Page 54 of The Billionaire's Betrayal
"I'm going to put my things in the bedroom and I'll be right back," I murmured without looking at him, unable to meet his eyes.
When I returned, he offered me a hot drink, which I declined, preferring a simple glass of water.He served us both, and we sat around the coffee table, him on the couch and me in an armchair.He took the time to ask about my trip, although his agitation was palpable.He seemed uncomfortable, unsure of himself, in total contrast to the image of a CEO who signed contracts worth millions of euros.His eyes, fixed on me, were worried and uncertain.Finally, he spilled it out.
"I have something important to tell you," he said in a gentle voice, as if addressing an injured animal."I would like you to let me speak without interrupting, and then I'll answer all your questions."
My heart tightened, and I wrapped my arms around myself in a futile gesture of protection.I wasn't ready for what was to come.
"I don't know where to start...it concerns Audrey," he continued.
My heart sank at his words.
"At first, I admired her as one admires a very competent colleague," he explained."Until the day she made me understand that she liked me.I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would ask me to separate from her, and I thought her attraction to me would disappear with time.Then, without realizing it, I began to think about her more and more often.I enjoyed our moments together, complicit, uncomplicated.It intoxicated me, I think."
I understood what he wasn't telling me.Our relationship had become complicated.He needed the simplicity of a budding love.
"Without realizing it, I succumbed to the attraction.At first, I tried to deny it, then to convince myself I could control it.But I was wrong.When I gave in for the Australian subsidiary, the necklace, Project Hope...I was already not thinking clearly.The novelty, the thrill of the forbidden, the excitement...all of it intoxicated me."
He lowered his eyes, visibly ashamed.
"I ask for your forgiveness.I should have acted sooner, put an end to all this before it got out of hand.But it's over now.It's you I choose.That's why I've decided to separate from Audrey.Starting in January, she'll be reassigned to other projects, and I'll make sure I no longer have direct contact with her."
A silence settled, heavy, suffocating.Then the truth hit me full force.
"You have feelings for her," I breathed, my heart broken.
"I don't know...and it doesn't matter, because it's you I choose," he replied quickly.
"Of course it matters!After all, you considered leaving me for her."
"No!"he protested."How can you think that?I...For a long time, I refused to admit this attraction.I thought I could control it.Yes, I lost my head for a few days, but it's you I want.Our relationship was going through a difficult period, with these constant arguments, this distance...I was suffocating sometimes."
"So rather than talking about it, looking for solutions together, you preferred to take refuge in another woman's arms?"
"Nothing happened between us.I didn't sleep with her."
I stared at him, incredulous.
"You didn't sleep with her?"I repeated, my voice trembling.
"No, of course not!How can you imagine that!"he exclaimed, indignant.
I found it hard to believe him.The image of Audrey naked in his office haunted me, making his denials difficult to accept.A bitter laugh escaped me.
"What a bitch!"
"Stop!Don't talk about Audrey like that!"he suddenly flared up, his face flushed."You don't know her!She is..."
Anger rose in me like a devastating wave, uncontrollable.My hands were shaking so hard that I had to clench them into fists to hide their agitation.
"Loyal?Dedicated?"I cut him off."No, Tristan.The only thing she's dedicated to is the methodical destruction of our relationship.And the worst part is that you don't even see it.You're so blinded by her artifices that you don't even realize she's manipulating you, and you continue to defend her against me.Don't you see how much you're hurting me?"
A traitorous tear rolled down my cheek.I wiped it away angrily with the back of my hand, furious at my own weakness.The fact that he defended Audrey against me broke me more than anything else.I looked at him, my throat knotted with sobs I refused to let escape, rage rising in me like a storm.
"Tell me, Tristan, do you think your precious Audrey would still be so attracted to you if you weren't the CEO of a multinational company?"
My voice was as sharp as a blade.
"Do you think she would have shown the same determination to seduce you if you had neither power nor fortune?Or...do you really believe she loves you sincerely?That she finds you...wonderful?"
