The Billionaire's Deadly Fake Death

Ten years. That was how long I'd spent plunging into pitchblack waters, desperately searching for my dead boyfriend's body. And now, here he was.

At a casual weekend meetup for cave divers. He sat right beside me, alive and unharmed. My eyes dropped to his left hand. A plain band gleamed on his ring finger.

A cold, suffocating weight anchored itself in my chest. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "Daphne.

You've lost weight." His gaze flicked over me. "How have you been all these years?" My fingers twitched, instinctively lifting to press against my flat stomach.

I dug my nails into the denim of my jeans, forcing my lungs to draw in a slow, steady breath. The silence stretched out, thick and heavy.

I met his eyes. "Great." My dive partner bumped her elbow against my shoulder. "Hey, Daphne, they say Julian is an absolute beast at cave diving." She tilted her chin toward him. "Haven't you been dragging that one reef for a body forever?

You should totally ask him for help." The chatter around the table shifted toward us. "Yeah, Daphne, you've got the most logged hours out of all of us," someone else chimed in from across the booth. "Have you two ever crossed paths before?" Chapter 1 I turned my head to look at Julian.

The color instantly drained from his face. His hand—the one with the gleaming wedding band—slipped quickly beneath the table.

The corners of my mouth tipped up into a hollow, polite smile. "Doesn't ring a bell.

As for the body recovery, we won't need to bother Julian with it." His shoulders dropped a fraction.

The tension around the booth dissipated as the others dropped the subject and went back to their food. I wrapped my fingers around my shot glass.

Before the rim could even touch my lips, a heavy hand clamped down on my wrist. "Daphne, you're severely allergic to alcohol. Did you forget?" I was allergic. A decade ago.

The first time I ever took a sip was at his eighteenth birthday party. My throat had closed up. I'd gone into anaphylactic shock.

Julian had spent three days and three nights glued to a plastic hospital chair by my bed until the doctors finally pulled me out of the danger zone.

After that, he never let a drop of liquor near me. My gaze dropped to the empty space on the table where his left hand was hiding.

I jerked my wrist out of his grip and downed the shot. The liquid burned a hot, fiery trail straight down my throat.

My dive partner frowned at him. "Julian, Daphne isn't allergic." A muscle ticked in his jaw. "I had a lot of friends with allergies back in the day.

Force of habit." My partner leaned forward, oblivious to the suffocating weight in the air. "By the way, are you married? I noticed the ring." Julian's eyes darted to mine.

He held my gaze before giving a stiff, jerky nod. "Yes." I stared down at the wood grain on the table. The dinner eventually wound down.

Everyone spilled out onto the sidewalk, peeling off into the night until I was the only one left standing on the curb, waiting for my Uber.

A heavy wool coat dropped over my shoulders.

Julian stepped up right behind me. "Daphne, I remember you being violently allergic." I grabbed the lapels, slid the coat off, and shoved it back into his chest. "It's been ten years.

Everything changes." I met his stare. "You did." His brows pulled together in a tight line. "Daphne, I can explain what happened back then. I didn't just disappear on purpose.

I had my reasons." "It doesn't matter anymore, Julian." My voice was deadpan. Ice cold.

His jaw tightened, a flash of defensive heat entering his eyes. "I'm standing right in front of you. I'm alive. Is this really how you're going to act?" He expected the old me.

The girl who used to launch herself into his arms the second he walked through the door. The girl who used to pace holes in the floorboards when his cave dives ran long.

The girl who would scream at him during a fight, only to bury her face in his chest sobbing two minutes later. But I just stood there.

He had no earthly idea what the last decade had ripped out of me. "What exactly do you want me to ask, Julian?" I crossed my arms, digging my fingernails into my own biceps to ground myself. "Did you get amnesia, or was there some tragic, unavoidable secret?" I shook my head slowly. "Before tonight, I thought I'd have a million questions for you if I ever saw you again.

But now? I don't have a single one." I pivoted on my heel to walk away. Chapter 2 His fingers tightened around my wrist like a vice. "Daphne, everything I did was to be with you.

I'm coming back to you soon. Why won't you just give me a single chance to explain?" Ten years.

