I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father
Chapter 250: He Was Afraid

Chapter 250: He Was Afraid

Levi stared at the newspaper spread open on his mahogany desk, his knuckles white where they pressed against the edges of the page. The headlines screamed in bold, cruel letters:

"LOVE TRIANGLE OR LOVE SQUARE? LYSE STIRS UP STORM WITH EX, HUSBAND, AND BILLIONAIRE""BRANDON THROWS PUNCHES FOR HIS PRINCESS — LYSE PULLED FROM PAPARAZZI FRENZY"

The images were worse than the words.

There, right on the front page, was a picture of Brandon with his arms protectively around Lyse. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with fear—but she was pressed against him, her body curled into his like it belonged there. Another shot showed Brandon mid-fight, a fist colliding with a paparazzo’s jaw, his expression murderous.

Levi’s stomach turned.

His heart, however, lurched.

It should have been him.

He should have been the one protecting her. Holding her. Standing between her and the cameras. Instead, he’d spent the night drinking whiskey in his empty apartment, wondering how everything had gone so wrong.

The door creaked open behind him.

He didn’t look up.

Footsteps padded in, slow and measured. Then a sigh.

"Judging from that face," Chris said as he dropped onto the leather chair across the desk, "I’m guessing you’ve already seen the papers."

Levi finally lifted his gaze. "How could I not?"

Chris grimaced. "They really went for the jugular with that one."

Levi said nothing, just pushed the paper toward his friend, who picked it up and whistled low.

"Damn," he muttered, eyes scanning the headlines. "They make it sound like she’s hosting auditions for the next bachelor."

Levi shot him a look.

Chris shrugged. "Too soon?"

"I always knew Brandon had an ulterior motive," Levi said through clenched teeth. "That is why he’s always circling. Always waiting. He acts like her savior, but he is just waiting for a moment of weakness so he can sink in his claws."

Chris looked up at him, the paper now folded on his lap. "Maybe. Or maybe she wanted him there."

Levi’s head snapped up. "What?"

"Levi," Chris said carefully, leaning forward. "Maybe it’s time you considered the possibility that Lyse might actually want Brandon."

Levi scoffed, shaking his head. "No. No. She loves me. She is married to me. This is just... a reaction. She is hurt. Angry. She feels abandoned and Brandon’s just taking advantage of it. That’s what he does—he’s a parasite."

Chris leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.

"You are convinced it’s all on Brandon’s end," he said slowly. "That Lyse is just some helpless woman being manipulated."

"She isn’t helpless," Levi snapped. "But she’s vulnerable. She’s not thinking straight—"

"Levi."

Chris’s voice cut through, calm but sharp. He met Levi’s eyes and didn’t flinch.

"There is a whole other man. Ken Stuart. You think she’s not thinking straight with him too? What’s her excuse there?"

Levi opened his mouth, then stopped.

His thoughts stalled. His heart pounded.

Chris waited.

"Is she just... lost?" Chris continued. "Accidentally finding comfort in every man around her? Or maybe, Levi—just maybe—she is not choosing you right now."

The silence in the room was thick. A clock ticked somewhere in the distance. Outside, city traffic murmured like white noise.

Levi didn’t know what to say.

Because for all the defenses he’d built—for all the certainty he carried like a shield—he couldn’t deny what he’d seen in that photo.

Lyse hadn’t looked like she was fighting to get away.

She looked like she was letting someone else take care of her.

Like she trusted Brandon to keep her safe.

Levi leaned back in his chair, dragging a hand down his face. His skin felt tight, his chest heavier than it had in weeks.

"She said she didn’t want to see me," he said finally. "After everything... she couldn’t even look at me."

Chris nodded. "And maybe she meant it. Maybe she’s still figuring it out."

"I love her," Levi said, his voice low, hoarse. "I’ve made mistakes, but everything I’ve done... it’s because I love her."

"I know that." Chris’s voice softened. "But love’s not a guarantee, man. It’s not a shield. It doesn’t make you immune to screwing things up—or to losing someone."

Levi pressed his hands together, staring at the dark wood of the desk.

"She is mine," he said quietly. "We said vows. We promised."

"Yeah," Chris said. "And now you have to figure out how to make her want to keep them."

That struck deep.

Chris stood and stretched. "You can sit here being angry at Brandon and Ken and whoever else the media throws into the mix... or you can stop blaming everyone and fight for her the right way."

Levi looked up. "And what if she doesn’t want me anymore?"

Chris looked at him for a long time, then said quietly, "Then you let her go."

That possibility was something Levi had refused to entertain—not really. It had hovered at the edges of his thoughts like a shadow, but he had always pushed it away, certain it was just fear talking.

But now...

He wasn’t so sure.

Chris grabbed the paper off the desk again and walked toward the door. Just before he left, he paused and glanced over his shoulder.

"For what it’s worth," he said, "I don’t think this is over. Not by a long shot. But you’ve gotta decide who you want to be in her story, Levi. The man she ran from—or the man she came back to."

Then he left.

The door clicked shut behind him.

Levi stared at the space Chris had occupied, then slowly turned the paper back toward himself.

He looked at Lyse’s face again. Her lips parted in fear, her body half-lifted off the ground. The way Brandon held her, the sheer tension in his frame. The way her fingers curled instinctively against his chest.

It felt like a knife to the gut.

He should’ve been there.

But he hadn’t been.

He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, the weight of everything pressing in at once.

And for the first time in weeks, Levi wasn’t angry.

He was afraid.