MY WAY TO THE BILLIONAIRE'S HEART.

Chapter19

Or maybe, if the detective was right, all of her life.

Maeve walked to her window, looked out at Los Angeles glittering below. Somewhere out there, Miranda was fighting for her life. Jade was in a hospital bed. And Carter was probably in his penthouse, calculating his next move.

The question was: what would Maeve's next move be?

Her phone buzzed one more time. An email from an address she didn't recognize: If you want the truth about Carter Langston, come to the address below. Alone. Tomorrow at noon. And Maeve, bring the business card Hiroshi Tanaka gave you. You're going to need it.

The email included an address in Pasadena. And a single line at the bottom:

Trust no one. Not Carter. Not Cameron. Not even yourself.

Maeve closed her eyes, exhaustion washing over her.

She was in too deep now. Too far gone to back out safely.

All she could do was keep moving forward and hope she was smart enough to survive whatever came next.

And if she wasn't?

Well, at least her family would be taken care of.

That had to count for something.

Even if it cost her everything.

The morning came too quickly, grey dawn light filtering through Maeve's curtains like an accusation. She hadn't slept. Every time she'd closed her eyes, she saw Miranda's terrified face, heard Detective Chen's warning, felt the weight of Carter's hand on her back, present, controlling, inescapable.

At 6 AM, her phone rang. Carter's name flashed on the screen.

She let it ring twice before answering. "Hello."

"You didn't come home last night." His voice was rough, like he hadn't slept either.

"I am home. My apartment."

"That's not what I meant." A pause, heavy with implication. "We need to maintain appearances, Maeve. The press is watching. If you're not at the penthouse, they'll start asking questions."

"Let them ask." She was too tired for games.

"Are you punishing me? For Miranda?"

The directness caught her off guard. "I'm trying to think."

"Thinking is dangerous right now." Something rustled on his end, papers, maybe. "The board is circling. Sterling is making calls, trying to build support to override the recall. If we show any weakness, any c***k in our united front, he'll use it to push me out."

"Maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing."

Silence. Then: "You don't mean that."

"Don't I?" Maeve stood, paced to her window. The patrol car Detective Chen had promised sat across the street, conspicuous and oddly comforting. "A woman who looks like me ended up unconscious last night, Carter. Hours after warning me about you. That's not a coincidence."

"No, it's not." His voice went cold. "It's a pattern. Miranda is an addict, Maeve. Has been for years. She overdoses, I get blamed, she uses the sympathy to extort money. We've been through this cycle four times now."

"Detective Chen says there are other women. Two more who…"

"Detective Chen has a vendetta against my family. Her sister used to work for Langston Appliances, was fired for embezzlement, and Chen has been trying to manufacture evidence against me ever since." Carter's tone sharpened. "She's feeding you a narrative, and you're eating it up because it confirms your worst suspicions about me."

Maeve's head pounded. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Then believe this: I have a meeting with Hiroshi Tanaka in three hours. If I show up without my fiancée, without presenting a stable, unified front, the merger collapses. Your mother's treatments stop. Tommy's tuition gets revoked. Rita loses her funding. Everything I've given you disappears." He let that sink in. "So you can indulge your doubts, or you can be at my office at nine o'clock, ready to play the devoted partner. Your choice."

He hung up.

Maeve stared at her phone, fury and fear warring inside her. This was the Carter she'd first met, ruthless, transactional, willing to use her family as leverage. The vulnerability he'd shown last night, the admission about being tired of being alone, suddenly felt like just another manipulation.

But what if it wasn't? What if he was both things, a damaged man trying to do better and a calculating predator who couldn't help destroying what he touched?

She checked the time. 6:47 AM. The mysterious email had said noon in Pasadena. She could make both, show up for Carter's meeting, maintain the charade, then slip away to find out the truth.

Assuming there was a truth to find. Assuming this wasn't all just layers of lies, each one more convincing than the last.

Her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: Miranda is awake. She wants to see you. Room 4012, Cedars-Sinai. Come alone.

Maeve's pulse quickened. If Miranda was conscious, she could explain. Prove whether her story was real or delusion.

But showing up at Miranda's hospital room would mean defying Carter directly. Breaking the fragile trust they'd built.

Another text, this time from Cameron: Hey, Mom's worried about you. Says you left dinner weird. Everything okay? Want to grab coffee before work?

Sweet, concerned Cameron, who'd been nothing but kind. Who Linda said was the good one in the family.

But Linda had also said Carter used to be good too, before Reginald broke him. Which meant goodness wasn't permanent. It could be twisted, corrupted, destroyed.

Maeve made her decision.

She texted Cameron: Coffee sounds perfect. Meet me at that place near Cedars-Sinai? 8 AM?

His response came immediately: The one on Beverly? Done. See you there.

She'd use Cameron as cover. Meet him for coffee, slip away to see Miranda, get answers. Then make it to Carter's office by nine.

It was risky, probably stupid. But she was done being passive. Done letting men, even charming, protective men, control the narrative.

If she was going to survive this, she needed to know the truth. All of it.

The coffee shop was busy with morning rush, doctors and nurses grabbing caffeine before shifts. Cameron was already there, looking annoyingly perfect in casual clothes, jeans and a navy sweater that probably cost more than Maeve's rent.

"You look exhausted," he said instead of hello, concern genuine in his warm eyes.

"Couldn't sleep." She slid into the booth across from him. "Your cousin has that effect on people."

Cameron winced. "What did he do now?"

"Besides threaten to cut off my family's funding if I don't play devoted fiancée at his meeting this morning?" The bitterness leaked through despite her best efforts.

"He did not." But Cameron's expression said he knew exactly what Carter was capable of. "Maeve, listen. Carter is... he's complicated. But those threats? They're usually bluffs. He wouldn't actually hurt your family."

"How do you know?"