The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy! novel Chapter 371

Chapter 371: One Condition

"Help! Somebody! Someone is drowning! DEREK! HELP!"

A young girl’s faint yet desperate voice echoed in Derek’s ears, trying to make him keep his eyes open. But even when he tried, all he could see was the young girl’s silhouette over the rippling water.

"Help!!! Please!!"

Derek reached out, panic rising in his chest. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he only sank deeper and deeper. He reached out with the last bit of his strength and consciousness—but nothing.

"Help—" The crying on the surface stopped, but the blurry figure was still there.

Just when he thought the person had left, she jumped into the water. He didn’t even know if she could swim, but she dove in and reached for him. When that small hand clasped his, he caught sight of a necklace shimmering underwater.

*

*

*

GASP!

Derek snapped his eyes open, gasping for air as if he hadn’t breathed for a long time. His hands flew to his neck as he tried to steady his breathing. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead while his lungs burned from the imagined drowning.

"You’re awake?"

Before he could even process the dream, Derek flinched at the sound of Celestine’s voice. Turning his head, he saw her standing by the window, her side leaning against the jamb, arms crossed under her chest.

She slowly turned her head and looked back at him. "Should I start scolding you now?"

"Aunt Celes." Derek sighed, ruffling his hair. "Please."

"Derek, you just attempted to take your own life." She walked toward him. "What are you expecting me to say? ’Good work’? If it weren’t for Justine, I doubt we’d be having this conversation."

He looked up at her, his face carrying exhaustion and the remnants of last night’s alcohol. He leaned back against the headboard, sighing.

"I wasn’t trying to kill myself," he whispered. "I was just trying to wake myself up."

"By submerging yourself in a tub?"

He pressed his mouth into a thin line while Celestine rolled her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze never leaving him.

"Derek, dear, do you even understand why I’m disappointed in you?" she asked, but he said nothing. "I wasn’t disappointed last night—you couldn’t have known what would happen. But what disturbed me was what you tried to do today."

"Auntie, can you blame me?" he scoffed weakly, finally meeting her eyes. "Melissa... all my life, I dedicated it to her. I worked hard with her in mind. Sure, I’m not perfect, but I did everything for both of us. I wanted to give her a good life."

Every word came from the bottom of his heart. He wasn’t perfect—he’d admired other women before, when Melissa wasn’t looking—but that was all it was. He had never crossed the line. Temptation came, but he resisted it every time. As twisted as it sounded, he wanted to make Melissa his wife. To make her happy and protect her from a cruel world.

"But last night..." he trailed off, hanging his head low. His eyes turned red. "...I don’t even know if I knew her at all."

They had grown up together, yet now, he questioned everything she had said or done.

"What do I do?" he groaned, clutching his hair as tears spilled into his lap. "Why do I even fight so fiercely?"

I can’t blame him, she thought. Even I was almost fooled by Melissa. That woman is just like her mother. She has a gift for deception, making people believe in her until they’re already trapped.

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