BILLONIA ROMANCE

I DUMPED MY FIANCE FOR HIS BILLONIA FRIEND 4

to cooperate.”

I swallowed hard, my voice breaking. “Please… I don’t know anything.”

He tilted his head, studying me with a cold smile. “That’s where you’re wrong, Bella. You know everything. And tonight…”

He leaned closer, his voice dropping into a whisper.

“…I’m going to find out just how much Adrian Oliver is willing to lose to keep you alive.”

Back at Adrian’s Penthouse

Adrian sat on the floor, blood on his knuckles, his chest heaving with ragged breaths.

Daniel stood in the corner, pale and silent.

“She’s gone,” Adrian growled, slamming his fist into the glass table, shattering it instantly.

“You should’ve told her the truth from the start,” Daniel said quietly, his eyes unreadable.

Adrian glared at him, suspicion sharp in his gaze. “How did Valerio know where she was, Daniel? How?”

Daniel hesitated just a fraction of a second. But it was enough.

Adrian’s expression darkened like a brewing storm.

“You leaked her location,” he whispered.

Daniel didn’t deny it.

Instead, he smiled faintly and said, “I warned her, Adrian. I warned her what being with you would cost. Now, maybe she’ll finally see.”

Adrian lunged at him, grabbing him by the collar, shoving him against the wall.

“If anything happens to her, Daniel, I swear”

“You’ll what?” Daniel sneered, his calmness unnerving. “Valerio isn’t the real enemy here, Adrian. You are.”

Cliffhanger Ending

Nina is kidnapped by Valerio’s men.

Adrian discovers Daniel’s betrayal … but Daniel’s motives remain unclear.

Valerio reveals he’s using Nina as leverage to break Adrian.

Adrian is pushed to his breaking point, setting up a high-stakes rescue mission.

CHAPTER 13— Blood and Vengeance

Nina’s POV

The cold seeped into my bones.

Somewhere above me, water dripped steadily, the sound echoing in the dim room. My wrists burned from the tight ropes, and my throat felt raw from screaming.

I didn’t know how long I’d been here. Minutes? Hours? Days?

But one thing was certain: Adrian would come for me.

I clung to that belief like a lifeline.

The door creaked open, and Valerio stepped in, his tailored suit pristine, his expression maddeningly calm.

“Sleeping beauty awakens,” he said smoothly, his Italian accent curling around every word.

I glared at him, summoning every ounce of defiance I had left. “Adrian will kill you.”

He chuckled a low, rich sound that sent chills down my spine. “Ah, amore… Adrian Oliver can’t kill me. Not unless he’s ready to watch you die first.”

He crouched down, his dark eyes glinting like sharpened obsidian.

“You see, Nina… this isn’t about you. This is about control. Adrian has something I want. And now…” He leaned in, whispering against my ear. “…I have something he wants.”

Adrian’s POV

I stood in the middle of my penthouse, my chest heaving, the broken glass from the shattered table crunching under my boots.

Daniel sat on the sofa, completely unbothered, sipping a glass of whiskey like this wasn’t my personal hell.

“You gave Valerio her location,” I said flatly.

Daniel’s smile was slow. Cold. “And what are you going to do about it?”

I lunged forward, pinning him against the wall with one hand around his throat. “I’ll burn this entire city to the ground if anything happens to her.”

Daniel’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then burn it, Adrian. But Valerio isn’t just one man. He’s an empire. If you go after him recklessly, Nina dies. If you hesitate, Nina dies. Either way, you lose.”

I tightened my grip, my knuckles white, until Daniel’s face started turning red. Finally, I released him with a shove.

“I’m coming for her,” I growled.

Daniel rubbed his throat, coughing softly. “Then you’ll need me.”

I froze, eyes narrowing. “What?”

He straightened, fixing his suit like nothing happened. “I know where Valerio is keeping her. But if you want my help…” He hesitated, then gave me a look I couldn’t read. “…you’ll have to trust me.”

Nina’s POV

The sound of footsteps drew my attention. Two of Valerio’s men entered, one holding a syringe.

My chest tightened. “What is that?”

Valerio didn’t answer right away. He took the syringe, holding it delicately between two fingers, and smiled.

“A little insurance,” he said softly. “Something to keep you… cooperative.”

I struggled against my restraints, panic flooding me. “Don’t you dare!”

“Relax, bella,” he said, stepping closer. “This won’t kill you. But if Adrian tries anything foolish… let’s just say, he’ll regret it.”

The needle glinted under the flickering light, and I turned my head away, biting my lip hard to keep from screaming as it pierced my skin.

