Page 67 of Next Door Billionaire's Surprise Baby

My alarm goes off, but I don’t bother silencing it. There’s no need, anyway. I’ve been awake tossing and turning throughout the night.

I lay back in bed, staring at the ceiling as I’ve done for the past two nights, drowning in my thoughts. It’s been two weeks since Chloe quit her work at my company and moved out of my house.

It was the most awful thing to do, having to pick between your girlfriend and your only sibling. And now I’m left with my sibling. I’m really starting to see I made the wrong decision for so many reasons.

The first is that I allowed myself to be manipulated by my brother. Anyone with common sense could see that he knew I was eager to mend the relationship with him, and he capitalized on that. I set no boundaries to keep him in check, and now I’m paying the price.

The second Is that I didn’t assure Chloe enough. I should have explained the situation to her somehow. Heck, I should have chased her until she heard my story.

But I did none of those things, and now here I am. A shell of a man I once was. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep, and I can’t even focus at work.

I feel like nothing is left in my heart.

Now I’m just adrift, like a log of wood in the middle of the ocean. I haven’t been to the office in two weeks, preferring to lie in bed and brood instead.

And the worst part is, I don’t even know if she’s in the city. I tried to visit Fiona’s apartment and ended up running into her on the stairs. Fiona cursed at me and threatened me if I ever came to her apartment to look for Chloe.

I miss her and Skye so much. We were a happy family before Tim came back into our lives to tear us apart.

As I lay up in bed, my ears pick up on a sound from outside. I jump to my feet and look out the window just to find Tim waltzing down to my doorstep at six thirty in the morning.

I leave my room and head downstairs to meet him in the foyer. When the doorbell rings, I opened the door to greet him with a frown.

“What is it?”

He gives me a once-over and comments, “Oh boy. You look terrible.”

Tell me something I don’t know.

I roll my eyes with dark circles underneath them, “Thanks for the compliment. Now, what do you want? It’s six thirty in the morning.”

“Will you relax?” He says, trying to nudge his way inside,” I just want to talk to you.”

“What about?”

Tim glares at me in surprise, “Would you at least let me come in?”

I close the door tighter, “You can still say what you want from there.”

He looks like he’s about to protest, but he shakes his head instead and starts, “Whatever. Well, I need some money. My friends from college are crashing at my place, and I want them gone. I just need a few thousand dollars to give them and have them on their way.”

I tell him outright, “No.”

He frowns,” No?”

I repeat loud and clear, “No. I think it’s time you become responsible for your actions. I’m not giving you any money.”

His features morph into disdain, “Why not?”

He thinks he gets to stand there with an entitled scowl when he’s the reason I’m so miserable inside.

I spit at him, “Because you’re a manipulative brat, Tim. And you deserve nothing from me.”

His eyebrows elevate in realization, “This is about Chloe, isn’t it? You still haven’t gotten over her. You want to go back to her.” His voice rises, “You can’t do that! We called a truce.”

If his version of a truce is for me to be just as miserable as he is, I have no choice but to decline.

“I’m done with a truce. I'm going to look for Chloe, and I'm going to bring her back here."

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