The exact second my eyes landed on him tonight, every question I thought I had just evaporated. I didn't care where he had been hiding.

I didn't care whose bed he'd been sleeping in. Tires hissed against the asphalt as a sleek SUV pulled up to the curb right in front of us. The passenger door popped open.

A sickeningly familiar woman stepped out, immediately weaving her arm through Julian's. "Julian. I'm here to pick you up." Madison's eyes slid over to me.

Her hand flew to her mouth in a display of perfectly choreographed shock. "Oh! Daphne, you're here too! Where are you heading?

We can give you a ride." The corner of her lips twitched upward, practically radiating the smugness of a woman who had just won a grand prize.

She seemed to have blocked out the fact that if it wasn't for me, she would be rotting at the bottom of a subterranean cave right now. "I'm good." I popped the door handle of my waiting Uber and slid into the backseat.

As I pulled the door shut, Madison's voice pierced through the night air. "It's our daughter's birthday party the day after tomorrow! You should come, Daphne!" I didn't look back.

I just told the driver to hit the gas. I cracked the window. The cold night air whipped my hair across my face, pulling me back into a past I'd spent a decade trying to bury.

Julian and I met in high school, and cave diving brought us together.

From that first plunge, we were practically inseparable, never missing a single milestone in each other's lives.

I was a notoriously picky eater, so he spent hours watching cooking tutorials just to mealprep healthy lunches for me.

I was prone to low blood sugar crashes, so he never left the house without a stash of my favorite peach rings in his duffel bag.

The second he turned eighteen, he took out a massive life insurance policy and listed me as the sole beneficiary, terrified of leaving me with nothing if a dive went wrong.

He used to kiss the crown of my head and swear he'd never let me struggle for a single day.

That all held true until the day I dragged a halfdrowned Madison out of an underwater tunnel.

I saved her life, and in return, she seamlessly slotted herself into the empty space next to him. They clicked. They had a rhythm I suddenly couldn't match.

Ten years ago, we agreed to do one final cave dive. He went down into the dark, and he never came back up.

My own oxygen tank had been gutted—someone had deliberately tampered with the valve.

Even staring at the red zone on my pressure gauge, I forced myself to turn around and plunge back into the depths to find him.

I broke the surface tension of the water a microsecond before my lungs gave out. The rapid ascent gave me severe decompression sickness.

Now, a deep, gnawing ache lives permanently in my bones. But worse than the physical agony was the blood in the water.

That rushed ascent tore the tiny, undiscovered life from my womb, leaving it buried at the bottom of that suffocating ocean trench. Ten years.

That specific reef became my personal purgatory. Every single time I strapped on a tank and dropped into the abyss, I was betting my own life on finding his bones.

And yet, here he was. Breathing. Walking. Standing under the streetlights with Madison draped over his arm. I unlocked the front door to my apartment.

My mother was sitting on my couch, looking up from her phone with a sneer that she didn't even try to hide. "Daphne, let me guess, you were out dredging for corpses again?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You are completely useless.

You finally manage to hook a guy with a trust fund, and he goes and dies on you.

You need to get out there and bag another rich one soon so your brother can cover the down payment on his new place." I didn't even break my stride.

I just walked straight past her toward my bedroom.

For as long as I could remember, my parents had treated me like a walking ATM, a bargaining chip to fund their golden boy. "Excuse me, Daphne!

What the hell is that attitude?" my mother shrieked at my back. "Do you have any idea what it cost to raise you?

You're not even a fraction of the kid your brother is!" The bedroom door clicked shut, severing her voice. Nobody remembered what today was. Not Julian. Not my own parents.

Today was my birthday. Early the next morning, I swung my front door open to leave for work. A massive, obnoxious bouquet of red roses was sitting right on my welcome mat.

A thick cream envelope was tucked between the thorns. The handwriting was unmistakable. Daphne, please. Can we just meet?

My mother materialized from the kitchen, her eyes instantly locking onto the flowers like a hawk. She grabbed my forearm. "Did a guy send these, and what does he do for a living?

Listen to me, you need to play hard to get. Don't just give it away for free, make sure he's loaded." I ripped my arm out of her grip.

