Mr billionaire's regret chasing his irresistible wife by Gabby Emmanuel

(ARIELLE S POV)

The rest of the morning passed quietly as I cleaned the apartment after Dwayne left. His place had a certain charm to it. It wasn't flashy, but there was a quiet allure in the way everything was arranged. Much like Dwayne himself. Effortlessly captivating. As I was about to tidy up the bed, a familiar feeling washed over me. My period had arrived earlier than expected. I quickly grabbed a spare tampon from my bag and hurried to the bathroom to check. A little blood, just as I'd thought. I sighed softly.

By the time I finished, another ten minutes had passed.

No wonder I'd been so emotional yesterday, or the back pain that kept me tossing and turning last night.

It's funny, how your body never feels like it's changing, but then, just like that, it reminds you time is slipping by, one day after another, unrelenting in its passage. How many more days like this would I have before I'd feel truly different? Life just goes on.

I should ask Dwayne if women deal with blood more often than the mafia. Especially if she's a woman in the kitchen... would the sin of killing be even worse? Thinking of this terrible joke, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, shaking my head, pushing away the thoughts that threatened to drown me.

When I finished cleaning, folding, tidying, I took a shower in the guest room where I'd slept the previous night. I felt a little better, a little lighter.

As I rifled through the closet, not-so-surprisingly, I found some good work clothes, next to Dwayne's sharp, tailored suit.

I picked out something simple, but it fit perfectly.

Downstairs, breakfast was already set out in the kitchen, so I put things together and also made Dwayne a couple of meals to keep him going for the rest of the week. It was my little way of saying thank you to him.

The morning passed in routine actions, each one neat and orderly, but it felt like I was just going through the motions. I did my best to keep my mind focused on the present, numbing myself to everything else.

Looking at the blue door of Dwayne's house one last time before heading to work, I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the day ahead.

The restaurant was busy as usual, orders running in from customers in their dozens.

Rebecca was more than an efficient hand, running about the place like she had multiple limbs. When I had to go pick up Maverick from school, she was more than willing to step up into a more advanced role and coordinate things in my absence. It felt good to know I could rely on her.

Much later in the day, I was sitting in the kitchen, nursing a glass of wine while I did some work on my laptop.

me to go through, all reports of the day's business. I'd just returned to the house only a while ago after taking a run, leaving Maverick in the care of the babysitter. He was being sweet as always, understanding my need to take a

to think more about life without Jared and the pain I'd known him to bring to me. The space I needed, even if it was just a few moments. I'd left my phone on 'Do Not Disturb,' in case he tried reaching out, and I made a mental note that blocking him would be next on my to-do

on the table. I looked at the screen and found I was a text message from Ashley. I

about the money anymore. There's a chance my family's business can be

remembered everything. I'd been so carried away with the events of the previous

chastised myself and tapped away on her contact to dial her number. It went straight to voicemail after the first ring.

you keep your phone? I've been trying to call you all day," Ashley's

going on with me lately. I'm so sorry. I got your

there was someone there who could help me." "An address?" I slightly frowned, "Well, guess we'd just have to book an appointment with this fellow then. Oh wait.. we don't know who he is. Or she is. Heck, we don't know anything about them," I joked with an underlying tone of reason. "Haha, very funny girl," Ashley remarked with apt sarcasm

serious again. "Just seriously though.. why won't your boss just give you a proper name and perhaps a picture. Y'know.. something more concrete to work with? Like the whole detail? He's weird." "Oh Ari..." Ashley sighed with a little hesitation in her tone. She kept mute for a couple of seconds

eyebrow, having no idea where that comment came from. "Really? Well that's pretty rich coming from the same mouth who

in mortification and the line went oddly

when I heard a voice come from the other

really, Miss Tompson? When

that she didn't think it worthy enough to tell me we always spoke about things of the nature before anything serious came out of it. "Ash? Who's that?" I asked, genuinely worried for my friend. I heard Ashley's voice come lightly in the background as she spoke to whoever it was. I strained my ears to make out their words and a wave of recognition hit me. I found the male voice familiar. "Wait... Is that Mr. Roman? Is

I could hear a click

stared at the phone for a moment, stuck in a mix of surprise and confusion. A whirlpool of possibilities swirled in my head and my thoughts jumped from one end to the other,, a playful yet

phone down on the table to return to my work when I

Maverick asked softly. I pulled

momma's

asked and lifted him

he snuggled into my neck. I led him to the bedroom and tucked h kim in, before slipping into the tiny space beside him. We held our

sooner than I'd expected. I had planned to go with Ashley to the address Mr.

but I kept my thoughts to myself so I didn't come across to Ashley as pessimistic. Whatever she was willing to share, that I was

to worry about. What if this person who we were supposed to meet wasn't entirely invested in the idea of offering us

optimistic, Arielle, I cautioned