Tangled with the Billionaire

Chapter4:Unanswered Questions

The guest room door clicked shut behind Ava.

Only then did she release the breath she had been holding.

The silence pressed in from every corner of the room. It should have been comforting, yet it only made the thoughts in her head louder.

She dropped onto the edge of the bed, staring at her trembling hands.

What on earth had just happened?

Hours ago, she had walked out of a stranger's hotel room, convinced she would never see him again. Now, fate had brought her right back under his roof.

Of all the people in the world...

Why him?

She closed her eyes.

His face appeared immediately.

The same unreadable expression.

The same steady gaze.

The same quiet confidence that had unsettled her from the moment she'd approached him at the gala.

Yet downstairs...

He had acted as though nothing had happened.

Not a single word.

Not even a flicker of recognition.

Had he truly forgotten?

Or was he simply pretending?

"What were you thinking, Ava?" she muttered under her breath.

She had never been reckless.

She wasn't the type to approach strangers.

She wasn't the type to let heartbreak cloud her judgment.

Yet one painful evening had been enough to undo years of careful decisions.

Heat crept into her cheeks at the memory.

She could still remember the courage she'd borrowed from heartbreak and desperation.

The boldness.

The stranger who had accepted without asking for explanations.

Ava squeezed her eyes shut.

If only she could erase the entire night.

A gentle knock interrupted her thoughts.

She quickly straightened, brushing away the emotions from her face.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly.

Evelyn stepped inside, balancing two steaming cups of tea.

"I thought you might need this."

Ava accepted one with a grateful smile.

"Thank you."

Her mother settled into the armchair opposite her, wrapping both hands around her own cup.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The quiet between them wasn't uncomfortable.

Finally, Evelyn spoke.

"I still can't believe he agreed."

Ava looked down at the tea swirling gently inside her cup.

"I thought he'd refuse."

"After all these years... I wasn't sure he'd even open the door."

Ava looked up.

"You really haven't spoken to him since he left?"

Evelyn slowly shook her head.

"He was still a teenager. He wanted to live with his father, and I thought... perhaps that was what was best for him."

A shadow crossed her face.

"Time passed. Pride got in the way. Before I knew it, years had gone by."

Ava reached across the small table and gently squeezed her mother's hand.

"We're here now."

Evelyn smiled.

"Yes."

Another silence settled between them.

Ava stared into her cup before quietly saying, "I don't want us to become a burden."

Evelyn’s brows drew together.

"You aren't."

"We are."

Ava lifted her head.

"We're living in someone else's home because we have nowhere else to go."

"Ava..."

"I mean it, Mum."

Ava spoke again

"As soon as everything settles, I'll find a job."

Her mother opened her mouth to object.

Ava continued before she could.

"I have a degree in Business and Finance. There has to be something I can do."

"I don't care if it's filing paperwork, assisting in an office, or even helping around the house. I just... I need to earn my place here."

Evelyn’s lips parted, but no words came.

Then she reached across the table again.

"You've always carried too much on your shoulders."

Ava gave a small shake of her head.

"I just don't want anyone thinking we're here for charity."

"They won't."

"I'll make sure of it."

A sharp knock sounded at the door.

Both women turned.

The butler stood in the hallway.

"Mrs. Hayes," he said. "Dinner will be served shortly."

"Thank you," Evelyn replied.

After he disappeared, she stood and smoothed the front of her blouse.

"Come on."

Ava nodded.

"I'll be down in a minute."

When the door closed once more, she remained seated.

The room suddenly felt quiet again.

Too quiet.

No matter how hard she tried, one question refused to leave her mind.

Did Cassian remember?

—

At the other end of the mansion, the study was silent except for the ticking of an antique clock.

Cassian stood by the window, his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.

A knock sounded.

Victor stepped inside.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Cassian didn't turn around.

After years of working together, he knew better than to interrupt the silence.

Finally, he spoke.

"You've been standing there for quite a while."

Victor followed Cassian's line of sight toward the guest wing.

"It's her, isn't it?"

Cassian's jaw tightened.

"I recognised her the moment she walked through the door."

Victor saw coming.

"I thought you would."

Another pause lingered between them.

Then Victor asked again.

"Are you going to tell her?"

Cassian's eyes remained fixed on the fading light beyond the window.

"Not yet."

Victor lowered his gaze.

"She still doesn't remember?"

The room fell silent once more.

Cassian had spent years wondering if he would ever see the girl who had once changed the course of his life.

He had imagined countless reunions.

None of them looked like this.

And none of them ended with her standing in his home... completely unaware that fate had already bound their lives together long before either of them realised it.

For years, Cassian had wondered whether fate would ever bring her back to him.

When it finally did, she stood beneath his roof as a stranger, carrying no memory of the day their lives had become forever intertwined.

She looked at him and saw nothing.

He looked at her and saw the girl he had never forgotten.

She remembered nothing but he remembered everything.