Without a single word, I scooped up the entire bundle of roses, marched over to the alley, and shoved them straight into the dumpster.

Chapter 3 I bypassed my parents' house entirely and drove straight to my own apartment—a cramped, twohundredsquarefoot studio I'd rented ten years ago just to be closer to the dive site where Julian vanished.

The second I stepped off the elevator, I froze. Julian was leaning against my front door. "Daphne." I locked my jaw, my teeth grinding together. "Julian, you're a married man.

Stay out of my life." He lunged forward, his arms wrapping tightly around me. "I came back for you, we can still be together.

I already talked to Madison, and she agreed to let me bring you into our home." I slammed both hands against his chest, shoving him away. "What do you take me for, Julian?

A mistress?" Blood rushed up his neck, flushing his skin a dull red. "I didn't have a choice.

Ten years ago… Madison just needed me more." I took a slow step backward, putting distance between us. "Fine. Let me ask you this.

Is Madison's kid yours?" Silence hung heavily in the hallway. "And one more thing.

Do you love her?" His mouth opened, but before a sound could come out, his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and hit answer.

Two voices filtered clearly through the speaker. "Honey, Penny wants those pastries from the west side." Then, a sharp, highpitched voice. "Daddy!

Come home, I miss you." Julian instinctively stepped back, his thumb pressing down on the volume button to muffle the sound. "Be a good girl, sweetheart.

Daddy's on his way." He tapped the red button and slid the phone away, looking back at me. "Daphne, the only woman I've ever loved is—" I cut him off. "How old is she?" He stopped.

A muscle feathered in his cheek. "Ten." A dry, hollow laugh scraped its way up my throat. "Get out, Julian." His eyes searched my face for a long time, looking for a crack in my composure.

Finally, he turned toward the elevator. "Wait for me. I'll see you soon." The elevator doors slid shut.

The second the metal clicked together, a sharp, blinding ache splintered through my joints. I slumped against the wall, wrapping my arms tightly around my ribs. Ten years old.

The exact same year my baby's heart stopped beating at the bottom of the ocean, his and Madison's daughter took her first breath.

He had been sleeping with her while we were still together.

Every single night I had spent writhing in agony from decompression sickness, mourning his death, he had been playing house with her.

I used to think Julian was the lifeline that pulled me out of the swamp of my toxic family. Instead, he just shoved me into a different kind of hell.

Early the next morning, the deadbolt on my apartment door clicked open. My parents pushed their way inside. "Daphne, get up. Put some makeup on.

You're coming with us." I didn't have the energy to fight off my mother's hysterical screaming and fake crying.

I just numbly got dressed and followed them to whatever highend hotel they had dragged me to.

The second we stepped through the double doors into the grand ballroom, my stomach dropped.

A few steps in, Julian stood waiting. "Daphne, you didn't even tell us Julian was back in town!" my mother chirped, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Now be a good girl.

Stop throwing tantrums and have a nice chat with him." My eyes dropped to my mother's neck. A thick, glittering diamond tennis necklace rested against her collarbone.

Heavy gold bracelets clinked on my father's wrists. The realization hit me like a bucket of ice water. "Daphne.

I told you I'd see you soon," Julian said, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "You're a married man, Julian. Keep your distance," I stated flatly.

My mother's fingers dug viciously into the back of my arm, her manicured nails biting into my skin. "Shut your mouth, you stupid girl!

So what if he has a wife, look at all the billionaires and CEOs who have arrangements.

As long as he takes care of you, what's the problem?" Chapter 4 That was my parents in a nutshell.

They'd slap a barcode on my forehead and scan me at the checkout if the price was right.

I grabbed Julian by the elbow and hauled him into the nearest emergency stairwell, letting the heavy metal door slam shut behind us. "What exactly is your endgame here, Julian?" His hands clamped down on my shoulders. "To get you back." A harsh, dry sound escaped my throat. "Do you hear yourself?

What makes you think you can just snap your fingers and I'll come running like a stray dog?" The veins in his neck strained. "I have money. I have a lot of money now, Daphne.

Name your price, because whatever you and your parents want, I can write the check." I brought my hand back and cracked it hard across his cheek.

