Stuck With A Billionaire

7 Lilliana

T

he rain kept pouring, each drop pounding against the windowpane as if demanding to be let in. The apartment was filled with a warmth that the storm outside couldn't quench, the flickering candles casting soft shadows over Y/n's face. She looked different in this light. Her strong, assured demeanor softened, making her resemble the girl She once was—a girl who had to grow up too fast.

The room was quiet but for the sound of the rain. Y/n's revelation had added a new layer to our complicated history, and I couldn't help but recall the young, brilliant kid who'd been my first real friend. A kid who had lost her parents far too young and was thrown into a world She was ill-equipped to navigate. The rain tapped gently on the window pane, the rhythm oddly soothing in its persistence.

Y/n's presence in my apartment was like a current of electricity, the space suddenly feeling much smaller than it ever had before.

She looked around, her gaze settling on a photo of me and her and Sean from middle school on my bookshelf. The memory of what we once shared hung heavy in the air, further complicated by the recent rumors surrounding her.

Unable to keep my thoughts to myself any longer, I blurted out, "I saw the news, Y/n. About the scandal. How could you get involved in something like that?"

Her eyes darkened, her jaw set. For a brief moment, the hurt in her eyes was unmistakable. But then she squared her shoulders and met my gaze. "I didn't get involved in the scam, Lily. I discovered it."

I raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "So you're saying the media's got it all wrong? That seems unlikely."

She leaned in closer, her voice filled with restrained emotion. "I was the one who found out about the financial fraud happening within the company. Senior executives, people I trusted, were manipulating the system for their own gain. When I found out, I couldn't turn a blind eye. So I reported it."

I eyed her warily. "But the news says you were a part of it. That you profited before turning them in."

Max ran a hand through her hair, frustration evident. "Yes, because those same executives tried to drag me down with them. They fabricated evidence, made it look like I was involved. But all of it...all of it was a lie. They wanted to discredit the whistleblower."

My heart raced as the weight of her words sunk in. "Why should I believe you?"

She stepped even closer, her gaze piercing into mine. "Because you know me, Lily. You know the kind of person I was, the values I held. I might've changed in many ways over the years, but my core, my integrity, has remained intact." She placed her hand on her heart as She spoke.

I swallowed hard, memories flooding back - memories of a young Y/n standing up against bullies, always choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. The conviction in Her voice, the raw honesty in her eyes, it was all so unmistakably Y/n.

Tears welled up, not of sadness, but of relief.

"I believe you, Y/n," I whispered. I reached across the space between us, placing my hand gently on his. "Y/n, you can tell me anything. You know that right? Scandal or anything else."

She looked at my hand on her and then into my eyes, visibly wrestling with something inside her.

Finally, She sighed. "After my parents died, my life was a mess, Lily. I felt like I was spiraling, getting shuffled from one foster home to another. I couldn't control anything. And then I saw you change, grow from this gawky teenager into this incredibly beautiful young woman."

She paused, looking away as if grappling with memories She'd long suppressed.

"It scared me," She continued, her voice tinged with a vulnerability I'd never heard before. "It scared me because things were already so chaotic, and I was certain I was going to lose you too. And so, in my messed-up mind, I figured it was better to push you away on my own terms rather than wait for it to inevitably happen."