Fire burned through my veins, and then my world tilted sideways.

Adrian’s POV

The black SUV screeched to a halt outside an abandoned shipping yard. The entire area was silent except for the distant hum of the ocean.

Daniel sat beside me, loading a handgun with steady hands. “You go in through the west entrance. I’ll circle around back.”

I didn’t trust him completely. But right now, I had no choice.

As I approached the massive steel doors, my earpiece buzzed with Daniel’s voice.

“Two guards at the east wing. Take them out quietly. Valerio’s office is on the top floor.”

I slipped inside, my steps silent. Within seconds, I was a shadow, moving through darkness, eliminating anyone who stood in my way.

Every hallway.

Every locked door.

Every breath I took… brought me closer to Nina.

Finally, I reached the top floor.

I kicked the office door open and froze.

Nina was slumped against the wall, ropes around her wrists, her head hanging low.

“Adrian…” she whispered weakly when she saw me.

Relief flooded me ,but it lasted only a second.

A gun clicked behind me.

Valerio stepped out of the shadows, calm and composed, holding a sleek black pistol aimed directly at my head.

“You came,” he said softly, his lips curling into a cruel smile. “Just like I knew you would.”

Cliffhanger Ending

Nina has been injected with something dangerous.

Adrian finally reaches her but walks straight into Valerio’s trap.

Daniel’s loyalty remains unclear. Is he truly helping, or is this another betrayal?

CHAPTER 14— The Devil’s Bargain

Adrian’s POV

The click of Valerio’s gun echoed in the silence, a sound sharper than the ocean breeze seeping through the broken window behind him.

I didn’t move.

One wrong twitch, and it wouldn’t just be me it would be Nina.

“Let her go,” I said, my voice dangerously low.

Valerio tilted his head, amused. “You’re in no position to negotiate, Adrian. Drop the gun.”

I didn’t.

Daniel’s voice came through my earpiece, faint and urgent. “Adrian, stall him. I’m almost in position.”

Valerio caught the flicker of my expression and smirked. “Ah… so you brought friends. That makes this even more interesting.”

His pistol pressed harder against my temple, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long. The business, the properties, the contracts you’ve taken everything from me. So now…” He nodded toward Nina. “…I take everything from you.”

I clenched my jaw. “Touch her, and you die.”

Valerio’s dark laugh filled the room. “So dramatic. I admire that about you.”

He lowered the gun just enough to gesture toward Nina, who was barely conscious, her skin pale, her breathing shallow.

“What did you inject her with?” I demanded.

“A slow poison,” he said simply, shrugging as though he were discussing the weather. “She has maybe an hour. Unless, of course…” He dangled a small silver vial from his pocket. “…she gets the antidote. But I don’t give anything for free, Adrian.”

My fingers tightened around my weapon. “What do you want?”

His grin widened. “Simple. Sign over your entire controlling stake in Oliver Corp and she lives.”

Nina’s POV

The world tilted violently, colors blurring into shadows and sound. I heard their voices, but they sounded far away, like echoes down a long tunnel.

Adrian’s voice cut through the haze, sharp, desperate.

“Stay with me, Nina. Don’t you dare close your eyes.”

I tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. My throat burned, my chest ached, and every beat of my heart felt like fire.

Somewhere deep down, I knew one thing: if Adrian gave Valerio what he wanted, everything he’d built his company, his power, his pride would vanish.

But if he didn’t… I would die.

I wanted to scream at him not to choose me over his empire.

But I couldn’t. My body wouldn’t obey.

Adrian’s POV

The weight of the decision crushed me.

Valerio stood there, smiling like the devil himself, the vial glinting in his hand. “Time is ticking,” he said softly. “One signature, Adrian. One. And she lives.”

I lowered my weapon slightly, trying to calculate every possible outcome … then Daniel’s voice came through my earpiece again, calm, steady.

“Adrian. On my mark, drop.”

I was tense. “Are you sure about this?”

“Trust me,” Daniel said.

I hesitated. Daniel was the last person I wanted to trust… but right now, I had no choice.

Valerio stepped closer, impatience flashing in his eyes. “Choose, or she dies right here.”

I raised my hands slowly in surrender. “Fine,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I’ll sign.”

His grin widened in triumph ,just as Daniel’s voice whispered, “Now.”

I dropped.

The room exploded into chaos.

Daniel burst through the side door, gun blazing, taking down two of Valerio’s men before they even realized what happened. I rolled behind an overturned desk, firing back at the guards pouring in from the hallway.

