365 days with the Billionaire

Chapter 2

Jane’s POV

“No… no. This can’t be true,” I whispered, my voice trembling as I stared at the document glowing on my laptop screen.

“Daniel loves me. There has to be an explanation for this,” I muttered, desperate to convince myself that my eyes were lying. There had to be some misunderstanding.

I stormed out of the house, my breath short and my heart pounding, clutching my phone like it held the answers to my crumbling world. I dialed Daniel over and over, but he wouldn’t pick up. My dozens of messages sat unread, unanswered.

Could it be true? Could Daniel really have done this to me? The questions swirled in my mind like a storm, each one cutting deeper than the last. Daniel was my life. He couldn’t have betrayed me. He just couldn’t.

Then I remembered we had each other’s location on Find My Phone. My fingers trembled as I opened the app. His location blinked back at me, he was at our private apartment, just a few miles away. Our favorite spot. The place we used to escape the world together.

I drove like a madwoman. My thoughts blurred, my heart screaming for this to be a mistake. But when I arrived and saw his car parked out front, alongside another car I didn’t recognize, it seemed brand new. My chest tightened. Who was here with him?

The front door was unlocked. My stomach twisted.

Just as I stepped inside, my phone rang. It was Stacy. I didn’t pick up. Instead, I sent a quick text: “Text me what you found. I can’t talk now.”

Then I heard muffled voices. One was Daniel’s. The other was a woman’s. My stomach sank. Slowly, I crept toward the bedroom, the voices growing louder with every step. The door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open just enough to see inside.

My breath caught.

There he was. Daniel. Shirtless. Holding another woman in his arms. Her face rested comfortably against his chest, like she belonged there.

“By the end of this year, we’ll finally fly out to Italy, just like we always planned,” he said, laughing softly.

“What about her though?” the girl asked, her voice quiet, almost mocking.

“Oh, please,” Daniel scoffed. “She’s clueless. Her business is drowning, and she’s probably losing her mind right now. I can imagine her face. Must be priceless.”

Clueless?

Was he talking about me?

My vision blurred. My knees went weak. I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe.

“I’ve always loved you,” Daniel continued. “It was always you. Jane’s a fool. She actually believed someone could love her. Her money and connections were all I needed. Now that we’ve drained her dry and her company is falling apart, we can finally have the life we dreamed of.”

It hit me like a train.

He had used me. Every kiss. Every promise. Every “I love you.” All a lie. A cruel, calculated game.

I stumbled backward. My shoulder hit a table. A vase shattered on the floor.

Silence.

Then hurried footsteps.

The door swung open. Daniel stood there, staring at me, his eyes wide in shock.

Everything we had. Everything I gave. The years. The trust. The love. All of it was a lie.

Just then, Stacy sent me another message. The same financial document appeared on my screen.

“What are you doing here, my love?” Daniel asked, trying to sound calm.

I heard the girl scrambling inside. My heart stopped. I stood frozen, unsure what to say, my chest rising and falling with betrayal. He had ruined me, my life, my father’s legacy, everything.

“I trusted you,” I whispered, barely audible.

“I gave you everything, and you betrayed me like this?” I cried, my voice rising with each word, tears streaming down my face.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coolly, eyes darting away. “But should we maybe do this somewhere else?”

“Shut up! You liar!” I screamed. “Have some courage for once in your life! You really want to stand there and pretend I heard wrong?”

Daniel let out a low chuckle. “Finally,” he said with a grin, “I was getting tired of playing you.”

My heart shattered. His laugh, smug and heartless, echoed in my mind. How could he stand there, laughing at the destruction he caused?

“But why?” I cried. “Why destroy something I poured my heart and soul into?”

He crossed his arms. “Look, I wish it hadn’t come to this, but right now, I’m going to have to ask you to leave my property.”

“Your property?” I shouted, eyes wide. “I bought this place with my own money!”

He smirked. “But it’s in my name. So you can take a few minutes, but get out before I call the police.”

With that, he turned and disappeared into the bedroom, shutting the door without a second thought.

He had outplayed me, ruined me, and walked away untouched.

The walls felt like they were closing in. I wanted to scream, throw something, hit him, anything. But I didn’t. I just walked out, numb, climbed into my car, and prayed it was a nightmare.

My phone buzzed violently, message after message. Stacy was calling again. I picked the call slowly.

“Ma’am, it’s Mr. Daniel. He’s been embezzling funds,” she said breathlessly.

“I know, Stacy,” I whispered, voice broken.

She went quiet.

“Investors are still pulling out, ma’am. The stock price has crashed. And… I think it’s safe to assume Daniel leaked it all.”

My phone slipped from my hand, crashing onto the seat beside me. My vision blurred. My entire life had crumbled in a single day. Tears poured freely.

I drove fast, without destination. The city lights blurred past me. Eventually, I found myself at an abandoned beach, alone and broken.

For a fleeting moment, a dark thought crossed my mind. Just keep driving. Into the ocean. End the pain.

Then my phone rang again. It was Anita.

I stared at the screen… then ended the call.

All I wanted was for the pain to stop.

After hours of driving and crying endlessly, I finally ran out of fuel. Luckily, a fuel station was nearby. I filled my tank and noticed a small bar tucked into the corner.

Something in me snapped.

I walked inside and sat at the counter. “Whiskey,” I said. “And keep them coming.”

Drink after drink, I tried to drown the ache in my chest. My thoughts blurred, but the pain stayed sharp.

“Hey,” a voice said softly beside me. “You should take it easy.”

I scoffed without looking at him. “My life isn’t easy,” I muttered. “So I’m going to be hard on myself.”

He laughed lightly. “Then that makes the two of us.”

I finally looked up.

He was tall, handsome. He had a quiet sadness in his eyes, the kind only people who had been through hell carried.

“Can I sit here?” he asked, gesturing to the empty stool beside me.

I hesitated, then nodded.

He sat. We drank. We talked. We laughed. A strange, broken kind of laughter, but it felt real. We drank until we could barely stay upright.

“We should book a room. You can’t go home like this,” he said gently.

I nodded. The last thing I remembered was passing out.