All Chapters of The Secret Billionaire's Return : Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
70 chapters
The real story
Leo tried to fold the world again, to vanish and race back to Chloe, but the air turned thick as tar. Adrian lifted one hand. Black stone crawled out of the floor like living chains and wrapped around Leo’s ankles, his wrists, his throat. The weight crushed him down to one knee.“Not so fast,” Adrian said, voice calm, almost kind. “We’re not finished.”Iden snarled inside Leo’s head. “Kid, push. Now.”Leo felt the chains bite. They felt cold and heavy. They wanted to turn him to rock the same way the man in the blue car had frozen. He remembered Chloe’s face when she begged him to come back. That memory burned hotter than the chains.He screamed. Light (white, bright, nothing like the purple sickness in Adrian) burst out of his chest. The chains cracked, then shattered into dust. For one heartbeat Adrian looked surprised.That was all the distraction he needed, it only took a second then Leo was gone.He landed hard in Chloe’s living room. The front door hung off its hinges. The couch
Two hearts as one
Victoria waited until Liana brought bowls of thick soup and fresh bread. The girl tried to linger, but one look from her mother sent her back to the kitchen. The door closed. Only the fire spoke, cracking and popping.Victoria pulled a small wooden stool close and sat. Her old knees creaked. She looked at Leo and Chloe like she was looking at ghosts she had waited years to meet.“This happened almost seven hundred years ago,” she began, voice low. “In a kingdom where the mountains touch the sky. Two lands were always fighting. One winter the kings decided to stop the blood. They would marry their children. A boy of nineteen and a girl of eighteen. That boy became King Elias. That girl became Queen Isolde.”Chloe’s fingers tightened around Leo’s hand.“They hated the idea,” Victoria said. “Both thought it was only politics. Elias was soft-hearted. He liked books and music more than swords. His father had died suddenly, so the crown came early. He felt lost. His uncle, Lord Rowan—his fa
I want you
The drive back from Victoria’s cottage had been quiet, almost holy. They stepped through the repaired door of Chloe’s house and the silence followed them inside. Neither could find words. The air felt too thick, too full of everything they were supposed to be. They showered separately, long, hot, as if water could wash away centuries. Chloe came out first, hair dripping, wearing only an old oversized T-shirt that stopped mid-thigh. Leo was at the sink in just sweatpants, staring at his own hands like they belonged to a stranger. She made pasta because her hands needed something to do. They ate at the little table, elbows almost touching, eyes on plates. Forks scraped. Nobody spoke. When the plates were clean, Chloe walked out the back door without a word. Leo followed two heartbeats later. The garden was silver under the moon. Night jasmine had opened, thick and sweet. The grass was cool and damp. Chloe stood in the middle, arms wrapped around herself, staring at the stars like t
It didn't work
Chloe stood in front of her bedroom mirror. Her hands were shaking a little. She put on the last bit of her lipstick. She was wearing a beautiful, sleek white dress. It was the kind of dress you wear when you are about to get engaged. It made her look like a princess, but she felt like she was going to war.She took a deep breath and walked downstairs.Leo was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing a sharp black tuxedo. He looked incredibly handsome. When he saw her, his eyes went wide."You look... stunning," he said, his voice full of genuine awe.A small, real smile touched her lips. "You look pretty good yourself." She looked down at her dress and then back at him. "Leo, are you sure this is a good idea?""It's the only way," he said, his voice low. "We have to draw him out into the open. This is the biggest stage we can get.""But what if it works? What if he comes? Are you ready to handle that?""I have faith it will be okay," Leo said, taking her hand. "Don
Tell Chloe, I'll visit her soon
The world exploded. One minute there was a crowd. The next, pure panic. People were screaming, running everywhere. The air smelled like fire and fear.Through all the chaos, one person walked calmly toward the stage. It was Adrian. But his eyes had a weird purple glow. He had a nasty smile on his face.Leo moved to jump down and face him. Chloe grabbed his arm. "Leo, don't! The police are coming!" She pointed at the sirens getting closer."The police can't fix this," Leo said, his voice low and serious. "You know they can't. Get to safety. Please."He pulled his arm away and jumped off the stage. He landed right in front of Adrian."Were you looking for me?" Adrian said, his voice full of hate."This stops right now," Leo said.They started to fight. It was just fists and feet at first. Punches landed hard. But then things got strange. A purple light started crackling around Adrian's hands. When he hit Leo, it didn't just hurt. It felt like ice spreading through his bones.Let me help