The sharp smack echoed off the concrete walls. "Is that all I am to you? An item on a shelf?" He stumbled back a halfstep as the red handprint bloomed rapidly across his jaw.

His chest heaved as he stared at me. "Your parents already told me everything, saying you're just looking for a rich guy to settle down with.

If you're willing to sell out to some stranger, why not me? Is my bank account not big enough for you?

He stepped closer, boxing me in against the railing. "I swallowed my pride to come find you. You're thirtyfive, Daphne, how much market value do you think you have left?

Nobody else is going to pay top dollar to take you in." The heavy metal door screeched open. Madison poked her head in. "Honey, the birthday banquet is starting.

Penny is asking for you." Julian dragged his eyes over me one last time, then brushed past me and walked out.

Madison lingered in the doorway for a split second, the corners of her lips pulling into a sickly sweet, calculated curve before she followed him.

I stepped out into the crowded hall just as the banquet was officially kicking off. Suddenly, a sharp, whitehot prick stabbed into the back of my hand.

I yanked my arm back on pure reflex. I looked down. A little girl stood by my knees, clutching an iron nail in her fist. Penny.

The sudden movement drew a dozen pairs of eyes. "Penny!" Julian and Madison shoved their way through the crowd, dropping to their knees to scoop the kid off the carpet.

Madison's voice pitched up into a trembling, theatrical wail. "Daphne, I know you despise me, but how could you take it out on an innocent child?" I stood perfectly still. "I didn't touch her." Julian's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he glared up at me from the floor. "You crossed the line, Daphne.

She's ten years old." In the span of thirty seconds, I had become public enemy number one in a room full of strangers.

My mother materialized out of nowhere, her hands clamping down on the back of my neck, trying to physically force my head into a bow. "We are so, so sorry for our daughter's behavior!

Apologize right now, Daphne!" "When did you turn into something so ugly?" Julian spat out the words, hoisting Penny into his arms and storming off toward the VIP section. "Listen to me very carefully," my mother hissed directly into my ear. "You are going to find an excuse to grovel and apologize.

If you let him slip through your fingers, you'll regret it for the rest of your miserable life." Less than two minutes later, two massive guys in black suits—Julian's private security—escorted me out the double doors and into the lobby.

I was halfway to the revolving doors when the click of high heels echoed on the marble floor behind me.

Madison cut in front of me, blocking my path to the exit. "Don't flatter yourself.

I know Julian went looking for you," she said, dropping the sweetmother act entirely. "Stop dreaming, Daphne.

Do you honestly think he loves you?" She leaned in close. "Ten years ago, he didn't get lost.

To get away and marry me, Julian intentionally swam down a different tunnel the second he dropped below the surface.

We have a decade of history you can never touch." The second the words left her mouth, her lips curled into a predatory smirk.

Then, she threw her entire body backward, slamming hard onto the marble floor. "Daphne, please!" she screamed, her voice cracking with manufactured terror. "I know I owe you my life!

I'm sorry I took him from you!" Down the corridor, the heavy doors burst open. Julian came sprinting toward us.

Chapter 5 "Madison, are you hurt?" Julian dropped to his knees, his hands frantically checking her arms.

He glared up at me, his jaw tight. "Madison invited you out of the goodness of her heart! She's nothing like you.

She's been defending you this entire time, and this is how you repay her?" I stared down at him. "I didn't touch her." "Watch yourself, Daphne.

Keep pulling stunts like this, and you won't get a single cent out of me." He scooped Madison into his arms and strode down the marble hall.

When I was nineteen, Julian used to stand exactly like that—shielding me behind his back when my parents cornered me for cash, swearing he'd never let anyone lay a finger on me.

By the time I got back to my apartment, my phone screen was blowing up with news notifications. Billionaire Cave Diver Retires for His Muse.

The headline sat above a meticulously edited video montage spanning ten years of beach vacations, stolen kisses, and a growing daughter.

Overnight, Julian was rebranded as the ultimate devoted husband who survived a neardeath experience to make it home to his soulmate. Ten years of my life.

Ten years of diving into black water until my bones felt like they were splintering. Erased like dust. I walked out of my apartment before dawn the next morning.

