The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 138

Aveline

Wave after wave of pleasure had crashed over us both, intense and overwhelming, until we'd reached that perfect peak together. For those few breathless moments, nothing else had existed except the two of us and the incredible connection we'd found.

But now, as the afterglow faded and reality crept back in, I felt that familiar emptiness settling in my chest. The physical satisfaction was undeniable, but that whispered "I love you" was eating at me like acid. I pulled on my clothes with deliberate casualness, trying to pretend my hands weren't shaking slightly.

"God," I said, keeping my tone light as I buttoned my blouse, "do you always talk so much during sex?"

Orion was still lying on the rumpled sheets, watching me dress with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Talk? What do you mean?"

I felt heat creep up my neck, but forced myself to meet his eyes. "You know, like when you're about to... finish. Do you always feel the need to declare your undying love?"

The confusion on his face was genuine. "You think what I said was strange?"

I couldn't look at him anymore. Instead, I focused on smoothing down my skirt, my voice coming out smaller than I'd intended. "I just don't believe you could actually love me."

"Why not?"

The simple question hung in the air between us. I finished adjusting my clothes and stood up, looking at him directly for the first time since we'd finished.

"Do you know how much you love Ryan?" I asked, my voice taking on that clinical tone I used when analyzing difficult cases. "I mean, really know? I've never seen a man love a child the way you love him. It's extraordinary, actually."

Orion's expression hardened. "So what if I do?"

I shrugged, plastering on the kind of bright, dismissive smile I'd perfected over years of deflecting unwanted emotions. "So that's exactly my point. You love him so much that you've convinced yourself you need to find him a mother. And I'm just the convenient candidate."

I paused, letting that sink in. "Because you're just looking for a mother for Ryan. You've convinced yourself that loving me would solve that problem. It's perfectly logical, actually."

Orion sat up abruptly, the sheets pooling around his waist. "What is it with you? Why does everything have to come back to Ryan? Can't I have feelings that exist independently of my son?"

I almost laughed at that. "Really? Because you've admitted it yourself—multiple times. Remember? 'Everything is about Ryan.' Your words, not mine."

"Aveline—"

"It's actually a well-documented psychological phenomenon," I continued, slipping into my professional voice like armor. "Transference of parental instincts onto romantic partners. When single parents are under pressure to provide a complete family structure, they often convince themselves they're in love with someone who fits the missing role. It's called 'proxy attachment syndrome.'"

I was making up the technical term, but the concept was real enough. And from the way Orion's jaw tightened, he knew I was right.

For a long moment, he just stared at me. Then, slowly, his mouth curved into a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Well," he said, his voice taking on that cold, controlled tone I'd heard him use in business meetings. "You're absolutely right. How perceptive of you to figure it out so quickly."

Something twisted in my chest, but I kept my expression neutral.

"I suppose I should apologize for misleading you," he continued, standing up and reaching for his clothes with deliberate nonchalance. "The truth is, I've said those same words to all six of those women. It's just something that comes out in the heat of the moment, you know? Meaningless reflex."

The casual cruelty of it hit me like a physical blow, but I'd started this game and I was damn well going to finish it.

"Oh, how wonderful," I said, my voice dripping with false sweetness. "I hope you didn't ask all of them to be Ryan's mother too. That might get confusing for the poor kid."

"You—" Orion started, his composure finally cracking.

But before he could finish the sentence, footsteps echoed on the gravel path outside. Ryan's excited voice carried through the window, bright and innocent and completely oblivious to the war zone he was about to enter.

"Dad! Miss Aveline! Where are you guys? I want to show you the coolest rocks I found by the lake! And Grandma Eleanor taught me how to skip stones—I got one to bounce seven times!"

We stared at each other across the candlelit room, both breathing hard, both trapped by the approaching sound of the two people we cared about most.

"We should go," I said quietly, my anger deflating into something that felt dangerously close to heartbreak.

Orion nodded, but the look in his eyes as he watched me walk toward the door was one I'd never seen before. Not hurt, not anger—something colder and more final.

Something that looked like goodbye.

"Miss Aveline! There you are!" Ryan's voice was getting closer. "I've been looking everywhere!"

I took a deep breath, forced my brightest smile, and prepared to pretend that nothing had changed.

Even though everything had.