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

Chapter 858:

Hadley’s laughter rang out as she stooped to scoop Joy into her arms. “Mommy!” Joy pouted, her little face clouded with emotion. “Am I not well-behaved? Does Mommy like Tyler more?” Where was that coming from?

Hadley and the young woman shared a look and erupted into laughter. Hadley leaned in to whisper in her daughter’s ear, “You’re my favorite, you know that, right?”

“I know!”

Joy’s face lit up with a smile as she nestled closer to her mother. “Mommy is my favorite too!”

Across the street, Eric sat frozen in his car, eyes wide with disbelief.

He stared at Hadley and Joy, each wearing a Minnie Mouse hair clip. One was perched neatly on the back of Hadley’s head, and the other was clipped above the little girl’s ear.

One for each of them.

tightened until his knuckles turned white. It was as if it might

daughter strolled farther down the sidewalk, Eric opened the car door and stepped out. He followed at

their voices

“Let’s go home, baby.”

strawberry milkshake was super

like you, my sweet

soft—just a gentle

Fresh stories here gαℓησν𝒆𝓁s․cøm

Eric, each word landed like a meteor, carving deep craters into his chest. Every phrase struck

His heart pounded hard against his ribs, loud enough that he could hear it in

his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with trembling fingers. The first drag hit deep, the smoke heavy in his lungs. He exhaled through his nose, and the haze curled around his face. The burnt nicotine

hadn’t shown up on the list of people who bought those Minnie Mouse clips. She was wearing the one he had

She was Joy’s mother.