Valerio roared in fury, dragging Nina toward the window as his shield.

“Put the gun down, Adrian, or she goes!”

I froze, my pulse hammering, the world narrowing to the sight of his arm locked around her throat, the vial still clutched in his other hand.

Daniel raised his weapon, steady as stone. “I have a clean shot.”

“You miss, she dies!” I barked.

Valerio laughed, his voice wild now. “This ends with me walking out or with her bleeding on this floor!”

For one unbearable second, time stopped.

Then a single shot cracked through the air.

Valerio’s body jerked violently, his eyes widening in shock before he crumpled to the floor, the vial rolling from his hand.

Daniel lowered his smoking gun, his face unreadable. “I don’t miss,” he said simply.

Nina’s POV

Strong arms scooped me up, and Adrian’s face swam into view, his expression raw, frantic.

“Stay with me, Nina. I’ve got you.”

I wanted to believe him. But my body felt heavy, the poison still burning through my veins.

The vial was in Daniel’s hands now. “This is it,” he said, tossing it to Adrian. “Give it to her, now!”

Adrian uncapped it and pressed it to my lips, his voice breaking as he whispered, “Drink, baby. Please.”

The liquid was bitter, but I forced it down. My chest rose and fell shakily as the burning slowly began to fade.

Adrian crushed me against his chest, his heartbeat hammering against my ear. “I thought I lost you.”

I tried to smile, but the darkness was still pulling at me. “You didn’t,” I whispered faintly. “You found me.”

And then everything went black.

Cliffhanger Ending

Valerio is dead… but the war isn’t over.

Nina’s life still hangs in the balance , the antidote might have come too late.

Daniel saved them… but his motives remain suspicious.

CHAPTER 14 — A Heart That Won’t Break

Adrian’s POV

The soft, rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room.

I sat in the private medical suite of my penthouse, my elbows on my knees, my hands buried in my hair. The city lights outside glimmered through the glass walls, mocking me with their calmness while my entire world lay motionless on the bed behind me.

Nina.

Her pale face was framed by tangled strands of hair, her lips parted slightly as she breathed shallowly beneath the oxygen mask.

The antidote was supposed to work instantly.

It didn’t.

“Why isn’t she waking up?” I snapped, my voice hoarse, directed at Dr. Harris, the best private physician money could buy.

“She suffered a massive system shock,” the doctor explained gently. “Her body’s fighting. The poison nearly shut down her organs, Adrian. She needs time.”

Time.

I’d built empires, crushed rivals, and bent entire corporations to my will, but right now, I was completely powerless.

Daniel leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, watching me with that same unreadable expression he always wore.

“You should get some rest,” he said quietly.

I shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel. “Rest? While she’s lying there fighting for her life because of your mess?”

Daniel’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “Valerio wasn’t just my enemy, Adrian. He was yours too. You knew this would get bloody.”

“You should’ve handled him before this ever reached Nina,” I growled, my voice low, dangerous. “If she dies”

“She won’t,” Daniel cut me off sharply, stepping closer. His tone softened slightly. “She can’t. You’ve gone through hell for her. Trust me when I say, Adrian… I don’t intend to let her die either.”

I stared at him, searching for cracks in his calm exterior, but there were none.

Daniel had always been an enigma too loyal at times, too ruthless at others. And saving us back there… it wasn’t like him to act without an angle.

“What do you really want, Daniel?” I asked, my voice low and steady.

He hesitated, then met my gaze. “I’ll tell you when she wakes up.”

Before I could respond, a faint, broken sound escaped Nina’s lips.

My heart stopped.

Nina’s POV

The world was heavy.

I floated somewhere between light and darkness, the weight of my own body pressing me down like stone. Voices drifted in and out Adrian’s, low and raw, calling my name over and over.

I wanted to answer him. God, I wanted to open my eyes, to tell him I was still here. But every time I tried, the pain came rushing back in my veins, the phantom echo of Valerio’s poison.

Memories blurred and fractured: his voice threatening me, Adrian’s arms catching me before I hit the ground, Daniel’s shot ringing through the chaos.

And then, for a moment, silence.

I forced my eyelids open, just barely. The room was dimly lit, but I knew instantly where I was in Adrian's penthouse.

“Adrian…” My voice was barely a whisper.

He was there instantly, kneeling by my side, his hand clutching mine as though he was afraid I’d disappear.

“God, Nina,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to my knuckles. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

I tried to smile, but my lips trembled. “You… stayed.”

“I’m never leaving you,” he said fiercely, his voice breaking.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daniel.

