I Knew He Was A Billionaire, I Let Him Pretend To Be Poor Chapter 12

I Knew He Was A Billionaire, I Let Him Pretend To Be Poor Chapter 12

Nolan pushed me out of the way and took the hit.

He’d live. But he was banged up badly.

The real problem was that he was refusing medical treatment.

His mother called and asked if I’d come see him.

She hated me more than ever. I could hear it. But the arrogance was gone. She just sounded tired.

I hadn’t expected him to do what he did. Not really.

I thought about it for a long time. Then I just went.

He looked rough. Pale, bandaged, smaller than I remembered.

He didn’t expect me. He tried to sit up and immediately fell back, face twisting.

I sat down and set my bag on the bedside table.

He couldn’t hide how happy he was to see me.

I kept my voice even.

“Why aren’t you letting them treat you? Stop playing games with your life.”

“I am… I mean, I wasn’t trying to… I was just…” He swallowed. “I just really wanted to see you.’

“Well, now you’ve seen me. So listen to the doctors/Do what they tell you. Recover properly. Don’t do permanent damage to yourself just to prove a point.”

His eyes went red.

He nodded fast, almost frantic. “Okay. I’ll do whatever you say. Mara, does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?”

I didn’t answer that.

Instead, I said something else.

“Nolan, I’ve always believed that everything costs something.”

“When I wanted company, I accepted the risk that you and Grant would humiliate me. That was the price.”

Nolan’s mouth opened. It took him a while. “I would never have let Grant hurt you.”

I shook my head.

“And you? When you decided to play with me, what were you willing to pay?”

Were you going to throw money at me when the truth came out? Buy

Panic flickered across his face.

“No, I…”

I cut him off.

y silence?”

I picked up an apple from his hospital lunch tray and turned it over in my hands, running my thumb across

the skin.

“From now until you truly let me go and forget what happened between us, every second of pain you feel is the price. That’s how it works.”

I pressed the apple into his hand. Then, one last time, I reached up and touched his face.

“Get better. Pay it off. And then start over.”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person. But everybody pays. Right?” I smiled. “Goodbye, Nolan.”

He called after me. I didn’t turn around.

His mother reached out a few more times after that.

She said he’d never gotten over it. He’d gone quiet. Cut off most of his friends. Pulled away from the family.

She offered me a job at their company after graduation.

I turned her down every time.

What did it mean to be alive?

Was it about finding happiness, or just outrunning the pain?

There was a time when not hurting was the best I could hope for.

But enough time had passed. I had a different answer now.

Knowing I had tomorrows, real ones where I could build something good, was enough.

I wanted peace. I wanted joy. And for the first time, I believed I was brave enough to go after them.

Whatever it cost, I was ready to pay.