Don’t Fall for the Billionaire Lover by Rosa Winters

Chapter 1109

Chloe absentmindedly ran her fingers along the bookshelf, pulling down a copy of *The Count of Monte Cristo* from the very top shelf. As she slid the book free, something tucked behind it caught her eye-a small wooden box, beautifully crafted and easy to overlook.

Curiosity sparked, Chloe took the box down and opened it with care. Inside was a cellphone.

Everything came flooding back in an instant. This was the phone Ricky had once used to settle an old score-the phone that belonged to Shawn. It held the evidence of Linda and Shawn's under-the-table deals, and all the secrets they'd done their best to bury.

She hadn't intended to ever turn that phone on again. Maybe it was just that tonight felt endless, or maybe she was finally ready to face the questions she'd carried for years.

She needed to know how Aaron had really come into the world. Aaron, the so- called test-tube baby. But how had Linda managed it? What did she do to get Chloe's DNA in the first place?

Chloe had her theories, but she wanted the truth.

So she plugged in the phone and waited while it charged. It powered up quickly. When the lock screen lit up, Chloe's heart dropped.

A flood of old memories crashed over her, mixing with fresh confusion and surprise.

was it

adult Linda, but a teenage girl in her school uniform, standing on a sunlit track field. She was smiling, bright and hopeful, the kind

felt a strange sense of foreboding, as if everything she believed was about to be turned

memory, Linda had always been the girl from Smoky Lane-a tough, chaotic neighborhood where nothing came easy. Her mother was violent and unstable, her father disabled and defeated. Linda survived in a world where kindness

had told Chloe about another monster

local thug, born and raised in Smoky Lane. He'd made Linda's life hell, always lurking

in the corridors, Once, he'd even pulled a knife. Chloe

become best friends

only

cruelest part was that,

Chloe ended up- being@ssaulted by

time of her life. The trauma dragged her into a deep dépression she

up, Chloe started to realize there were still layers

was gone. Linda was gone. Shawn had already