The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 140

Aveline

Heat flooded my cheeks, but I tried to maintain my composure. "Grandma!" I protested, moving to busy myself with our overnight bags. "I should be the one interrogating you! You deliberately took Ryan away earlier so Orion and I would be alone, didn't you? You're absolutely terrible!"

She chuckled, completely unrepentant. "Not at all! I was just feeling nostalgic and couldn't find a decent skipping partner, so I recruited Ryan!" Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she leaned forward. "Speaking of which, what was all that tension in the hallway just now? You two looked ready for battle. What happened between you?"

The memory of what had just transpired—the intensity, the passion, and then Orion's sudden declaration of love that had completely shattered the moment—made heat flood my face. I turned away, busying myself with adjusting the curtains.

"Nothing happened," I said quickly, my voice slightly breathless. "I just wanted to clarify with him that we don't have any... that there's nothing between us..."

"Nothing between you two? Seriously?" Grandma Eleanor interrupted, her voice rich with amusement and disbelief. "Did you see the way he was looking at you this afternoon? Those eyes were practically burning holes through you—no attempt to hide it whatsoever! Ha!" She laughed, her expression growing tender for a moment. "That look reminded me exactly of how your grandfather used to stare at me when we were young and desperately in love."

Her expression sharpened again as she studied my face. "And you—your disappointment and frustration were written all over your face in that hallway just now. If you truly felt nothing for him, I doubt you would have agreed to come to his country estate in the first place. Your subconscious must have—"

"Grandma, please stop!" I interrupted, but even as I protested, her words stirred something deeply uncomfortable in my chest.

I had to admit, even at her age, Grandma Eleanor's perceptiveness was absolutely uncanny.

She was right, and I knew it. Just a few days ago, I'd been complaining bitterly about how much trouble and complication Orion brought into my life.

Yet here I was, having accepted his invitation to spend a weekend at his country estate without much hesitation.

*Was I really so unconscious of my own feelings? So out of touch with what I actually wanted?*

The thought was deeply unsettling, and I was still wrestling with it when Grandma Eleanor suddenly leaned forward with that mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

"Though I don't know Orion very well," she said, her voice taking on that sage tone she used when dispensing life wisdom, "I do know exactly what type of man he is."

My curiosity was instantly piqued despite my desire to avoid this topic. "What type?"

Grandma Eleanor's smile grew knowing and almost wistful. "When I was young, I encountered men like Orion—the kind who are absolutely maddening but impossible to ignore. They're like expensive whiskey: you know one sip will burn, but you keep reaching for the bottle anyway." She chuckled softly. "They have this infuriating habit of making you feel completely out of control while simultaneously making you feel more alive than you've ever been. You spend half your time wanting to slap them and the other half wanting to... well, let's just say your grandfather was quite the storm himself."

I stared at her in complete shock, but not because of her eerily accurate analysis of Orion. What truly stunned me was watching my elderly grandmother suddenly transform before my eyes—her face practically glowing with renewed vitality as she propped her chin on her hands like a college roommate waiting for scandalous details.

*Jesus Christ,* I thought, she looks like she's about to ask me to rate his performance out of ten.

But it was the razor-sharp anticipation in her gaze that really made my stomach flip. Those eyes were far too perceptive, far too hungry for details. I could feel myself starting to crack under that intense scrutiny, and I had the horrifying realization that if this conversation continued for even another minute, I'd end up spilling absolutely everything—every sordid detail of my complicated history with Orion.

*Nope. Not happening.*

The thought of laying all of that bare made me deeply uncomfortable.

"Come on, Grandma," I said quickly, moving to help her out of her light jacket and comfortable walking shoes. "Let's get you ready for bed. You've had such a long day."

But Grandma Eleanor wasn't having it. She actually pouted—*pouted*—like a teenager being told she couldn't stay up past curfew.

"Oh, but sweetheart, I'm not tired at all!" she protested, her eyes still sparkling with mischief. "I feel absolutely energized! And your little 'educational progress' chat? Hilarious. Now tell me, does he kiss well?"

*Oh my God.*

"Grandma!" I gasped, nearly dropping her shoe in shock.

"What? I'm old, not dead!" she said with a laugh that sounded suspiciously girlish. "At my age, I have to live vicariously through my granddaughter's romantic adventures!"

I gently but firmly tucked the covers around her, trying to ignore her expectant gaze. "We came here for you to have a peaceful vacation, remember? Peaceful means sleeping at reasonable hours."

"But this is so much more entertaining than sleep," she whined. "Can't we just talk for a few more minutes? I promise I'll be good!"

The pleading look she gave me was so ridiculously endearing that I had to bite back a laugh. Who knew that all it took was a handsome man and some romantic intrigue to turn my dignified grandmother into a gossipy teenager?

"Sleep first, gossip later," I said firmly, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "That's the rule."

She sighed dramatically. "You're no fun at all."