Page 62 of Starting Over with Her Billionaire Boss

With a shaky breath and a final, lingering glance at the home that held so many dreams, Kinsley put the car in gear and began to drive away. Each mile that passed beneath her wheels felt like a piece of her soul being ripped away. But even as her heart shattered into a million jagged shards, she knew this was the only way to protect herself. This was the only way to ensure that she would never again know the devastation of being left behind.

She loved Daegan. But she wouldn’t survive it.

This time, I’ll leave first.

Daegan grippedthe steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality as he broke more than a few traffic laws speeding to Kinsley’s house, using every possible side street he knew. He had to stop her. He had to talk to her about whatever was going on.

As he pulled onto her quiet street, he didn’t give a damn about every single one of those houses that he had an agreement to buy. The only one he cared about right now was that damned one he didn’t. The house that had the beautiful staircase, the original moldings, the scent of pine wafting through each room.

The house that Kinsley had every right to keep.

Daegan was done with his grandiose real estate plans. They paled in comparison to the woman who had captured his heart, the woman whose body fit so perfectly against his own. Kinsley was all that mattered now; he would gladly abandon every ambition and every dream to be with her.

Her car wasn’t in the driveway. The only thing greeting him was a sign on the front lawn. His heart sunk into the pit of his stomach.

‘For Sale.’

The words mocked him, their bold letters standing in stark contrast against the light mauve he had come to appreciate.

“No…” he whispered, a painful irony filling his chest. After everything, she was letting go of the one thing he thought she’d never part with. The one thing he’d tried so hard to take from her. He hadn’t just hurt her; he’d shattered the woman he loved completely.

Daegan couldn’t get his mind straight. His mind raced as he parked the car, hands shaking as he fumbled with the door handle. He had to find her, had to stop her from making this mistake. He checked the garage, his heart sinking when he found it empty. The door was locked. His knocks went unanswered. Kinsley was gone, and he had no idea where to look.

His chest tightened. The panic rising inside him made it hard to breathe. She couldn’t leave, not like this. Not without hearing him out. Not without knowing the truth.

Daegan climbed back in his car and dialed the one person who knew everything.

“Laurel, I don’t have time for this—where is she?” Daegan tried his best to remain calm, despite his heart pounding out of his chest.

“Mr. Westerhouse, I—” Laurel began to say.

“I love Kinsley,” he admitted to the biggest gossiper in the entire company. Despite the words slipping through his lips, he didn’t regret them. “She’s gone and I don’t know where. Butyoudo. Iknowyou do. Kinsley’s big mouth and your big ears go together like a magnet, like peanut butter and jelly, like?—”

“I get it, Mr. Westerhouse.” She sighed. “Okay, she went to the airport. Her flight leaves at three-fifteen.”

“Thanks, Laurel.” Daegan hung up and peeled out of the driveway, dirt kicking up in his wake.

He’d be damned if he let Kinsley slip away without telling her exactly how much she meant to him.

The chillof the airport was warmer than Aunt Tilly’s, but it still managed to seep into Kinsley’s bones. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, a futile attempt to ward off the cold. As she sat there, shivering in the bustling terminal, she couldn’t help but wish she had thought to pack something warmer. But then again, she hadn’t exactly been thinking clearly when she’d made the decision to leave.

She’d joined Daegan at this very airport just over a week ago, boarding a flight she would never be able to forget. That last-minute trip had changed the trajectory of her whole life. She’d been so thrilled to board his jet, to embrace this new and thrilling connection with this enigmatic man. Even as she sat there, shivering and heartbroken, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

As much as she hated to admit it, she longed for the sound of his voice, the warmth of his touch. The way he would look at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. But even as her heart cried out for him, her mind knew better. It had all been a game to him. He had never wanted her. The most precious thing to him was the title deed to her home.

A ‘Flight Boarding’ message popped up on the app on her phone. Kinsley gathered her things and made her way to the gate. The other passengers were already assembled in a chaotic mess of a line. No private jet today. Instead, she was flying what she often referred to as “cattle class.”

Her phone vibrated with another notification—delayed again. Kinsley stared at the screen, vision blurring as the words mocked her. It was as if the universe itself was unsure whether tolet her leave. Aunt Tilly would have called it fate, a cosmic nudge to rethink her choices.

But Kinsley didn’t believe in fate anymore. Daegan Westerhouse had seen to that.

Daegan’s heartpounded in his chest as he rushed to the nearest ticket counter, his words tumbling out in a breathless plea for the fastest available ticket to anywhere. The agent, sensing his urgency, worked quickly to print his boarding pass. By some miracle, Daegan managed to breeze through security without a hitch.

He glanced down at his watch.Three-fifteen.Surely the plane had boarded by now. They would be taxiing, possibly even in the air.

It hit him that he didn’t even know what flight she was on. When he found the departure board, only one flight had a departure time of three-fifteen.And it was delayed.

Daegan raced down the terminal, his eyes darting from sign to sign as he searched for Kinsley’s gate. Each step felt like a leap of faith, a desperate gamble against the odds. He had never known fear like this before—not in the cutthroat world of real estate acquisitions, not even in the face of boardrooms full of people eager to watch him fail. The thought of losing Kinsley, of never again holding her in his arms or seeing the love shining in her eyes, was a terror that eclipsed all others.

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