Julian was leaning against the hallway wall. He looked like he'd been standing there all night. "What do you want?" I asked.

Julian looked down at his expensive leather shoes. "I'm willing to overlook what you pulled yesterday.

Give me one more month, and I'll have everything arranged for you to move in, but I have one condition.

You need to treat Penny right." He stepped closer. "I'm keeping you close, but you have to show some respect to Madison. She's been my wife for a decade.

Stop targeting her." I didn't blink. I just stared at the wall behind his head.

The dead silence stretched out until a vein throbbed in his neck. "It was only ten years, Daphne!" he snapped."Are you really going to hold a grudge over that forever?

Don't you even care why I had to do it?" Ten years. He tossed the words out like he was talking about a traffic jam. "Take your pathetic charity and shove it, Julian.

I don't need you." I turned toward the elevator. His hand shot out, clamping around my bicep. "Is this about the kid? My kid is your kid. We can just have another one.

We'll build our own family." My free hand drifted to the flat denim over my stomach. The phantom ache of decompression sickness flared in my pelvis.

I would never carry a child again. "Let go, Julian," I said, my voice deadpan. "I have to go to the airport to pick up my boyfriend." Julian's eyes went wide.

His grip tightened. "You are such a liar. Cut the bullshit." He was convinced this was just a jealous tantrum.

He dragged me by the arm all the way down to the parking garage and shoved me into the passenger seat of his car. "Fine. You want to pick up this imaginary boyfriend?

I'll drive you." His SUV tore down the highway. He shadowed me all the way into the arrivals terminal, crossing his arms and wearing a mocking smirk. The minutes ticked by.

Hundreds of passengers spilled through the sliding glass doors. No one stopped for me. Julian grabbed my wrist again. "Enough, Daphne, the show's over.

I already bought a condo for you to stay in until I finalize the arrangements.

Don't worry, you'll get the exact allowance you want." I yanked my arm back and took a wide step away. "Back off.

My boyfriend gets jealous." Julian opened his mouth to laugh, the smirk spreading across his face.

A voice cut through the noise of the terminal. "Daphne!" Chapter 6 A few yards away, a man in a sharply tailored suit strode toward us, pulling a sleek carryon.

He stopped right beside me, slipping his hand naturally into mine. His voice was smooth and effortless. "Daphne.

Who's this?" The corners of my mouth lifted. "Julian." The smug certainty wiped clean off Julian's face.

The blood drained from his cheeks, leaving him ashen as his eyes darted between our locked hands and my face. "I actually caught the news yesterday.

Congratulations on retiring for your wife, Julian," Kael said. He extended his free hand. "I'm Daphne's boyfriend. Kael." Julian's arm jerked up mechanically.

He took Kael's hand, but his dark, burning stare stayed locked on my face, desperately searching my expression for a crack, a tell, anything to prove this was a lie.

His jaw worked as he opened his mouth, but a sharp ringtone sliced through the tension. He answered it, the phone tight against his ear. "Honey, Penny is sick.

Come back right now." Julian ended the call. He lingered for three agonizing seconds, his boots glued to the tile, before he finally spun around and walked away.

Kael guided me out of the terminal and into the back of a waiting black SUV.

The tinted windows rolled up, shutting out the world. "Daphne, if you're holding back because of your parents… whatever number they're looking for, I can write the check." I shook my head slowly, leaning back against the leather seat. "They aren't getting a single dime.

The second I wrap up the loose ends here, we're leaving the country." Kael reached over, his fingers brushing softly through my hair.

I'd pulled Kael out of the exact same black water where I'd been hunting for Julian's bones. He was a massive player in the European tech sector.

Six months ago, a brutal corporate buyout had sent him spiraling. He flew out to the coast to clear his head, rented a boat, and ended up going over the railing in a bad storm.

I dragged him back to the surface. Since then, he'd been flying under the radar, crossing the Atlantic just to see me. Nobody knew about us. "Kael.

Julian…" I started, the name tasting like ash in my mouth. Kael offered a quiet, reassuring smile. "I know what you're going to say, but it's in the past.

Sooner or later, the bill always comes due, and he's going to pay for what he did." Since Kael flew in, I kept him completely off the grid, miles away from my parents' radar.

