One Night With A Mysterious Billionaire (The Heiress's Revenge)-Chapter 69: you are afraid of what it means

"There is no need for you to keep trying to placate me or remain in my good graces. From now on, you are not to appear in front of me again, especially in private settings like this."

His words fell like a final verdict.

"Is there no way we can salvage this, Raymond?" Lena asked softly, throwing away the last bit of caution she had been holding onto.

Her voice trembled slightly despite her effort to remain composed.

"I promise I will never mention love in front of you again. Just... don’t end the contract."

The last part of her sentence came out as nothing more than a whisper, almost lost in the quiet tension that filled the room.

Raymond simply shook his head.

"Too late. You could have thought about that before breaching our agreement."

His response was short and merciless.

"Refrain from calling me by my name. We are not close," Raymond added coldly, his eyes completely lacking any warmth.

Those words seemed to strike Lena harder than anything else he had said.

For a brief moment, silence stretched between them.

Then Lena slowly straightened her back, lifting her head high as if gathering what little dignity she had left. She forced the tears threatening to spill from her eyes to retreat, refusing to cry in front of him.

"Alright, Mr. Black," she said quietly.

"I will do well to remember your instructions and stay out of your way."

She paused for a moment before adding with forced calmness,

"Do have a good life."

Raymond did not bother looking at her again as she turned her back and walked away. Her footsteps were steady, but the stiffness in her posture betrayed the storm raging inside her.

Damon stood there in complete shock.

He had been silently listening to their entire confrontation, and he could hardly believe what he had just witnessed.

His mind struggled to process everything that had happened in front of him.

Over and over again, the same questions echoed in his head.

When?

How?

And why?

Which, in Damon’s mind, all translated to the same confusing thought.

When did this happen?

How did it happen?

And most importantly... Why did it happen?

The Raymond he knew would never push Lena away like this.

Yet the scene he had just witnessed told an entirely different story.

"Explain yourself, Raymond," Damon demanded after witnessing the most unbelievable scene happen right in front of him.

"There is nothing to explain. It is how you heard it, we are done," Raymond responded nonchalantly.

"I can’t believe you, man," Damon said exasperatedly. "How did you become like this?" He raised his hand up and down in disbelief.

"When did you become this unfeeling?" Damon gawked at him, utterly stunned.

Raymond ignored him and opened a new bottle before looking at him again. Then he said the most heartless and unbelievable thing Damon was not expecting to hear.

"She brought it on herself. She could have just stuck to the contract and all would be alright."

Damon stared at him, completely dumbfounded. For a moment, he wondered if the alcohol had finally gotten to Raymond’s head, because the man standing in front of him did not look like the same person he had known for years.

"Let me get this straight," Damon said slowly. "You are breaking up with her because she fell in love with you, correct?"

Raymond simply nodded his head, his brow raised as if saying obviously, what else could be the reason?

Damon scoffed, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I’m ashamed of you. To think you almost lost your sanity because Cynthia left you for your brother. I would expect you to not do the same thing to someone else,especially not in this manner."

Raymond tried to say something. "I... I told her—"

"No, I don’t want to hear it," Damon cut him off sharply. "To think I warned you about this damn contract and you still went ahead with it. And now someone is hurt, just like I warned."

Raymond squinted his eyes, surprised that Damon was taking Lena’s side. Damon rarely involved himself in matters like this, and for him to suddenly become this serious because of somebody else really brought out an ugly thought in Raymond’s mind.

Something flickered in his eyes and he scowled.

"Why are you defending her, Damon? And don’t tell me it is because she is hurt or looks pitiful."

"I’m not defending her because it is her," Damon replied calmly. "I would have still done it if it were someone else."

Raymond stood up, irritation marring his face.

"Tell me something, Damon. Did her doe eyes do it for you? Or is it her pitiful look?" He sneered mockingly. "Did it ignite a fiery urge in you to protect her?"

He suddenly laughed hysterically, the sound echoing bitterly in the room.

"Are you maybe interested in her?"

Damon stared at him in shock.

"You are insane and drunk at the same time," he said flatly, shaking his head. "And I will pretend I did not just hear what you said."

"Why are you still trying to pretend when your secret is out in the open?" Raymond shot back coldly.

"You can have her for all I care. She is just someone I used to pass time with, and now I’m done with her."

Damon’s expression hardened instantly.

"Well, I won’t stay here even for a minute and let you insult me and say things you would later regret."

He paused, staring straight into Raymond’s eyes before speaking again.

"But I do know one thing, and that is you are afraid because you actually love her back. I can see the fear in your eyes.

You are pushing her away because you feel like she doesn’t deserve you, and that is where you are wrong."

Raymond remained silent, his jaw tightening.

"Open up and tell her everything," Damon continued firmly.

"And I know she would not leave you like Cynthia did, which I’m sure is the cause of your fear. Not everyone is like Cynthia."

Damon sighed softly.

"You have a good woman there, Raymond. I can actually see your eyes and face light up whenever you are around her."

His voice lowered slightly, carrying an unusual sincerity.

"Don’t lose your light because you are afraid of harnessing it."

Damon patted him on the back before he left without saying anything more, the door closing behind him with a quiet thud that echoed through the silent room.

Raymond remained standing there for a long moment.

Then he suddenly palmed his hands over his face as he screamed into them, the sound muffled but filled with frustration and pain.

Meanwhile, Lena got home and began to pack her things, just the few things she had come with.

Her back hunched slightly as she moved around the room, quietly placing her belongings into her bag.

As she packed, memories of how Raymond had suddenly come into her life flooded her mind one after another.

A bitter smile slowly spread across her face.

She always knew this day would come.

But she never imagined it would come this early.

She hit her chest continuously as big drops of tears flowed freely from her eyes. Each sob tore through her chest like a blade, the pain too overwhelming to contain. All the memories rushed back at once, crashing into her heart like relentless waves.

She could have known.

When she first met Raymond, a billionaire, a man far above her reach, she should have realized that he was simply too good to be true.

Someone like him should never have crossed paths with someone like her, yet he did. And foolishly, she held on to that small miracle with everything she had.

But he had shown her kindness when no one else did.

That was what made it so hard to let go.

She should have known it would end like this.

As she got to the closet, her hands seamlessly touched the clothes hanging inside, her fingers brushing against the expensive fabrics one by one.

The faint scent of Raymond’s cologne still lingered in the room, making the memories blur together with her tears.

Each piece of clothing reminded her of a moment they had shared, moments that now felt like cruel illusions.

Her legs suddenly buckled beneath her weight and she dropped to the floor, her body collapsing helplessly as loud wails escaped her lips. Her heart felt like it was being crushed inside her chest, threatening to shatter completely from the unbearable ache.

When she had lost Evans, it wasn’t this bad.

It didn’t hurt this much.

Back then, the pain had been dull and distant, something she could eventually breathe through. But this... this felt like someone had ripped her heart out and left her bleeding on the floor.

She did not know how long had passed before exhaustion finally consumed her. Still sitting in the same position on the cold floor, she slowly drifted into sleep, her eyes swollen and stained with tears.

When she woke up the next morning, her entire body screamed in pain from scrunching in the same position throughout the night. Her neck felt stiff, her back sore, and her head heavy.

For a moment she simply sat there, staring blankly ahead as reality slowly settled back into her mind.

Then she stood up.

Silently, she packed most of her things and took a bath. Her face was still puffed from too much crying, the redness around her eyes impossible to hide.

She put on her big black goggles and quietly left the building, leaving all the memories it held behind her.

Unbeknownst to her, in another room facing the gate, someone stood silently by the window.