Don’t Fall for the Billionaire Lover

Chloe's words left everyone at the table a little misty-eyed.

Glasses clinked as each person lifted their drink in a toast to her. When they all took a sip, it felt like the weight of the past two years the worry, the pain, the hopelessness—just fizzed away, leaving nothing but the tingle of bubbles and a slow, quiet relief.

Isaac broke the silence. "Honestly, Chloe, out of all of us, Connor had it the hardest while you were gone. He never stopped looking for you, day and night. The world's a big place, and Lucas made things even harder by giving you that fake identity. We're lucky, you know? If fate hadn't stepped in, who knows how much longer you and Connor would've been apart."

The name Lucas seemed to suck the air right out of the room. For a moment, no one spoke.

Isaac, a little too happy from the wine, hadn't meant to bring up old wounds. Taylor shot him a look-really, Isaac? Of all times?

Everyone knew Lucas was the one who'd stolen Chloe away. Those two years had been absolute hell for Connor. Bringing it up now was like twisting a knife.

But Connor just shrugged it off and smiled a little. "You're right. I'm just grateful things turned out the way they did."

Taylor stood up and walked over to Chloe, her face earnest. "Chloe, I know it was because my brother took you on that test flight that all of this happened. He's felt awful about it ever since. I want to apologize for him, even if he can't be here to do it himself."

As soon as Taylor mentioned Grant, Isaac seemed to snap out of his haze. His voice went cold. "Taylor, sit down. Let's not talk about your brother tonight."

No one really knew the whole story behind Chloe's

disappearance-whether it was really the test flight with Grant, something else entirely. All Isaac knew was that Connor had always suspected Grant, and over these two years, the two men had practically gone to war in business, each trying to outdo the other.

Taylor had been kept out of the worst of it. She just knew the Shaw family wasn't exactly fond of her brother, and most of her fights with Isaac had started because of Grant.

She was too kind-hearted for all this mess, and Isaac tried to keep her away from the drama.

But Taylor frowned, stubborn. "Isaac, what's that supposed to mean? Why do you hate my brother so much?"

Taylor's heart always ached when

Grant came up. He was the one who'd looked after her since they were kids, the only real family she'd ever had. Isaac hadn't always been like this-he used to respectGrant. But ever since Chloe went missing, everything changed. Now they acted like rivals, and Taylor was stuck in between the two people she cared about most.

Isaac walked over and gently took her hand. "Taylor, there are things you just don't understand..."noveldrama

Chloe watched, completely lost. She knew Taylor was Isaac's

fiancée-fresh out of college, already engaged, their party had been the talk of the year. Taylor was, for all

intents and purposes, ab orall

become her sister-in-law.

But this brother Taylor kept mentioning-Chloe couldn't remember Connor ever talking about him. And yet, for some reason, she had a feeling he was important.

Almost without thinking, Chloe blurted out, "Taylor, who's your brother?"

Right then, the butler burst in from outside, clearly out of breath and anxious. Neil caught sight of him and stood up. "What happened?"