THE BILLIONAIRE WHO RUNIED ME

The laughter is what breaks me. It was not the exhaustion dragging through my bones or the heels cutting into my skin. It was not even the suffocating weight of a life I never chose. It was the laughter. I froze just inside the penthouse, my hand still on the door as Julian’s voice drifts down the hallway, low and smooth, the same voice he used on me once. “You’re incredible,” he murmurs. “Tonight. Just you and me.” My stomach drops. No. No, no, n… Something sharp twists in my chest as I move before I can stop myself, heels clicking against marble like gunfire. Each step burns, each breath tight and jagged. By the time I reach the living room, he was still smiling on the phone. He was f*****g cheating on me, again. “Julian.” My voice slices through the air. He turns slowly, completely unbothered, like I’ve just interrupted a casual conversation instead of catching him. The smirk on his face doesn’t fade. If anything….it deepens. “Ariana,” he says smoothly. “You’re home early.” My fingers curl into fists. “Who were you talking to?” He ends the call without even glancing at the screen, like she doesn’t matter like I don’t matter. “It was just business,” he says. The lie is effortless. That’s what hurts the most. I laugh, but it sounds broken, sharp, nothing like me. “Business?” I step closer, my chest heaving. “Do you think I’m stupid? I heard you.” His gaze flicks over me, bored and annoyed. “You’re being dramatic again.” Again? The word hits harder than anything else. Like this is a pattern and I’m the problem. Something inside me snaps. “Dramatic?” I repeat, my voice shaking. “You’re standing in our home, flirting with another woman, and I’m being dramatic?” “Our home?” He chuckles, low and cruel. “Let’s not pretend, Ariana.” My breath catches. “You signed the contract,” he continues, stepping closer, his voice dropping into something colder. “This marriage was never about love.” The words land like a slap. I knew that. I always knew that but hearing it said out loud? It shatters something in me anyway. “Then what is it about?” I whisper. “Power, our image and legacy.” His lips curve slightly. “Things you have never been very good at maintaining.” My vision blurs. For a second, I can’t breathe. Five years…..Five years of playing the perfect wife, smiling for cameras and standing beside a man who never once looked at me like I mattered. And this? This is what I get? “I’m leaving,” I say suddenly. The words come out steadily. Julian raises an eyebrow, amused. “Leaving?” “Yes.” “Where?” he asks lazily. “To cry? To drink? Or to pretend you have a life outside of this marriage?” Something dark flickers in my chest. “I’d rather have nothing,” I say quietly, “than stay here with you.” For the first time… his expression tightens. Just slightly but it’s enough. I turn before he can respond, grabbing my bag with shaking hands and heading for the door. “Ariana.” I don’t stop. “Don’t make a scene.” I laugh under my breath Because it was too late. The door slams behind me. ******* The city hits me like a punch. The cold air with blinding lights. The noise, so much noise, but none of it is louder than the chaos inside my head. I walked. I don’t know where I’m going, and I don’t care. I just need to get out. Out of that penthouse and out of that marriage. A neon sign flickers ahead. It was a bar. I push inside without thinking. The musicI was loud, the air thick with alcohol and smoke. No one looked at me twice and for once, I’m grateful. I slide onto a stool. “Something strong,” I told the bartender. He didn't ask anymore questions as he dropped the drink in front of me. The first drink burns while the second numbs, by the third, I can almost forget the sound of Julian’s voice in my head. Almost. I drank until time slipped and I could feel the world tilting. And when I stumble back outside, the night was quiet and it felt wrong. But I ignored it. I barely make it a few steps before I feel it. It was like someone was watching me. I’m not alone. My mind tells me as I look around. A shadow moves from the alley ahead and my breath stops. Then the person steps into the light. He was tall, had broad shoulders, and his grin slow and predatory. “You look lost, darling.” he says. Every instinct in my body screams danger. “I’m not,” I snapped, trying to step around him. He blocks me easily. My heartbeat skipped a beat. “Relax,” he murmurs, moving closer. “I just want to help.” The smell of him, cheap cologne and something disgusting, turns my stomach. “Back off,” I warned, shoving his arm. But he doesn't budge. Instead, he laughs. “Don’t struggle,” he says softly. “It’ll only make this harder.” Fear slams into me, real fear. My body goes rigid, heart pounding so hard it hurts… “Stop.” The voice cuts through the night like a blade and we both freeze. The man in front of me stiffens. Slowly… another figure steps out of the shadows behind him. He was Tall, f*****g handsome and look so much more dangerous than the man in front of me. The air around us shifts. Even in my hazy state, I could feel it. The power coming out of this man. The man in front of me curses under his breath, shoving me aside as he turns. I stumbled…and strong arms caught me before I hit the ground. “Are you okay?” the stranger asks, his voice low, steady. I try to answer, but nothing comes out. My head spins as I look up at him…and for a second… something about him feels familiar. Then, we heard a click. We both turn. The man from before is back. This time… with a gun. “Don’t move.”