But ever since that disaster of a birthday banquet, my parents had locked onto Julian like bloodhounds on a scent.

My mother even went as far as snatching a steak knife from the kitchen block and pressing the serrated edge against her own throat, screaming at me to go beg for Julian's forgiveness. "Daphne!

Julian already said he's filing for divorce soon!" she shrieked, the blade trembling against her skin. "If you don't lock him down right now, some other bitch is going to steal him!

Do you want your brother to lose the down payment on his house?" I leaned against the doorframe, my eyes utterly dead as I watched her performance. "And if I don't go?" Her eyes went wide and bloodshot, spit flying from her lips. "Don't you dare!

If you don't walk out that door right now, I will kill myself! I swear to God!" I crossed my arms. My pulse didn't even spike. I just watched her put on her little show.

My father and brother chimed in right on cue from the living room sofa. "You should be down on your knees thanking God a billionaire still wants you," my father grunted, not even looking up from the TV. "You're completely ungrateful.

You have no idea what your mother sacrifices for you." My brother stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth. "Yeah, Daphne. Mom's doing this for the family.

Don't be selfish." I stared at the three leeches sitting in my apartment. A hollow, pathetic kind of disgust settled in my ribs. Knock. Knock. I turned and unlatched the deadbolt.

Julian stood in the hallway. "Oh!

Julian is here!" My mother instantly dropped the steak knife on the counter, her suicidal meltdown vanishing into thin air as she practically sprinted to the door. "Perfect timing!

Daphne was just waiting for you." Julian stepped inside, his hands full of highend designer gift bags. My parents' eyes lit up like slot machines hitting the jackpot.

They snatched the bags out of his hands, tripping over themselves to thank him, and herded my brother out the front door. The lock clicked shut behind them. Julian and I were alone.

Chapter 7 Julian leaned against the closed door, a smug smile spreading across his face. "Daphne, I knew you were bluffing yesterday. Drop the act.

It's not funny anymore." "Julian." I stared him dead in the eye, my voice flat. "I'll say this one last time: I don't love you, and I don't want to be with you.

This isn't a tantrum." The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a dark, heavy shadow. The muscles in his jaw flexed. "Did you actually move on, Daphne?

After everything, do you really think you can say that to me?" I took a step forward. My eyes burned, hot and bloodshot. "You don't get to say that to me.

The only person in this miserable life I never let down was you." And then, it hit.

The deep, suffocating pressure from a decade of rapid ascents clawed its way out of my bone marrow, igniting my joints in a blinding, whitehot flash. I folded in half.

My arms locked around my ribs.

Julian's brows pulled together. "What are you doing?" The agony was tearing me apart, ten times worse than the usual dull ache. "Stop playing the victim, Daphne.

You're not changing the subject." His voice echoed, distorted and far away. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't even force a sound out of my throat. My vision blacked out at the edges.

The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was the sudden, raw panic breaking through his arrogant facade as he lunged toward me.

The sterile smell of rubbing alcohol dragged me back to a hazy, fragmented consciousness.

The harsh fluorescent lights burned through my eyelids, but I kept them shut, my body too heavy to move. "…her again." A doctor's heavy sigh floated above me. "What do you mean by that?" Julian's voice was sharp and demanding. "You know her?" "Who are you to the patient?" the doctor asked.

A beat of silence. Julian couldn't answer. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded, the edge of real panic finally bleeding into his tone. "Severe decompression sickness.

It's a permanent condition.

The bone pain is chronic." Julian knew exactly what that meant. "Does she come here often for the pain?" "Not just for the pain," the doctor replied, his voice guarded. "I can't disclose the rest of her medical history." The squeak of rubber soles on linoleum.

Julian paced the room, a phone pressed to his ear. "Pull every medical record she has at this hospital. Now." Minutes bled together.

The phone buzzed. "What did you find?" Julian snapped. A long pause.

I could hear the tinny, muffled voice of his assistant through the receiver. "Sir, hospital records show a surgical procedure following a miscarriage… I'm pulling the exact dates now." A sharp intake of breath.

The sickening crunch of a plastic water bottle crushing in Julian's fist