Too Late, Mr. Billionaire: You Can't Afford Me by Thedora Birnir

Chapter 129

Chapter 129 Not Fit

Denver froze, his smile caught mid–bloom like a flower in sudden frost.

So, this was the sting of rejection after all.

With a wry chuckle, he murmured, “Is this your gentle way of giving me the cold shoulder?”

“No…” Hadley paused, her words teetering on the edge of uncertainty. “You’ve always been a gem of a person.”

“But not the one who has stolen your heart.” Denver’s smile turned bitter. “Am I right?”

Unwilling to wave the white flag just yet, he pressed on before Hadley could reply.

“I know you can’t force the heart to sing a tune it doesn’t know. But sometimes love strikes like lightning, and sometimes it blooms slowly, like a seed in spring. We’ve never even tried walking that path together. What if we did, and your feelings for me blossomed over time? Hadley, can’t we at least give it a shot? You don’t find me disagreeable, do you?”

Hadley sat there, momentarily struck speechless.

His confession of love was so raw, so fiery, so unshaken by the odds–it stirred memories of her own fearless

heart at twenty.

She let out a soft sigh, as if exhaling the weight of years.

Looking into his eyes, Hadley asked, “Denver, does your family know about me?”

Caught off guard, Denver blinked, and then after a brief silence, admitted with candor, “Not… yet.”

Precisely as she had foreseen.

Hadley’s gaze lingered on Denver, her fingers delicately tracing the rim of her glass.

“If all you’re after is a fleeting moment to tuck into your memories, then Denver, I wouldn’t say no…”

He had been her lifeline more than once. A warm ray of sunshine in her shadowed days.

For that alone, Hadley wouldn’t mind sharing a chapter of her journey with him, even if they were destined to be mere passersby in each other’s lives.

She wasn’t one to cling to the dusty old moral code, nor did she see shame in the dance of love and longing.

But one truth stood firm–Denver wanted more than she could offer.

He was earnest, playing for keeps.

“Hadley!”

True to form, the instant her words left her lips, Denver shook his head in a flurry of unease. “I’d never dream of treating you that way! I’m set on building a true, lasting future with you!”

13:44

“A lasting future?”

Hadley’s laugh was sharp, tinged with irony. “We have no future together, Denver. Your family would never

welcome me with open arms.”

deemed worthy of him? A

there was joy….

puzzle with no solution.

faltered, his confidence flickering. “My family doesn’t even know yet. How

ponder; the answer was as

is not gonna work. I’m grateful to you. You pulled me from the wreckage of a painful

a dear friend, one I treasure.

heart sank

the inevitable ache

“Hadley…”

waiter came with their

lightening. “Aren’t we here to toast my triumphant performance? Let’s not muddy the waters with anything else.

for now.”

the flavors on his plate suddenly bland as sawdust.

The real hurdle wasn’t just Hadley–it was

his

home, Denver began plotting his next

a hidden chapter from his family. The timing just

words tonight lit a fire under him, pushing him to lay his cards on the

came clean to his family, she would have

her off her feet and ask her to be

parents to return, Denver mused over whether to pair his declaration with

would be fitting?

couldn’t be something run–of–the–mill.

13:44

Not Fir

room and descended to the basement. The basement housed a sturdy safe, a

code, slipped inside, located his personal

through its contents, he pulled out a small box, lifted the lid, and nodded with a satisfied

arm, secured the door, and headed

“Denver.”

voice halted him just as he

he spotted his parents, Roderick and Wilma

“Dad, Mom.”

had just returned from a social affair.

would have it, Denver

her expression unreadable as she

I expected…”

on the box in his hand.

like storm clouds rolling in. “What’s that you’ve got there?”

question. With a bright smile, he

anyway, there

jewelry box in a heartbeat.

“Yes.”

look.” Without waiting for permission, she plucked the box from Denver’s hands, opened it, and gazed at the ruby bracelet

at the sight of the bracelet,

at the evening’s gathering gnawed at

son.

we need to have a

his brow, puzzled, and glanced at his father. “Dad, what’s got Mom so riled

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