Bought by My Billionaire Ex

Chapter 2

I turned around stiffly.

The cold overhead light fell across my face.

The moment Arthur saw me clearly, he went still.

I didn't wait for him to say anything.

I turned and hurried away, slipping into the staff locker room before locking the door behind me.

Outside, everything stayed quiet.

With who he was now, Arthur wouldn't make a scene in a place like this.

I leaned against the door and listened to my own ragged breathing. Cold sweat soaked through the back of my uniform.

At two in the morning, I changed into my faded old coat and left through the back alley.

The bus stop was two blocks away.

The winter wind cut straight through my collar.

Five years ago, I had never waited for a night bus in this city. Back then, I was the sheltered daughter of a wealthy family, the kind of girl who always had a driver waiting outside.

Arthur, on the other hand, had been a poor student who had to calculate whether he could afford a proper meal.

The day his grandmother was admitted to the ICU, the hospital issued its final payment notice.

Arthur had nowhere left to turn.

He was desperate enough to look into selling plasma.

I stopped him.

I placed a check in front of him, already filled out with an amount large enough to cover everything, and said with all the arrogance of a girl who had never lost anything, "Be my boyfriend. This money is yours."

That was how I bought him.

That was how I dragged him into my world.

For a long time, he stayed beside me with quiet humiliation.

Then my family collapsed overnight.

Debt collectors showed up at the gates of our estate every day. My father broke down and ended up in the hospital.

And Arthur, on that same day, had just received an offer from one of the top tech companies in the country.

His future had finally opened.

I couldn't become the thing that ruined him.

So I wore the most expensive dress I owned and asked him to meet me by the artificial lake on campus.

"I'm tired of you," I said, looking straight into his eyes. "Let's break up."

He stood there without saying a word.

The next day, I changed every number, every account, every possible way he could reach me.

Then I disappeared from his life.

At the bus stop, the digital sign blinked red.

Ten minutes until the night bus.

A black sedan suddenly pulled up to the curb, its headlights glaring so brightly that I had to turn away.

The tires scraped against the pavement as the car stopped.

The door opened.

Arthur stepped out.

He strode through the cold wind and stopped in front of me.

"Five years." His voice was low, rough around the edges. "Where the hell have you been?"

I gripped the pockets of my coat and avoided his eyes.

"Living somewhere else," I said calmly.

"Living somewhere else?" His gaze dropped to my worn canvas shoes, then to the stains on my old coat. "Like this?"

The passenger door opened.

Beatrice stepped out in high heels.

Clearly, she had come with him.

"Arthur, you ran out without even taking your coat—"

She stopped when she saw me.

Her eyes traveled over me, pausing on my faded coat. Then she gave a soft laugh.

"Well," she said, walking to Arthur's side as if that was where she belonged. "If it isn't Chloe."

Arthur didn't look at her.

His eyes remained fixed on me.

Beatrice opened her designer bag, took out a checkbook, and wrote down a number with quick, elegant strokes.

"For old times' sake." She tore the check free and held it out between two fingers, her tone drenched in pity. "Buy yourself a decent coat. If the paparazzi catch you wandering around like this, people might think Arthur mistreats his exes."

The wind made the check flutter.

I looked at her hand.

Then I lifted my eyes to Arthur.

He stood there and did nothing to stop her.

I didn't take the check.

"No, thank you." My voice stayed steady as I looked at Arthur. "I'm getting married soon. My husband can buy me a coat."

Arthur's body went rigid.

The night bus pulled up beside the curb.

The doors opened.

I didn't look at either of them again. I turned, boarded the bus, and sat in the last row.

As the bus pulled away, I looked through the fogged window.

Arthur was still standing at the stop, motionless in the winter wind.