The Security Guard Ex and My Billionaire Husband

Everyone said I was destined for a life of poverty.

I worked twjobs tsupport my boyfriend's tech startup for twyears.

But when I lost my job due tsevere pregnancy sickness, we faced an immediate eviction.

I begged Liam tsell his expensive gaming computer tpay our rent.

He sneered, telling me I was a dead weight holding back his vision, and kicked me out intthe freezing blizzard.

I lost my baby that night in the snow.

That was when Julian Sterling, the city's most ruthless billionaire, found me.

He married me, wiped away my tears, and gave me the world.

For four years, he spoiled me rotten, making me the envy of the elite circle.

Everything was perfect until I took our son this elite kindergarten.

I was waiting in the lobby when I accidentally overheard the new security guard talking ta teacher.

"Did you really let your pregnant ex walk out intthe blizzard?" the teacher asked.

"Of course," Liam laughed coldly. "She was a broke loser. I kept the rent money she gave me tbuy a new gaming rig. Best decision I ever made."

***

The bright pink paper taped to apartment 4B demanded my attention before I even turned the knob.

FINAL NOTICE TO VACATE - FOURTEEN DAYS.

I ripped the sheet off the peeling wood, my stomach roiling with the same violent nausea that had cost me my marketing job exactly eight weeks ago.

Inside, the frantic clicking of a mechanical keyboard echoed down the narrow hallway.

"Liam." I held the crumpled paper up as I stepped into the dim living room. "We have two weeks before the sheriff locks us out."

He did not turn away from his dual curved monitors. The harsh blue light washed over his face, highlighting the dark circles under his eyes and the week-old stubble on his jaw.

"I am in the middle of a guild raid, Chloe. Just give me ten minutes."

"We don't have ten minutes." I stepped closer, blocking a fraction of his screen. "We owe two months of rent. I told you the landlord called yesterday. He wasn't bluffing."

Liam sighed loudly, his fingers flying across the keys. "And I told you I am in my Odyssey period. Greatness takes time. My app is going to secure angel funding by the end of the quarter. You just need to hold on a little longer."

"Hold on?" My voice cracked, raw from vomiting in the alley behind the grocery store earlier this morning. "I worked double shifts at the diner and the agency for two straight years to pay for your Odyssey. I bought your groceries. I paid the utility bills. Now I am unemployed, pregnant, and we are completely out of money."

"That sounds like a you problem right now." He clicked his mouse furiously. "I am building our future."

"We don't have a present to build a future on!" I slapped the pink notice onto his desk, right over his mousepad.

"Hey!" Liam shoved my hand away, his eyes finally leaving the screen to glare at me. "Do not mess up my rotation. I am the main healer."

"Sell the setup," I said, pointing at the glowing glass computer case. "The graphics cards alone cost two thousand dollars. The custom cooling system, the monitors. That covers the back rent and buys us another month."

Liam froze. He ripped his heavy gaming headset off and slammed it onto the desk. The plastic frame cracked loudly in the quiet room.

"Are you insane?" He spun his ergonomic chair around. "This rig is for beta testing the app. I need the maximum processing power."

"You are playing a fantasy game!"

"It is networking!" He stood up, towering over me. "You are so damn short-sighted, Chloe. You only care about the next bill. You never look at the big picture."

"The big picture is that your child needs a roof over its head." I pressed a trembling hand to my slightly rounded belly. "I need a safe place to sleep."

Liam scoffed, dragging a hand through his unwashed hair. He looked at my stomach, his upper lip curling in disgust.

"Don't put this on me. I told you we weren't ready for a kid. This pregnancy is nothing but a drag. It is ruining my focus."

The words hit my chest like a physical blow. The air rushed out of my lungs.

"A drag?" I whispered.

"Yes, a massive anchor holding me down." His tone turned icy, his eyes narrowing as he stepped into my space. "You chose to keep it. I gave you an out. Now you expect me to pawn my tools to fund your maternal instincts."

I stared at him, searching for the man who used to stay up late rubbing my feet, the man who promised we would take on the world together. There was nothing left in his eyes but resentment.

"Liam, we have zero dollars in the checking account. The fridge is empty."

"Then go ask your sister for a loan," he snapped. "If you are going to keep suffocating my potential, we might as well end this right now. Don't look down on a guy just because he's broke today. If you walk out that door, do not come begging for a handout when my company goes public."

The room grew very still.

The ambition I once admired was just a mask for profound selfishness. He was never going to step up. My two years of exhaustion, of skipping lunches to buy him software licenses, amounted to a punchline. He was perfectly content to let me drown, as long as his game kept running.

I did not scream. I did not throw the keyboard against the wall, even though my fingers twitched with the urge to destroy it.

I turned my back on him and walked into our tiny bedroom.

I dragged my battered gray suitcase from the top shelf of the closet. The zipper squeaked as I yanked it open on the unmade bed.

"Oh, very dramatic," Liam called out from the living room. "Where are you going to go, Chloe? It's snowing out there."

I ignored him. I grabbed a handful of faded maternity shirts and tossed them into the main compartment. Next went my toothbrush, a pair of worn sneakers, and the single ultrasound photo from my nightstand.

Heavy footsteps approached the bedroom door. Liam leaned against the frame, crossing his arms.

"You are throwing a tantrum over rent," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. "You have zero savings. You will be back by tomorrow night."

I folded my winter coat and placed it on top of the shirts.

"Did you hear me?" he demanded.

"I heard you," I finally answered, zipping the suitcase shut. "I heard everything."

"Good. When my app launches, don't try to claim you supported me from the ground up. You abandoned the ship right before it docked."

I pulled the suitcase off the bed. The wheels hit the cheap laminate flooring with a dull thud.

I rolled the bag past him, refusing to make eye contact. Liam scoffed, turning around and walking back to his desk. By the time I reached the end of the hallway, he had already put his broken headset back on, his eyes locked on the colorful explosions lighting up his screens. He was laughing into the microphone, joking with a stranger halfway across the world.

I stopped at the entryway console.

I pulled the brass apartment key off my ring. I dropped it onto the wooden surface. It landed with a sharp, metallic clink.

Liam did not flinch.

I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open. The freezing January wind howled into the apartment, carrying sharp flakes of ice that bit into my cheeks.

I stepped over the threshold onto the exterior landing.

Before I could pull the door shut behind me, a vicious, tearing pain ripped through my lower abdomen.

I gasped, dropping the suitcase handle. My fingers clawed at the frozen metal doorframe to keep myself upright.

A warm, terrifying wetness rushed down my inner thighs.

I looked down as thick crimson drops splattered onto the pristine white snow.