Adrian was pretending
Chloe walked in circles in the living room. The television kept showing the same clips: smoke, broken cars, two men glowing like gods, then nothing. Reporters talked about “special effects” and “mass hallucination.” No one knew what to say. Chloe turned the sound off hours ago. She just kept pacing, arms wrapped around herself, eyes on the front door."Please, met him be okay." she prayed.When the lock finally clicked, she almost fell.Leo stepped inside. He looked worn out, dirt on his shirt, a cut on his cheek, but alive. Chloe ran and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back hard, face in her hair.“You’re here,” she whispered, voice cracking.“I’m here,” he said.She pulled him to the couch, pushed him down, and ran for water. He drank half the glass in one go.“What happened?” she asked, sitting close. “Is it over?”Leo shook his head slow. “We got the Void out of Adrian. He’s… he’s himself again. But he was never the real problem.”Chloe’s stomach dropped. “Never the real
He wants you alive
The morning sun felt wrong. It was too cheerful. Chloe moved through her quiet house like a ghost. Leo had left a note on the kitchen counter. Just two words: "Back soon." No explanation. A cold worry had settled in her stomach and wouldn't leave.She jumped when the doorbell rang. Her heart leaped. Leo was back.She pulled the door open, a relieved smile already forming.It wasn't Leo.Adrian stood on her porch.He looked... small. Deflated. There was no purple glow, no stone skin. Just a guy with messy hair, shadows under his eyes, and a hoodie that swallowed him. He held two paper coffee cups, his hands shaking just a little."Hi," he said, his voice scratchy. "Can I... can we talk? Just for five minutes. I promise."Every muscle in Chloe's body tensed. She wanted to slam the door so hard the glass would break. She wanted to scream for help.But the person on her porch didn't look like a monster. He looked like a lost, tired boy."I know you hate me," he said, his eyes fixed on the
Victoria is dead
Chloe woke up on her cold floor. She pushed herself up, her head spinning. She looked around and gasped.Her house was gone. Well, the shape was there. But everything was covered in a shiny, black rock. It looked like dark crystal. It had grown over the windows, sealing them shut. It covered the front door. The only light was a weird purple glow coming from the rock itself. It was beautiful and terrifying. She was trapped in a jewel box.Adrian stood in the middle of the room. He wasn't trying to be sorry anymore. He just looked bored."Comfy?" he asked."What did you do?" Chloe whispered."Me? Not much. I'm just the babysitter." He walked over to the blackened window. "He's out there somewhere. Your hero. He's probably trying to figure out how to save you."Chloe's heart leaped. Leo was here."Don't get too excited," Adrian said, reading her face. "Darwin thinks this is a fun test. He wants to see how strong your little love story really is. He's taking bets on how long it takes Leo
Play the victim
Vivian Briggs sat in her expensive cream living room, legs crossed, wine glass almost empty. The television showed the same clip for the tenth time: Chloe’s house turned into a black stone egg, then crumbling back to normal like nothing happened. Reporters shouted words like “miracle” and “terrorist attack.” Vivian didn’t care about miracles. She cared about money.She threw the remote at the screen. It bounced off and cracked on the marble floor.“That boy will get her killed before I finish!” she shouted to the empty room. “All the shares, the company, everything I worked for, gone would be gone because of that prison trash!”She stood and started pacing, high heels clicking hard. Her nails dug into her palms. She had been plotting and scheming on how to get her hands on it all and it had been proving difficult. Now this Leo appeared, and Chloe looked at him like he hung the moon. Marriage papers were probably already being dreamed about. If Chloe married him, Vivian would be left w
Deal with her and make it hurt!
It didn't take Leo long to get a new house. That's what connections can do.The new house sat quietly on a small hill outside the city. White walls, big windows, wooden floors that smelled like lemon polish. soft grey couches, books on the shelves, even fresh milk in the fridge. He carried Chloe inside, laid her on the wide bed, and locked every door twice.Now it was late afternoon. Sunlight fell across the bed in long gold bars. Chloe slept on her side, face still pale, breathing slow and steady. The cuts on her wrists were already fading, Iden’s light worked fast, but she hadn’t opened her eyes since Victoria’s blood broke the stone.Leo sat in a chair beside her, elbows on his knees, watching every breath like it might be the last.His head was loud.Victoria was gone. The only person who knew the whole story, who understood the rules, had stabbed her own heart to save them. Adrian—dead or alive, Leo didn’t know. Darwin was still out there, holding the black shard, smiling f