My Billionaire Husband

Leo’s expression softened, and there was a hint of gentleness and regret in the way he looked at Lydia.

To him, the past five years of conquest had been his rebirth, but to Lydia, it was akin to a nightmare.

No one knew how frightened she was when she discovered that she was pregnant. No one was there to give her a hug when she was tired and hurt. She dealt with everything by herself, even when she gave birth to Emilia.

She had long become accustomed to shouldering everything by herself in silence. Even if she was hurt or bullied, she wouldn’t show weakness in front of anyone.

This was something that would not change, even if Leo had returned.

He did not blame her; he merely felt guilty about it.

The two of them needed time to re-establish their relationship. His only consolation was that there was their daughter, Emilia, connecting them both.

For her daughter’s sake, Lydia was willing to let down her guard and try to understand this unfamiliar man.

Emilia had already fallen asleep in Lydia’s arms.

The little girl looked adorable while asleep, drooling with her mouth slightly open. She looked as if she was dreaming of something beautiful, as evidenced from the soft smile on her face.

Lydia carefully wiped away the saliva at the corner of her daughter’s mouth before she recounted what had been troubling her as of late.

Leo listened attentively with an earnest expression.

It turned out that his speculation was pretty much spot-on: a well-known large company was taking its sweet time paying its debt to Atlas Beauty, dragging it out for months until even Lydia finally lost her patience.

The company, Cleo Entertainment, ran an entertainment hub consisting of a hotel, karaoke lounge, nightclub, and casino. Some third-rate celebrities would frequent the place or act as resident guests. It was very popular, so it was somewhat of a get-together for those in the entertainment industry.

However, their business was not completely legitimate.

They had worked with many other companies, but there were often cases in which they would use their authority among various underground organizations to target their debtors. It was not the first time that they had defaulted on their debts.

The company was so problematic that they would be in trouble with a quick check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under ordinary circumstances, Lydia would never have worked with them. However, some time ago, a company executive was desperate to complete a project and signed a contract with Cleo Entertainment behind her back.

When the project was about to be completed and Atlas Beauty requested the final payment, Cleo Entertainment kept dragging things out and refused to pay. The debt was 10 million in total; not exactly a small sum of money for Atlas Beauty.

When Lydia found out, she lost her temper in meetings more than once. She had already fired that greedy executive, and later declared that she would dismiss the other people in charge of the project if they could not recover the remaining payment by the end of the week.

Her face looked frosty as she retold the story. It was clear she was deeply furious about how it was handled.

Her reaction was understandable. Even ignoring the fact that 10 million was a significant amount of money, she could not accept her executive’s deceit at all. She swore to herself that she would not give up until she recovered the money.

“That’s what’s been troubling me, but what’s the point of letting you know about it now?” She looked at Leo with a rather aloof expression.

Even so, Leo smiled. “What if I can help you settle it?”

She shook her head and looked at him seriously. “Do you know what upsets me about you right now?”

“What is it?” Leo’s expression changed.

“You make promises that you don’t intend to keep.”

Lydia looked away and said coldly, “I don’t care if you’re poor or unemployed. I don’t mind supporting you, but you’re still a man. As a man, you should take responsibility for what you say. I know you’re trying to comfort me, but the way you’re going about it right now reeks of disingenuity.”

Leo looked at her in a daze. There was a wry smile on his face but he did not explain himself.

“Let’s go home.”

Lydia turned around and walked out of the meeting room with Emilia fast asleep in her arms.

In the dim meeting room, Leo’s eyes changed and his gaze became as sharp as a vulture’s.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. “Investigate a company called Cleo Entertainment.”

“Yes, Mr. Cohen.”

Nadine was an efficient worker. Leo received her report as soon as he arrived at Violet Residences.

“Mr. Cohen, Cleo Entertainment is an entertainment company that belongs to the O’Brien’s, and they own roughly fifty percent of the shares. The other half belongs to the Perries.”

Nadine continued, “The O’Brien’s also have a close working relationship with the Lawsons.”

“Okay.”

Even though this was a shocking piece of news, Leo merely nodded, indicating that he had processed it.

“Nadine, come with me to Cleo Entertainment tomorrow,” he said emotionlessly.

“Yes.”

The next day, at sunrise.

Lydia was just about to head upstairs and call Leo for breakfast. Despite the grand wedding that he had thrown for her, she had rejected him when he tried to put a ring on her. That meant they were not officially married, so they continued to sleep in separate rooms.

When she pushed the door open, she saw that the windows were open. The cool morning breeze rustled the curtains on both sides, but there was no sign of Leo anywhere.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

She frowned and closed the door quietly, but not without wondering where the hell he had gone to.

However, she did not have the time to look for him. She went straight to work after dropping her daughter off at kindergarten.

Today, she had to deal with the proposal from the Fords.

Meanwhile, a black Rolls-Royce pulled up in front of Cleo Entertainment with a smooth purr.

The car door opened and Leo got off, decked out in a well-tailored black suit. His leather shoes were shined to perfection. Nadine, dressed in her usual tight black leather outfit and four-inch-high heels, followed behind closely.

The two walked into Cleo Entertainment.

The two tall guards at the door were quick to stop them, with their faces full of impatience. “What are you doing here?”

Behind Leo, Nadine had a cold look in her eyes. But he stopped her before she could take action.

He looked at her and shook his head.

Nadine fell silent, but eventually retreated and stood behind him again without saying a word.

Then, Leo looked at the two guards and said calmly, “Please inform Neil O’Brien, the CEO of Cleo Entertainment, about our visit. We’re from Atlas Beauty.”

The two guards narrowed their eyes at this and their voices became much colder. “You’re from Atlas Beauty, huh?”

“Correct.”

The two guards began to chase them out. “You two can fuck off then! Our company has blacklisted anyone from Atlas Beauty!”

“Blacklisted?”

Rather than getting mad, Leo was smiling instead. “Oh, take us off the backlist then.”

The two guards cackled. “You’re not going to leave, are you? Fine. Don’t blame us if you lose an arm or a leg then…”

These men were obviously not ordinary security guards, but probably gangsters who made a living off of harassing people.

Both pulled out two shining daggers from inside their jackets. One of them made a straight jab at Leo and Nadine.

Cleo Entertainment had been working with the Perries, who ran an underground organization in Emerdale. To ensure the safety of the employees there, the Perries had sent a lot of their lackeys to masquerade as security guards.

Just as the dagger was about to reach Leo, Nadine made her move.

The guard was sent flying before he could even see what she was doing. He crashed straight into the wall of the building.

In an instant, the wall smashed into pieces.