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.

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 little time for

on 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'd left my phone on 'Do Not Disturb,' in case he tried reaching out, and I made a mental note that blocking him

beeped on the table. I looked at the screen and found I was a text message from Ashley. I quickly put my laptop aside and

about the money anymore. There's a chance my family's business can be saved." the message read

before I suddenly remembered everything. I'd been so carried away with the events of the previous night to remember I had better things to worry about. Things concerning

contact to dial her number. It went straight to voicemail after the first ring. I sighed, about to leave a message, when

I've been trying to call you all

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

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

the whole detail? He's weird." "Oh Ari..."

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

mortification and the line went oddly silent for

was about to call out to her after a while when I heard a voice come from the other end with a

Tompson? When did

and I was left wondering what Ashley was doing out with a man so late in the day. And it didn't make any sense 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

could hear a click on the

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 suspicious smile creeping onto my face. What in

the table to return to my work when I

softly. I pulled him in close and planted a

momma's got you,

asked and lifted him off the

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

I had planned to go with Ashley to the address

development but I kept my thoughts to myself so I didn't come across

person who we were supposed to meet wasn't entirely invested in the idea of offering

I