Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 530

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Emmy let out a laugh, but it was sharp and edged with frustration.

“Dean, are you seriously not listening to me?”

He stared at her, his usual cool distance replaced by eyes shining with unshed tears. In that second, he looked like a lost kid, abandoned by everyone.

“Emmy, I really can’t do this without you.”

“My dad never cared about me. My mom left me. You’re all I’ve got left in this world…”

Emmy’s brows pulled tight, her patience wearing thin.

In her last life, that exact line had fooled her. She’d truly believed she was the only one who mattered to him—the center of his world. That’s why she’d given up her career, traded her dreams for a life in the kitchen, all to create a home just for him.

But she saw things clearly now. No one is born to save someone else, and no one should ever lose themselves just to keep another person happy. Giving up your own life for someone else? That’s about as foolish as it gets.

She looked him dead in the eye, her voice calm and steady. “You have friends, Dean. Lots of them.”

“Don’t make me lose respect for you.”

That shut him down. Every excuse, every plea he’d been ready to spill—it all died on his lips.

Dean stared at her, taking in her cold, unyielding expression. His heart twisted painfully in his chest.

If she hated how hard he chased her, he could back off. Start over, be friends again, take things slow. As long as he could stay close to her, he’d take whatever he could get.

He looked at her carefully, his voice soft. “So… would you still want to be my friend?”

Emmy frowned, saying nothing.

Her silence said it all.

Dean’s heart dropped, desperation creeping into his voice.

“If we can’t be together, does that mean we can’t even be friends?”

“We grew up together. I was your very first friend, you know? Since the day you were born.”

“I taught you to walk, taught you to talk…”

“You really want to throw away all those years? Not even friendship left?”

It was true. For more than twenty years, Dean had been the most important person in her life. Her very first teacher, her first playmate. She’d honestly believed they’d get their fairy-tale ending, just like in the stories.