Page 28 of The Next Door Billionaire's Deception

A tear drops from her eye.

After Alex’s mother died, I didn’t see him for a while. When I met him much later, he was still devastated. I can’t imagine how Melissa would have felt.

As if driven by an invisible force, I move closer to her, placing a hand on her back.

“I’m sorry, Melissa. It must have been tough.”

She leans on me, the warmth of her body on mine causing a fluttering in my stomach. Damn butterflies.

Her sobs are soft, her tears staining my shirt. I wrap my arms around her, holding her in a tight embrace.

My hands still around her, I turn to face her. Her eyes are reddened, and her lips partly open. Her gaze, like a black hole, pulls me in further.

Awareness flickers onto me. Here I am, in the apartment of the CEO of an organization funding crime, holding the CEO in question in a tight embrace, her arms around my waist.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to go now,” I say, slowly breaking off her embrace.

She sniffs, then reaches for a nearby napkin to blow her nose.

I stand. “Thank you for the hot chocolate. It was wonderful. And thank you for opening up to me. Now that I look at it, you do bear some resemblance to Alex.”

That draws a smile from her. She wipes her face and walks me out. She doesn’t say a word.

At the door, I stop to face her. My fingers move to sweep wayward locks of hair back to her ear. I then rub off a tear still on her face.

“I’ll see you later, Melissa,” I say, so low it almost comes out a whisper.

Later in the evening, I get a call from the last person I expect, Alex.

Just hours after I discovered he’s the big brother of Emerald Inc.’s CEO and my neighbor, Melissa, and he's contacting me. Has Melissa talked to him already?

Drawing in my breath, I answer, and his lively voice filters through the audio piece. “Hey man! It’s been a while!”

“It certainly has, Lex. Where’ve you been? It’s like you just disappeared from the face of the Earth!”

He chuckles. “Yeah, well, I should have told you in advance, at least. Sorry about that. I’m back in the States, but I’m tied down in Washington DC. But hey, what’s up with you? How’s your love interest?”

I begin to cough, patting my chest to calm down.

“Richie, what’s wrong? Is anything the matter?”

I manage to suppress the cough. “Love interest? Who’s that?”

Alex bursts into laughter. “Vibrant Corp, of course! What else can claim your heart?”

A nervous silence fills the speaker. She didn't speak to him. Good.

Vibrant Corp is the only thing in my heart. It’s the only thing that matters.

Yet, why do I find myself thinking more of Melissa these days than Vibrant Corp itself?

Earlier, when she burst into tears, was it just compassion I felt or something else? Why did my chest squeeze and tighten? Why did it …hurt?

“You still there, Richie?” Alex asks as I am silent for a while.

I release a deep grunt. “Yes. Just got a lot on my mind these days.”

“Ah, that’s no good, Richie. Talk to me. What’s up?”

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