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.

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

the run, I'd tried 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 looked at the screen and found I was a text message from Ashley. I quickly put my laptop aside and picked up the

chance my family's business can be

the previous night to remember

voicemail after the first ring. I sighed, about to leave a message, when my

been trying to call

just been so much going on with me lately. I'm so sorry. I got your text. What's the

sigh on the other end, but there was a tinge of hope and excitement in her voice when she spoke again. "I'm not sure, Ari," she began, "But I spoke with my boss earlier today and he gave me an address. Said 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

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 before speaking again.

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

mortification and the line

while when I heard a voice come from the other end with a rather mildly

Tompson? When did I suck your

anything serious came out of it. "Ash? Who's that?" I asked, genuinely worried for my

a click

and my thoughts jumped from one

return to my work when I heard two pairs of feet pattering towards

with me?" Maverick asked softly. I pulled him in close and planted a kiss on his

told you momma's got you,

lifted him

and tucked h kim in, before slipping into the tiny space beside him. We held our arms around each other

I had planned to go with Ashley to the address

I didn't come across to Ashley as pessimistic. Whatever she was willing to

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

Arielle, I cautioned myself