The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 101

Orion

The next three hours felt like the longest shopping expedition of my life.

Sera approached retail therapy with the same boundless enthusiasm she seemed to bring to everything else. Every boutique was a new adventure, every window display a potential treasure hunt. She tried on hats she had no intention of buying, tested perfumes with the scientific precision of a sommelier, and somehow managed to turn purchasing a simple pair of earrings into a twenty-minute consultation with three different sales associates.

I found myself trailing behind her like a well-dressed bodyguard, maintaining a respectful distance while she flitted from store to store with the energy of someone who had never encountered anything that didn't fascinate her.

When she stopped to watch a street magician perform card tricks, I stood off to the side and checked my phone. When she got distracted by a violinist playing Mozart near the fountain, I found a bench and waited patiently for her attention span to move on to the next shiny object.

It was exhausting, but I had to admit there was something oddly endearing about her complete joy in simple pleasures. She approached the world with the kind of wonder I hadn't felt since I was a child, and despite my irritation with the situation, I found myself smiling at her enthusiasm.

Watching her laugh at a mime's exaggerated expressions, I couldn't help but think about Ryan. *This is how I want my son to experience the world,* I realized. *With that kind of excitement, that openness to joy.*

"Orion!" Sera's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Why do you keep staring at me like that?"

I looked up to find her standing in front of me with her hands on her hips, a small frown creasing her perfect features.

"Am I boring you? Are you thinking about work stuff like my dad always does? Because if you want to get rid of me, you can just say so instead of looking at me like I'm some kind of fascinating science experiment."

The hurt in her voice caught me off guard. Despite her privileged background and obvious confidence, there was something vulnerable underneath.

"No," I said quickly, standing up from the bench. "I wasn't thinking about work at all. I was just... observing. You have a very different way of seeing the world."

Her expression immediately brightened. "Different good or different weird?"

"Different refreshing," I said honestly.

She beamed at me, and I checked my watch. We'd been out for over three hours, and I was beginning to feel the weight of my neglected responsibilities.

"We should probably start heading back," I said carefully. "It's getting late, and I'm sure you have plans for this evening."

Sera's face fell immediately. "Oh. I thought... I mean, I was kind of hoping you might want to have dinner? "

The genuine disappointment in her voice made me feel like I was disappointing a younger sister. And the truth was, taking her to a restaurant would be more work than simply having Mitchell prepare something at home.

"Of course," I heard myself saying. "We can eat at my place. Mitchell—my house manager—is an excellent cook."

The transformation in her mood was immediate and dramatic. Her entire face lit up like I'd just offered her the Crown Jewels.

"Really? That would be amazing! I love home cooking so much more than those fancy restaurant meals. It's like... it actually means something when someone makes food in their own space, you know?"

I nodded, though I wasn't entirely sure I understood the distinction she was making. Food was food, whether it came from a five-star restaurant or a home kitchen.

But her excitement was infectious enough that I found myself looking forward to seeing her reaction to Mitchell's culinary skills.

Twenty minutes later, we were pulling into my building's underground garage. As we walked through the marble foyer toward the main staircase, I could hear Ryan's voice echoing from somewhere upstairs, apparently engaged in some elaborate game that involved a lot of sound effects.

The moment we reached the main floor, a small tornado of dark hair and boundless energy came racing down the grand staircase toward us.

"Miss Aveline!" Ryan shouted, his face bright with joy. "You're here! I made you a new picture today and I wrote my name all by myself and—"

He skidded to a halt when he realized the woman standing beside me wasn't who he'd expected. His expression immediately crumpled with disappointment so profound it made my chest ache.

"Oh," he said in a small voice. "You're not Miss Aveline."

Sera looked between Ryan and me with obvious curiosity. "Miss Aveline? Is that your girlfriend? She must be really special—he was so excited to see her!"

I felt heat creep up my neck. "She's... she's Ryan's teacher."

"His teacher?" Sera's eyebrows rose with surprise, then her expression turned thoughtful. "Wow. She must be an incredible teacher. The way he just ran toward us, like he was expecting his mom to come home..."

Her observation was uncomfortably perceptive.

"Children his age form attachments quickly," I said diplomatically.

"They form attachments to people who make them feel safe and loved," Sera corrected gently. "It sounds like Miss Aveline does both. You're lucky to have found someone who cares about Ryan that much."

She paused, then added with a knowing smile, "I'm guessing she comes home with you guys pretty often? Ryan seemed like he was expecting her to be here."

The directness of her question—and the implications behind it—made me uncomfortable. "We... sometimes she... it's complicated."

"Of course it is," Sera said with the kind of understanding that suggested she was far more worldly than her enthusiastic demeanor suggested. "These things always are."

Before I could figure out how to respond to that, she was already crouching down to Ryan's eye level, her entire demeanor shifting to something softer and more engaging.

"Hi there, handsome!" she said brightly. "I'm Sera, and I'm a friend of your daddy's. You know what? I bet you're the kind of super smart kid who knows all about dinosaurs AND superheroes AND maybe even space stuff, am I right?"

Ryan's disappointment began to fade, replaced by cautious interest. "I do know about dinosaurs. And I'm learning about planets in school."

"No way! Did you know that if you could drive a car to the moon, it would take you more than 130 days of driving non-stop? And that Jupiter has a storm that's been going on for hundreds of years and it's bigger than the entire Earth?"

Ryan's eyes went wide. "Really? How do you know that?"

"Because I think space is the coolest thing ever, just like dinosaurs and superheroes. Hey, do you want to hear about the dinosaur that had feathers and could fly but wasn't a bird?"

"Yes!" Ryan exclaimed, his earlier disappointment completely forgotten. "Tell me everything!"

I watched in amazement as Sera effortlessly captured my son's attention, speaking to him with the kind of genuine enthusiasm that most adults couldn't fake. She wasn't talking down to him or trying too hard to be kid-friendly—she was simply sharing her excitement about subjects she genuinely found interesting.

*How did she know exactly what to say?*

"Big sister Sera, you're so smart!" Ryan declared, immediately adopting her into his small circle of trusted adults. "Do you want to see my dinosaur books? I have pictures of all the flying ones!"

"I would love that more than anything," Sera said sincerely, letting Ryan grab her hand and pull her toward the living room. "And maybe I'll pick up a few more dinosaur surprises for you later!"

As they disappeared around the corner, chattering about pterodactyls and astronomical phenomena, Mitchell appeared beside me with his characteristic perfect timing.

"Well, sir," he said with barely concealed amusement, "I have to say, the women in your life certainly have a gift for connecting with Master Ryan."

I shot him a warning look. "She's not in my life, Mitchell. She's a business acquaintance."