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

Chapter 729:

The little boy scrambled down from Nyla’s lap and planted himself squarely in front of Ernest. For someone so small, he stood with an unshaken determination—one that shouldn’t belong to a child his age.

“Dad, I’m sorry!”

His tiny fists clenched, his words trembling on the verge of breaking.

Locke hesitated, stealing a glance up at Ernest, searching his face for a reaction.

That look—so fragile, so uncertain—sent a sharp pang through Ernest’s chest.

He was just a child. And yet, he already understood too much.

That his fate wasn’t in his own hands. That his father had the power to decide whether he belonged in this family. Whether he mattered.

hesitation, Ernest crouched down and

curled into his shirt, gripping it as if letting go would mean losing everything. His voice shrank to a whisper, heavy

his cheeks, his small frame

don’t cry.” Ernest gently wiped the tears from his son’s cheeks, his voice steady, reassuring. “This is your home. No matter what happens, I don’t want you thinking like that again. Do you

“Dad!”

cry anymore, okay? How about some ice cream?” Locke’s tears slowed. He blinked up at

on g

and son was undeniable—a picture of familial

off to the side, it was suffocating. She had been completely forgotten, pushed into the background. Without another word, she turned and made

“Hadley!”

his room, freshly changed, his sharp gaze immediately catching sight of

eyes flickered toward the hallway—just in time to see Linda retreat into her room, shutting the door firmly behind her. His brows furrowed. “What’s going on? What

had a fight,” Hadley said casually, chewing

the boy? Eric hesitated before choosing his words carefully. “Maybe she just… doesn’t know how