Billionaire's Bounty Cost Of Love And Revenge novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Janine’s POV

I sat on the edge of Marcus’s bed, my fingers curled around the hem of his pillowcase. His scent still clung to the fabric, clean, sharp, familiar, I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly, as if that alone could bring him back, as if it could fill the gaping space he had left behind. The room was quiet, too quiet, and for the first time in years, I felt small in it.

The last time I was in here, he was teasing me about something, probably about how I still got scared watching horror movies. He always found a way to make fun of me without making me feel bad, without making me feel less. That was the kind of brother he was, solid, unwavering, the one who made me feel safe no matter how bad things got.

Treached for the drawer beside his bed and pulled it open. Inside, everything was neat, arranged with that same precision he applied to everything in life. A few watches, a set of keys, an old leather wallet. I ran my fingers over them, letting the memories come.

Marcus had always been there. When I scraped my knee falling off my bike, he was the one who carried me home, scolding me for being reckless but holding me so gently that I didn’t cry. When I failed my first math test in middle school, he spent hours at the dining table with me, going over equations until they finally made sense. And when I got my heart broken for the first time, he didn’t say “I told you so.” He just sat with me, letting me cry. promising me that one day, I’d laugh about it.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever laugh again.

I picked up a photograph tucked into the side of the drawer. It was worn at the edges, as if it had been handled too many times. It was of us, me and Marcus at the beach, probably ten years ago. He had his arm around my shoulders, grinning like he had just won the lottery, and I was mid–laugh, my hair a tangled mess from the wind. I traced the curve of his smile with my thumb, my chest tightening.

He had always been my protector, my safe place. And now, for the first time, he wasn’t here.

A lump formed in my throat, thick and suffocating. I put the photograph down carefully, afraid that if I held it too tightly, it would crumble under the weight of my grief. My gaze drifted around the room, landing on the jacket draped over his chair. I stood up and walked toward it, my fingers skimming over the fabric. It was the same one he had worn the night he promised me that no matter what happened, he would always have my back.

I gripped the sleeve tightly, pulling it against my chest.

“I don’t know what to do without you,” I whispered.

The silence swallowed my words whole.

I sank into the chair, pressing my forehead against the cool leather. If I closed my eyes, I could almost hear his voice, hear the way he used to say my name like it was something important.

“Janine, you’ve got this. You always do.”

But I didn’t. Not this time.

I had spent the last few hours pacing, calling, searching for something, anything, that would tell me this was all a mistake, that Marcus would walk through that door and say, “Did you really think I’d leave you?” But the longer the silence stretched, the harder it was to pretend.

I wiped my eyes roughly and exhaled.

I couldn’t fall apart. Not now.

I turned back to the drawer, sifting through the contents with careful hands. A stack of letters, receipts, an old notebook. I flipped it open, half–expecting it to be empty, but my breath caught when I saw my name.

Janine, You’re stronger than you think.

I traced the words, my heart pounding.

1/3

THU TU

Chapter 148

He had written this. For me.

I swallowed hard and kept reading,

“I know you hate when people tell you to stay strong like it’s easy. So I won’t. But I will tell you this, you’ve survived every bad day you thought would break you. And you’ll survive this one too.”

A sob clawed its way up my throat, and this time, I didn’t try to stop it.

1pressed my palm against the page, as if I could reach through the ink and hold onto him, just for a little while longer.

He had known.

Somehow, some part of him had known that one day I’d be here, lost and hurting, and he had left this for me.

I shut the notebook gently, pulling it to my chest.

A knock sounded at the door, and barely had time to wipe my face before it creaked open.

Asher stepped inside, his gaze sweeping over the room before landing on me. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept in days, but there was something steady in his expression. Something that made me feel like maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t completely alone in this.

“You okay?” His voice was quiet, careful.

I let out a breath. “No.”

He nodded, like he understood, like he wasn’t expecting me to say anything else. He stepped further into the room, his hands slipping into his pockets. “I figured.”

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