The Broke, Mute Boy I Saved Was a Bored Billionaire Chapter 08

The Broke, Mute Boy I Saved Was a Bored Billionaire Chapter 08

Three years later, I returned to Rivenhurst.

The Rothwells’ car was waiting when my plane landed, and Dr. Odessa Rothwell had come to pick me up herself.

She pulled me into a warm embrace. “Welcome home, Tressa.”

I hugged her back, but the moment her face moved out of sight, my expression went cold.

There was no simple way to describe what those three years in the clinical trial had cost me.

More than once, the treatment left me in such agony that the other doctors wanted to stop. Dr. Rothwell never hesitated.

“Increase the dose,” she would say. “Whether she survives it is up to her.”

The worst reaction stopped my breathing completely. The medical team believed I was dead, but somewhere inside my body, I was still conscious.

I heard Dr. Rothwell click her tongue.

“I thought she’d fight harder for Bastien. Guess she’s not as useful as I expected.”

“Her family already thinks she’s dead. Don’t bother calling them. Send her to the morgue.”

She sounded exactly like the wealthy kids who had turned my life into a game.

—

The rage brought me back.

After that, my body slowly began to tolerate the treatment.

By the end of the three-year trial, I had recovered far better than anyone expected.

Now Dr. Rothwell was bringing me home as her legally adopted daughter. I would appear beside her at medical conferences and press events, living proof of her groundbreaking success.

“Come to the estate with me,” she said as the car pulled away from the airport. “We’re having a family dinner tonight. It’s time everyone met my new daughter.”

Her smile deepened. “Besides, haven’t you been dying to see my son again?”

I lowered my eyes, pretending to be shy. “I have. I just don’t know whether Bastien still remembers me.”

Dr. Rothwell watched me through the rearview mirror, amusement flickering in her eyes.

“That little death act of yours destroyed him.”

“He wanted Veda prosecuted, childhood friendship be damned. His father and I had to work hard to keep him from pressing charges.”

“For three years, he searched for your grave. I kept inventing excuses to stop him from finding out there wasn’t one.”

“He’s dated more women than I can count, but every one of them looked a little like you.”

—

She gave a soft laugh. “I’ll admit, you played that beautifully.”

Then her tone sharpened.

“But let’s be clear. I don’t care if the two of you get back together. Bastien is a Rothwell, though, and men in his position eventually make strategic marriages.”

“When that happens, you stay out of sight. No scenes, no public claims, and no one finds out about you. Understood?”

I nodded obediently. “Of course.”

Satisfied, she handed me a vintage sapphire bracelet.

“Put this on. It’ll look good with that ivory silk dress.”

I accepted it with a grateful smile and turned it over in my hands as though it were priceless.

The moment she looked away, my mouth curved with quiet contempt.

She liked believing I was still hopelessly obsessed with Bastien.

So I would give her exactly what she wanted to see.

Just as Bastien once had for me.

He had not arrived when we reached the Rothwell Estate.

The rest of the family barely acknowledged me. To people like them, someone from my background was nothing more than a disposable piece on the board.

More than an hour passed before Bastien finally came.

—

I heard his footsteps moving quickly through the house. They stopped a few feet behind me.

His breathing was heavy, as though he had run the entire way.

“Tressa.”

His voice was so hoarse I barely recognized it.

I turned slowly and gave him a polished smile.

“There you are, little brother.”

Bastien’s pupils contracted.