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

Chapter 1501:

“Can you answer the phone? Can we talk?” Her plea radiated with urgency and desperation.

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Ernest’s face, his lips curling into the faintest smirk. Now that Locke was out of her reach, her desperation had unfolded exactly as he had predicted.

Still, her distress didn’t satisfy his need for retribution.

With cold indifference, he set his phone face down on the polished table, knowing her suffering would need to be prolonged.

Just beyond the heavy door, Elissa stood frozen, her fingers tightly gripping her phone.

No ringing. No replies. Only silence. Had Ernest truly shut her out of Locke’s life for good?

A shiver ran down her spine.

along the way, she’d let herself forget that he wasn’t just a man of manners—he was a man of power. The kind who could shift

kindness had never been weakness. It had been

permission was gone. If he’d chosen to shut her out, she had

the imposing gates as fear crept in, slowly rising like

slipped by

this was the time she would spend tutoring Locke in his homework. But today,

click.

best

cut slacks, moving with the quiet

across the

up, and their eyes met

agonizing stretch of waiting that hollowed her out,

form, misting her lashes before she could gather

to her feet, swallowing hard, struggling to hold it together. But when she spoke, her voice betrayed the