Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1192

James’s silence made Mercedes’s heart twist with panic. She’d always known something was off, ever since five years ago when she’d been blacklisted for four years, desperate enough to almost end it all. It was then that James showed up, calling himself “Jamie,” swooping in like some hero to pull her out of the darkness. But even then, she could feel it. He might have had Jamie’s face and tried to copy Jamie’s voice and little habits, but he wasn’t Jamie.

Jamie had loved her, truly loved her, down to his bones. The real Jamie would never have let her suffer, not for a second, let alone stand by while she was shoved aside for so long. He was gentle, always thoughtful. He’d stop by whenever he could, bringing small gifts or just sitting with her in silence. James… he didn’t do any of that. He used Jamie’s name, sure, and he’d step in to fix her problems or throw money and resources her way. But outside of those moments, he was impossible to reach. Sometimes it took days for him to reply to her messages, and when he did, it always felt cold and businesslike.

It was his eyes that really gave him away. When Jamie looked at her, there was always this warmth, this light, a kind of love and tenderness he couldn’t hide. But James’s eyes were different. Too calm, too logical. When he looked at her, it was like she was just another responsibility, another box to check off his list.

She’d known then. This wasn’t her Jamie. This was James, the coldest, most mysterious man in the Nelson family. Mr. Nelson.

But she never said a word. Back then, she’d barely crawled out of the mess of being blacklisted. She was desperate for a lifeline. Four years in the entertainment industry had shown her how brutal it could be. If you didn’t have connections, if you didn’t have someone powerful in your corner, you were nothing. So she played along. She enjoyed the resources he handed her, soaked up the feeling of being someone special, and pretended she was still the little princess Jamie had loved.

Then Hollywood came knocking. It was her dream chance, the thing she’d worked for her whole life, a shot at being an international star. James tried to stop her from leaving. She finally confronted him, told him she knew who he really was, and demanded to know what had happened to Jamie.

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