. The lightning stopped."That wasn't..." She shook her head. "That wasn't supposed to..."Bella fell to her knees beside him. Grabbed his face. "Iden. Iden, wake up. Please. Please wake up."He didn't move. His skin was hot. Too hot.Sarah stood frozen. For the first time, she looked uncertain.Bella looked up at her. Tears running down her face. "You killed him.""He got in the way." Sarah's voice was flat. "That's not my fault.""You killed him." Bella's voice broke. "I finally figured it out. I finally had proof. And you killed him before I could tell him I was sorry."Sarah stared at her. Something flickered in her empty eyes. Regret? No. Something else.Footsteps. Running. The door burst open again.Chloe. Leo. Maria. They flooded in. Saw the scene. Iden on the ground. Bella crying. Sarah standing over them."Freeze!" Maria had her gun out. Pointed at Sarah.Sarah looked at them. At the gun. At the mirrors all around.She smiled. Cold."Oh!
I can't let you go
Iden opened his eyes.Everything was white. Not bright white. Soft white. Like looking through fog. He was lying on something hard. Cold. He tried to move but his body felt strange. Light. Like he weighed nothing.He sat up. Looked around.He was in a hospital room. But not the one he remembered. This one was empty. The bed was made. The machines were off. No nurses. No doctors. Just quiet.Then he saw it. The bed in the corner. A shape under a white sheet. A body.He stood up. Walked toward it. His feet made no sound. No footsteps at all. He reached out. Pulled the sheet back.His own face stared up at him. Eyes closed. Skin pale. Peaceful. Dead.Iden stumbled back. Looked down at himself. He was wearing the same clothes from the chapel. Jeans. Shirt. Jacket. But he could see through them. Just a little. Like looking at old, dirty glass."No," he whispered. His voice came out but it was thin. Far away. Like someone talking in another room.He reached out to touch his own face. His ha
He's not dead
The door burst open.Bella stood there. Eyes wide. Breathing hard. She stared at him. At Sarah. At the lightning."Iden?"She could see him. She was looking right at him.Sarah turned. The lightning shifted. Aimed at Bella now.Iden moved. Stepped in front of her again. Same as before. Same choice."No," he said. "Not again."Sarah smiled. "Then you both die."She raised her hand. The lightning gathered. Ready to strike.And in that moment, something strange happened. The mirrors around them started to glow. All of them. Every piece of broken glass. Every shard. Every reflection.They hummed with power. With light. With something ancient.Sarah's smile faltered. "What—"The light exploded.And everything went white.Bella screamed awake.The sound tore through the hospital. High and raw and full of terror. Her body jerked upright, hands flying out like she was fighting something. Sweat soaked her clothes. Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard she thought it might break through.C