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

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

their voices floated back to

“Let’s go home, baby.”

milkshake was super

Just like you, my sweet

a gentle exchange between mother

Fresh stories here gαℓησν??s․cøm

Eric, each word landed like a meteor, carving deep craters into his chest. Every phrase struck hard, leaving behind a hollow ache. Unaware they were being followed, the duo walked into their apartment

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

in his lungs. He exhaled through his nose, and the haze curled around his face. The burnt

sense. No wonder Hadley’s name hadn’t shown up on the list of people who bought those Minnie Mouse clips.

She was Joy’s mother.