Billionaire's Bounty Cost Of Love And Revenge novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Asher’s POV

The chair beneath me is stiff, and the air in the office feels heavier than before. It’s been a week since Marcus’s funeral, but his absence still echoes through every inch of this place. I should be used to this by now. I should have settled into my role, into this office, into the life that was never meant to be mine. But I haven’t.

I press my fingers to my temples, willing the headache away. The day has been nothing but meetings, numbers, and decisions I don’t feel qualified to make. Every time someone calls me Mr. Sterling, I feel like they’re talking to a ghost.

The knock on the door is soft, but it cuts through the silence like a blade.

“Asher?” Ivy’s voice is warm, a tether pulling me back before I get lost in my thoughts again.

I exhale, forcing myself to sit up straighter. “Come in.”

She steps inside, the scent of her perfume a familiar comfort. She doesn’t look at the paperwork on my desk or the unread messages on my screen. She looks at me, really looks at me, the way she always does.

“You didn’t answer my texts,” she says gently. “I got worried.”

I sigh, rubbing my eyes. “Sorry. Just… a long day.”

She closes the door behind her and walks over, placing a hand on my arm. “Every day has been a long day.”

I let out a hollow laugh. “You’re not wrong.”

She watches me for a moment before sitting on the edge of my desk, her legs crossed at the ankles. “Talk to me.”

I glance at the door, then back at her. The walls of this office have heard so many of Marcus’s conversations, his plans, his commands. It feels wrong to sit here and complain about a role I was forced into when he never had a choice.`

“I feel like a fraud, Ivy,” I admit, my voice quieter than I intended.

Her brows pull together. “What?”

I shake my head, looking down at my hands. “Everyone acts like I belong here, like I’m supposed to be sitting in this chair, running this company. But this was Marcus’s world. He built this, he was this. I’m just… filling a space that wasn’t meant for me.”

Her expression softens, and she reaches for my hand, her fingers warm against mine. “You’re not just filling a space, Asher. You’ve been doing this for months, even before he” She stops, swallowing hard before continuing. “Before everything happened.”

I scoff. “I stood in for him. That’s different. Back then, he was still coming back.”

She squeezes my hand. “And now he’s not.”

I flinch, but I don’t pull away. The truth still cuts, even when it comes from her.

“You think Marcus never had doubts?” she asks.

I blink at her. “What?”

She tilts her head. “You think he sat in this chair and never questioned himself? Never wondered if he was making the right decisions? I bet he did, more times than you know.”

I want to argue, to tell her that Marcus was never uncertain, never wavered, but the words die before they reach my lips.

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Chapter 155

“He wasn’t just Marcus Sterling, CEO of Sterling Industries,” she continues. “He was a person. A man who made choices, who carried the weight of al this just like you are now. But he wasn’t perfect.

I let out a slow breath. “I don’t need to be perfect, Ivy. I just need to be him.”

She frowns. “No, you don’t.”

I shake my head, pulling my hand from hers as I stand. “I do. That’s what everyone expects. The board, the employees, the media” I gesture vaguely toward the window. “Hell, even the city. They don’t want me sitting here. They want Marcus.”

She stands too, closing the distance between us. “No one expects you to be Marcus.”

I laugh bitterly. “Are you sure about that? Because every time I make a decision, someone brings up what he would have done. Every time I speak, I see the way people measure my words against his. I know I’m not him, Ivy. But I don’t think anyone else has figured that out yet.”

She sighs, reaching up to touch my face. “They know. They just don’t want to admit that things are different now. It’s hard for people to let go of someone like him.”

I close my eyes at her touch, letting the warmth of it ground me. “I don’t want to let go either.”

Her fingers tighten slightly against my jaw. “You don’t have to. But you can’t lose yourself trying to be him.”

I open my eyes, searching hers. “Then who am I supposed to be?”

She gives me a small, sad smile. “Asher. The same man who stepped up when the world was falling apart. The same man who’s been holding everything together, even when he didn’t have to. You’re not Marcus. But you’re you. And that’s enough.”

I let out a shaky breath, my chest tight with everything I don’t have words for. “What if I fail?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Then you fail. And you learn. And you keep going.”

I shake my head, my voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know if I can.”

She moves closer, wrapping her arms around me. “Then let me believe in you until you do.”

For a long moment, I just stand there, my forehead resting against hers, the weight of the day pressing into me from all sides. But Ivy holds me steady, like she always does.

Eventually, I exhale, my grip tightening around her. “You know you’re the only thing keeping me from completely losing it, right?”

She smiles against my skin. “That’s what I’m here for.”

I don’t know how long we stand there, but for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I have to hold everything together on my own.

Janine’s POV

The rows of grapevines stretched endlessly before me, their twisted branches bare in the early spring air. I traced my fingers over the rough bark, exhaling slowly as the cool wind carried the faintest scent of earth and rain. Sterling Winery had always been Marcus’s dream, his legacy, but now it was

mine.

I wasn’t ready for it.

The weight of everything–the expectations, the responsibilities, the fear of failing, pressed down on me like a crushing tide. The workers had b patient, but I could see the uncertainty in their eyes when they looked at me. They had followed Marcus with confidence. With me, they hesitated.

And maybe they were right to.

Hleaned against one of the old wooden posts, my fingers tightening around the edge as my vision blurred. My chest ached, my throat tightened, but i refused to let the tears fall. I was the new head of Sterling Winery. I had to be strong. I had to be capable. I had to

Chapter 155

A quiet sob slipped but before I could stop it.

I pressed the heel of my hand against my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut. The vineyard was supposed to be a place of peace, but allra (as the suffocating weight of everything I didn’t know. The reports, the meetings, the business decisions, Marcus had understood them’s effortunely 1974 drowning in them.

I didn’t hear Luca approach.

“Janing.”

His voice was gentle, careful, like he already knew I was breaking.

I turned away, wiping my face roughly. “I’m fine.”

Luca didn’t answer right away. I heard the crunch of his boots on the dirt as he moved closer. He didn’t say anything, didn’t try to force me to burn around, but he didn’t leave either.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered. The words felt heavier out loud. I shook my head, arms wrapping around myself. “I thought I could, but I don’t know what I’m doing, Luca. I don’t belong here.”

He stepped closer, his warmth just behind me. “You think Marcus knew everything when he started?”

I let out a shaky breath. “He was different. He was made for this.”

Luca sighed, and a moment later, his hand rested gently on my shoulder. I didn’t pull away.

“Marcus wasn’t perfect, Janine. He learned. He struggled. He made mistakes,” Luca said quietly. “You think he built this place overnight? You think he didn’t have moments like this?”

I swallowed hard, staring at the ground. “I don’t remember him ever doubting himself.”

“That’s because he never showed it. Not to you.”

I turned to look at him then. “Did he ever tell you?”

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