Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1218

A pure, brother-sister kind of relationship?

Emmy almost laughed. She could hardly believe how Mercedes tossed those words around, using them as some kind of magic shield, like they could protect her from anything. Every time Mercedes said it, it felt like Emmy was the unreasonable one, like her feelings didn’t matter, like she was just making a fuss over nothing.

James stepped closer when Emmy didn’t answer. He reached out, took her hand, and held it gently in both of his. His voice dropped low, careful, almost apologetic. “This was my fault. I should have explained it all to you right away.”

“I only had breakfast with her to make her feel better, that’s all. There was nothing else. If it really bothers you, I swear it won’t happen again.”

But instead of making Emmy feel better, his words just made everything worse. Her chest felt tight, her eyes stung, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t swallow down the ache.

She knew she might be overreacting. Maybe they hadn’t actually crossed any lines. Still… she just couldn’t get past the image of James sitting with Mercedes at breakfast. She couldn’t accept that he’d brought Mercedes here, of all people, to explain things.

James was supposed to be the steady one, the guy who always knew where his boundaries were. He never slipped, never let anyone too close. At least, that’s what she’d always believed. But for Mercedes, he’d made an exception.

And Emmy hated how much that bothered her.

But there was no way she’d admit that in front of Mercedes. That would just make her look small and petty, like she couldn’t even handle a “little sister.”

She took a shaky breath and pulled her hand free. “Okay. I get it.”

Her voice came out cold and tired. “Are we done? I’m going back.”

She turned to leave. James wasn’t having it. In one quick move, he wrapped his arms tight around her from behind, pressing his chin against her shoulder. His voice was rough, almost pleading. “Babe, don’t do this. I know I messed up.”

“Don’t shut me out, please?”

The way he held himself, so vulnerable, almost desperate, made Mercedes’s jealousy flare up. Her eyes burned. This was the same James who dominated boardrooms, the same man who made people nervous just by walking into a room. And here he was, begging for forgiveness.

Mercedes couldn’t watch anymore. She raised her voice, sharp and accusing. “Emmy, can’t you cut Nico some slack?”

“Do you even know how much he’s done to see you at today’s AI summit? He barely sleeps, he’s been running the resort project himself, working side by side with the crew, then heading back to the office in the middle of the night to deal with paperwork.”

“He’s been sleeping three, maybe four hours a night, usually just crashing on the office couch. He hasn’t even set foot in his bedroom.”

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