One Night With My Ex's Billionaire Brother

What Nora Knows 2

I couldn’t go home.

There was a picture on my fridge. It was one of Jason and me, on a rooftop, laughing at something I couldn’t even remember anymore.

I’d walked past it every day for three weeks.

Told myself I’d take it down.

Just not today.

Today turned into three weeks.

I couldn’t look at it right now.

Couldn’t stand in a room where that version of me still existed like it hadn’t already been ruined.

I stood up too fast and just walked.

Didn’t think about where until I was already there.

---

The library.

It was big, quiet and safe in that way places are when no one is looking at you.

I sat near a window and opened my laptop.

For a second, I just stared at the black screen, thinking about the way my life changed completely within few weeks.

I subconsciously touched my still flat stomach, then I typed:

Diana Voss.

She came up immediately.

She's a real person.

That was the first thing.

Not fake. Not inflated. Not one of those people who exist only on panels and LinkedIn posts.

There was interviews, articles, a TED talk I watched for maybe four minutes.

She was sharp.

Not the performative kind. Not the kind that pauses for effect.

Just… fast and clear,like she didn’t waste time explaining herself to people who couldn’t keep up.

I exited the video.

Opened another tab.

Voss Media Group. Cole Industries.

Results loaded.

Licensing deal. Two years ago.

Renewal in progress.

Adversarial.

That word sat there.

I clicked into a trade article. Skimmed.

Then another.

A footnote in a filing.

Cole restricting terms.

Voss pushing back.

I leaned back in my chair.

Okay.

So this wasn’t random.

She didn’t just… find me.

She found me because I was suddenly—

No.

Because I was useful.

The thought landed clean.

And then something in me hesitated.

What if I was wrong?

What if—

No.

I closed the tab harder than I needed to.

Didn’t like that flicker of doubt.

Didn’t trust it either.

---

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Alexander.

I clicked it, it was just information.

Document number. Estate name. Filing details. Everything my lawyer would need.

No explanation.

No “we need to talk.”

No control.

I stared at it longer than I meant to.

Then saved it.

I didn't reply to the text

My finger hovered for half a second.

Then I locked my phone.

---

It rang almost immediately.

Jason.

I let it ring.

Watched his name flash.

Let it go almost to the end before I picked up.

“Nora.”

She was already there in the lobby when I arrived.

The gllass was clean and quiet in that expensive way.

She stood near the elevators.

Exactly where I’d expect someone like her to stand.

Controlled and waiting.

But she wasn’t alone.

I slowed.

Something felt similar about the person and the coat.

I frowned.

Took another step.

The woman turned slightly.

And then—

Oh.

Oh.

The clinic.

My stomach dropped.

Because the woman standing next to Diana Voss—

was the one who had taken my information that morning.

And this time, she didn’t pretend not to know me.

Patricia.

The nurse from the clinic.

The one who had handed me water.

Asked if I had an emergency contact.

Nodded when I said, it’s just me.

Now she stood in a corporate lobby like she had never been anything else.

My pulse didn’t spike.

It slowed.

That was worse.

I looked at Diana.

Then at Patricia.

Then back at Diana.

“Start talking,” I said.