The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 152

Aveline

I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed despite the pleasant ache in my muscles from last night's... activities. My body felt languid and satisfied in a way that made me want to stretch like a cat in the morning sun.

But when I rolled over and my hand brushed against another pillow—one that definitely wasn't mine—my eyes snapped open.

*Oh my God.*

I was in Orion's bed. In Orion's room. Under Orion's sheets, wearing nothing but one of his dress shirts that had somehow become my impromptu sleepwear.

I bolted upright, my heart racing—not from shock about the incredible sex we'd had, but from the realization that I'd actually *slept* here. With him. All night.

*I never sleep over. Ever.*

The intimacy of it hit me like a freight train. This wasn't just casual sex—this was waking up together, sharing a bed, sharing space in a way that felt dangerously domestic. I pressed my hands to my temples, trying to process the unfamiliar sensation of... comfort? Security? Whatever this feeling was, it was completely outside my wheelhouse.

That's when the door opened and Orion walked in, looking effortlessly perfect in a tailored charcoal suit, his hair styled and his face freshly shaved.

"Morning," he said with that easy confidence that always unnerved me. "How'd you sleep? Comfortable enough?"

I immediately clutched the oversized shirt closer to my body, suddenly hyper-aware of how exposed I was. "I... yes, fine."

He approached the bed with a knowing smile, setting down what looked like a brand-new dress in a soft cream color—something elegant and perfectly my size.

"Thought you might need something to wear," he said casually. "I'll turn around while you get dressed. Breakfast is ready downstairs whenever you are."

And then he actually did turn around, giving me privacy with the kind of natural courtesy that made my skin prickle with recognition.

*This is how husbands act. This is how men treat women they're in actual relationships with.*

The realization made me feel slightly nauseous, though I couldn't pinpoint why.

"Don't be so nice to me," I muttered as I quickly pulled on the dress, which fit perfectly and probably cost more than my monthly salary. "Remember what we agreed our relationship would be."

I caught his reflection in the mirror, saw him bite back a smile that looked far too amused for my comfort.

"Are you decent?" he asked without turning around.

"Yes," I said, then hurried to the bathroom to splash water on my face and try to make sense of the chaos in my head.

---

Breakfast was served in his elegant dining room—fresh fruit, perfectly prepared eggs Benedict, coffee that tasted like it had been flown in from some exotic location. The whole setup screamed domestic bliss in a way that made me deeply uncomfortable.

"So," Orion said, cutting into his eggs with surgical precision, "about that company you mentioned last night. My people did some preliminary digging, and you're right to be concerned. Hartwell Industries is definitely being positioned for sale."

I set down my coffee cup, immediately focusing. "How soon?"

"Hard to say, but the groundwork is already being laid. I'm planning to take a personal look at their operations today—get a real sense of what we're dealing with."

"Thank you," I said, then caught myself. "I mean, I appreciate you taking the time."

"Don't do that," he said with a slight frown. "Don't suddenly go formal on me. I told you I'd help, so I'm helping."

I studied his face, looking for any sign that this was transactional for him, but all I saw was genuine concern.

"That company really means everything to my grandmother," I said quietly. "If you find out they're seriously moving forward with a sale, I need to know immediately. I want to buy it myself and turn it around—give it back to her as the thriving business it used to be."

Orion nodded thoughtfully. "But you don't think they'll sell to you directly."

"God, no. Richard would rather burn it to the ground than let me have it." I felt my jaw clench just thinking about it. "So I was hoping..."

"You want me to buy it," he finished. "Under my name, as a front."

"Exactly. But—" I hesitated, feeling my expression darken. "I don't want to pay them what they're asking. They've run this company into the ground through sheer incompetence, and now they want to cash out like they've done something worthwhile? They're cowards and they don't deserve to profit from their failures."

Orion leaned back in his chair, and I could practically see his mind working through the logistics.

"I can probably acquire it for about ten percent of whatever they're asking," he said with the kind of casual confidence that came from years of corporate warfare.

"Seriously? You can do that?"

"Trust me, when it comes to business, I know how to make people see reason." His smile was sharp enough to cut glass. "You have to have faith in your..."

He trailed off suddenly, and I noticed both Mitchell and Ryan had appeared in the doorway, clearly listening to our conversation with obvious interest.

The silence stretched uncomfortably as I realized Orion had been about to say something that would have completely blown our cover.

"Your friend," he finished smoothly, though I caught the slight flush across his cheekbones. "We are friends, right?"

"Right," I said quickly, relief flooding through me. "Friends. Of course."

But as I watched him return to his breakfast with studied casualness, I couldn't shake the suspicion that he'd been about to say something entirely different.

Something that sounded a lot like "your husband."