Page 123 of Hello Billionaire

My voice broke. “I just wanted you to be proud of me.”

He put his hands on both of my shoulders. “I’ve never been prouder of you than I am right now. You’re twice the man I could ever hope to be.”

56

Farrah

Knocking sounded on the front door, but I ignored it. Whoever it was could call and leave a message like my mom had been doing all morning. Or come back later.

I was too busy trying to cry it out in my bed before I had to pick up my kids tonight. I didn’t want them to see how devastated I was, even after I had the whole weekend to grieve. This breakup was tearing me apart even more than the divorce had.

Leaving Caleb had felt like an inevitability. Even before I found out about the cheating, I’d sensed him pulling away, becoming less invested in me. There were the forgotten birthdays, the months that passed without flowers or even a date.

So when I found out about the cheating, it was more about my loss of identity. Realizing all I’d given to a man who wouldn’t remain faithful to me. Wondering which parts of me weren’t good enough to earn fidelity.

And mourning the life I’d dreamed of having with my kids. Grieving for my children, the loss of a cohesive family unit, a mom and a dad who were home at night.

But this heartbreak? It was different.

Because I’d let myself love Gage Griffen with every broken piece of me. I’d loved him despite every worry that love wasn’t in my cards. Despite every fear that this relationship would end too, taking just another person away from me and my kids.

And yet... that love wasn’t enough to keep him here. Because his first priority was his business and the people he served. And me and my kids? We were second place to another mistress.

He’d left us all. Because he’d met my kids, and I’d seen the way he looked at them. Like he would do anything for them. He never judged Andrew for his glow-in-the-dark fingernail polish, and he never tried to make Levi see him as more than a friend. And Cora... he’d treated her like the princess she wished she could be.

It was a loss for all of us, all over again.

The banging continued, louder this time, and I put a pillow over my head, trying to drown it out. Trying to drown out the thoughts of Gage too.

But then it got louder.

Seething with anger, I got up and went to the door, flinging it open, ready to tell whoever was there to go the eff away.

But Mia stood there, worry in her eyes, and before I could yell, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

I fell apart in her embrace, and she practically carried me inside to the couch, where I cried on her shoulder, saying incoherent things about Gage and heartbreak and the kids and anything else that crossed my mind. But mostly I cried as she smoothed her hand over my hair, saying, “I’m here” over and over and over again until the tears finally subsided.

My phone went off with yet another message, and I pulled it out of my pocket.

“Your mom said you aren’t answering the phone!” Mia accused. “This would have been easier if you’d just texted me back.”

“I still have to check that nothing is wrong with the kids.” But the message on the screen made my heart sink.

Pascale: Photos are in your inbox.

Looking over my shoulder, Mia said, “Oh, Farrah, don’t do that to yourself...”

But it was too late. I was already clicking through to my email, where his message was at the top. A link to an online gallery with all the pictures from the photo shoot.

The first one I saw had a fresh wave of tears spilling down my cheeks.

Gage and me in bath robes, mine slipped down one shoulder while he kissed it gently. Then Gage and me in bed, reading magazines side by side. Us jumping on the bed together. Running down the hallway in sock-clad feet.

And then the ones of our family together hit me even harder.

Cora and Gage sitting on the bed, a smorgasbord of room service spread around them. Gage and Levi giving each other a look while Andrew and Cora danced together. My mom reaching up and patting Gage’s cheek while he smiled down at her.

Pascale hadn’t just snapped stock photos for the sake of filling a frame.

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