Their Villain, The Mogul's Beloved

“Yannis, I feel so bad for you,” Zinnia sighed, totally missing his hidden agenda. In her eyes, he was way more pitiful than she was.

Completely fooled by Yannis’s Oscar–worthy performance, Zinnia forgot all about his overprotective siblings who doted on him, a dad who stuffed cash in his pockets like it was nothing, and a grandpa constantly fretting over his health.

Yannis felt a headache coming on. ‘Seriously?‘ he thought. I’ve been pouring it on about how lonely I am. Any normal person would offer to stick around by now. But all Zinnia does is call me “poor guy“-not a word about staying!‘

As his guilt–tripping didn’t land, Yannis cranked up the sad–puppy eyes. “Zinnia, have some mercy and stay with me tonight, okay?

“Look, you’re on your own right now, same as me. Nathan’s still MIA, and with Donald running around, it’s not safe for you to crash alone. Jackson and I would both be stressing 24/7. If Nathan found out, he’d lose his mind.”

Yannis didn’t miss a beat with the pity play. Could anyone blame him? He’d just gotten Zinnia back, and she was already talking about splitting. No freaking way was he letting her walk- not after everything he’d pulled to win her over.

Zinnia had just started thinking about moving out, but Yannis totally derailed her plans before she could even start. He acted so well that Zinnia fell for it completely.

Yannis picked up on her hesitation from the silence. He leaned down, locking eyes with hers. “Zinnia, you really gonna bail on me?”

His sad gaze threw Zinnia off. She frowned, feeling like a pebble flicked against her chest–no real hurt, just a persistent twinge. Before she could shake it off, a dull ache started blooming inside.

She didn’t like seeing Yannis like this. He was born to be wild and free, not moping around. When he acted all sad, it felt wrong, and she couldn’t help wanting to cheer him up.

“Well, I’ll stay till I cure your insomnia,” Zinnia said, her voice softening in compromise.

Zinnia often avoided meeting Yannis‘ gaze. His eyes were unfairly beautiful, and when he locked onto her, their depth made it way too easy to lose herself if she didn’t look away quickly.

Yannis had dialed back the intimidation around Zinnia, playing it warm and approachable. But she wasn’t naive–if he were really that soft, why did everyone in his life call him a walking migraine? She knew he was holding back, probably afraid of freaking her out.

Zinnia wasn’t someone who couldn’t tell good from bad. She could tell Yannis‘ kindness to her was genuine. If he wanted her to stick around a little longer, she’d do it.

his insomnia quick,‘ she thought, ‘or what Yannis worried about

1-

thought. ‘As if that’ll

Oct 8

Chapter 443

:

for years. So, she isn’t going

(60

o vouchers

another excuse to keep her. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Besides, a few sweet

he was with Zinnia, he couldn’t help

make Zinnia stay first. If Nathan came back and took her away, Yannis would just

didn’t kid himself about that. Nathan had raised her, after all. They had over a decade

glance at Yannis’s grinning eyes and looked away in a hurry. ‘His smile is way too bright, she thought. ‘He’s so

only to

his fingers wrapped around her

“I’ll be swamped at work, might not get back till super

started taking her to the company with him often. Even after

Zinnia said. It was cold out, and she

then,” Yannis relented, his voice dropping a notch as he let go of her wrist reluctantly. He slid his hand behind his back and curled his fingers, trying to hold on to the warmth and softness still lingering in

*****

to see Lydia. When she pulled open the door, a man and woman stood outside. Both had

stances.

her politely, “Morning,