Something about the way he stood there calm, collected, untouched by the chaos that had nearly destroyed us made a shiver crawl down my spine.

“Why is he here?” I asked weakly, my gaze shifting between them.

Adrian hesitated. “Because he saved your life.”

Daniel gave me a small, polite nod. “We’re not done yet, Nina,” he said softly. “Valerio’s death… woke up people far worse than him.”

Adrian’s POV

Her eyelids fluttered shut again, exhausted, but the fear in my chest didn’t ease.

Daniel’s words hung in the air like smoke.

I turned to him slowly. “What do you mean ‘worse than Valerio’?”

He sighed and walked closer, lowering his voice so Nina couldn’t hear.

“Valerio wasn’t working alone,” he said grimly. “The poison, the attacks, the ambush, all of it was funded. And the people behind him?” His jaw clenched. “They don’t want your company, Adrian. They want her.”

My entire body went cold. “…Nina?”

Daniel nodded. “She’s connected to something bigger than either of us realized. And if we don’t find out why… she’ll never be safe.”

I clenched my fists, forcing my voice steady even as my pulse roared in my ears. “Then we find them. And when we do”

Daniel’s gaze hardened. “We burn everything they love to the ground.”

Cliffhanger — Chapter 14

Nina is alive… but her recovery isn’t guaranteed.

Adrian learns Valerio wasn’t the real mastermind.

Daniel hints at a bigger conspiracy, and Nina is at the center of it.

CHAPTER 15 — Shadows in the Silence

Nina’s POV

The first thing I felt was the cold.

Not the kind of chill that comes from air conditioning, but the kind that seeps into your bones, heavy, suffocating, unshakable. When I opened my eyes, the city skyline stared back at me through the massive glass windows of Adrian’s penthouse.

It was night.

The distant hum of traffic blended with the steady beep of the heart monitor beside me. I pushed myself upright slowly, biting back a groan as a sharp pain lanced through my ribs.

Adrian wasn’t in the room. Neither was Daniel.

For the first time since the chaos with Valerio, I was alone… and something about that terrified me more than anything else.

I swung my legs off the bed, ignoring the weakness in my body, and padded barefoot toward the hallway. That’s when I heard them.

Voices.

I froze, pressing my back against the wall as Adrian’s deep voice carried faintly from the study down the hall.

“She doesn’t know yet,” he was saying. “And I don’t want her to. Not until we’re sure.”

A pause. Then Daniel’s calm, measured tone followed. “You’re underestimating her, Adrian. Nina deserves to know the truth. Keeping her in the dark is dangerous.”

Truth? My breath hitched.

Adrian’s reply came sharp, almost desperate. “She’s been through enough! If she finds out what really happened that night” He stopped suddenly, as though biting back the rest of his sentence.

That night? What night?

I leaned closer, careful not to make a sound, my heart pounding so loudly I was afraid they’d hear it.

Daniel sighed. “Secrets have a way of destroying people, Adrian. And if she learns it from anyone but us…” His voice hardened. “It’ll break her.”

My knees went weak. I had to press my hand against the wall to steady myself.

What could they possibly be hiding from me?

Before I could move, a sharp creak from beneath my foot betrayed me.

Silence.

Then Adrian’s voice, dangerously low, came from just behind the door.

“Nina… come in.”

Adrian’s POV

She stepped into the study slowly, her face pale, her eyes still clouded with exhaustion ,but also suspicion.

“How long,” she whispered, “were you going to keep lying to me?”

I ran a hand over my jaw, frustration burning through me. “It’s not lying,” I said tightly. “It’s… protection.”

“Protection from what?” she snapped, her voice breaking. “From the poison? From Valerio? Or from something worse that you haven’t bothered to tell me?”

I hesitated, glancing at Daniel. For the first time, his mask of calm cracked , just barely.

Daniel stepped forward. “Nina, there are things about Valerio… and about you… that you need to know. But once you hear them, there’s no going back.”

Her brows furrowed, confusion replacing anger. “About me?”

I clenched my fists, struggling against the urge to pull her into my arms and shield her from all of this.

“Nina,” I said softly, forcing my voice steady, “Valerio wasn’t after me. He wasn’t after my company.”

Her lips parted. “…Then who?”

Daniel’s gaze locked on hers. “You.”

The color drained from her face.

Nina’s POV

“Me?” My voice cracked on the word. “I don’t… I don’t even know him. Why would he come after me?”

Daniel’s jaw tightened, and he shot Adrian a look, a silent warning, a hesitation.

“Because,” Adrian said finally, his voice low, “you’re connected to someone from Valerio’s past. Someone powerful. Someone dangerous.”

I stared at him, my breath shallow. “Who?”

Neither of them answered.

Instead, Daniel walked to the massive mahogany desk, pulling out a slim black file. He slid it across to me. “This was taken two weeks ago,” he said flatly.

Inside was a single photo grainy, but clear enough to recognize myself in it. I was walking out of a café near my office.

Beneath it, scrawled in red ink, were four chilling words:

“She looks like her.”

My stomach dropped. “What does this mean?”

Daniel’s voice was ice when he spoke. “It means Valerio mistook you for someone else at first. But once he found out who you were connected to… you became his real target.”

My fingers trembled around the photo. “Connected to who?” I demanded.

Daniel hesitated, then finally said the name that would change everything.

“Your mother.”

Cliffhanger — Chapter 15

Adrian and Daniel are hiding something critical about Nina’s past.

Valerio wasn’t the true enemy, he was just the beginning.

Nina’s mother is somehow connected to a powerful, dangerous secret.

Someone is still watching Nina… and they aren’t done yet.

CHAPTER 16 — The Ghosts of Her Past

Nina’s POV

“My… my mother?”

The words slipped from my lips like a fragile whisper. I stared at Adrian, then at Daniel, searching their faces for any hint that this was some cruel misunderstanding. But their silence told me otherwise.

I shook my head. “That’s impossible. My mother died when I was eight. She was a quiet, ordinary, harmless schoolteacher. She couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Valerio or… or any of this!”

Adrian stepped forward, his jaw tense. “Nina… your mother wasn’t who you think she was.”

I blinked at him, stunned into silence.

Daniel exhaled heavily, leaning against the desk. “Before you were born, your mother was involved with a man named Leonardo Vescari Valerio’s older brother.”

I froze.

Leonardo Vescari.

The name sent a chill crawling down my spine, though I’d never heard it before.

Daniel continued, his voice low, deliberate. “Leonardo was the heir to one of Europe’s most powerful private conglomerates… and one of the most feared criminal empires beneath it. When your mother left him, she didn’t just walk away. She stole something.”

My breath caught. “Stole… what?”

Adrian’s gaze met mine, heavy and unyielding. “A coded ledger. The kind of document entire governments would kill for.”

I stumbled back, shaking my head violently. “No. No, that doesn’t make sense. My mom raised me in a two-bedroom apartment. She worked double shifts at a diner to keep us afloat. If she had something so valuable, we wouldn’t have been living like that!”

Adrian softened his tone but didn’t step closer. “She was hiding, Nina. She gave up everything to protect you.”

I wanted to scream, to deny everything but deep inside, pieces were starting to click together. The unexplained late-night phone calls. The day she pulled me out of school without warning. The constant moving from city to city before she… died.

Except now… I wasn’t sure she was dead at all.

Adrian’s POV

Nina’s silence was louder than any words she could’ve said. I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I couldn't when the next truth was going to destroy her even more.

Daniel’s voice broke the stillness. “Nina, there’s something else.”

She looked up, her eyes already glassy. “What now?”

I exchanged a tense glance with him. This was the part I dreaded most.

Daniel hesitated, then spoke carefully. “Valerio didn’t just want the ledger. He believed your mother was still alive. And if she is… she’s the only one who knows where it is.”

The color drained from Nina’s face completely. “You’re saying… my mother… might still be alive?”

I nodded once, slowly.

Her knees buckled, and I caught her before she hit the floor. Her small frame trembled violently against me, and I hated myself for every secret I’d kept from her.

But there was no time for comfort.

Because while we were standing here unraveling the past… the danger was already moving closer.

Nina’s POV

Hours later, I lay awake in the dark, staring at the ceiling of Adrian’s penthouse.

Everything I thought I knew about my life… my mother… myself… it was all falling apart.

A soft creak came from the balcony.

I sat up instantly, my chest tightening. I tiptoed toward the curtains, pulling them back and froze.

A man dressed in black stood on the other side of the glass, his face hidden beneath a mask.

Before I could scream, he pressed a single white envelope against the window, his gloved finger tapping twice before disappearing into the shadows.

My hands shook as I tore it open. Inside was a single card.

Four words, scrawled in the same red ink as the photo Daniel had shown me earlier:

“She’s closer than you think.”

Cliffhanger — Chapter 16

Nina learns of her mother’s dark past and possible connection to Valerio’s empire.

The possibility that her mother might still be alive changes everything.

A masked intruder leaves a chilling warning: the enemy is closer than they thought.