My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 222: The Woman In The Headlines

Leonard sat alone in his office. His desk was tidy, as always, papers stacked in perfect symmetry, pens aligned with precision, yet his mood was anything but in order.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, then let his hand drop with a muted thud against the armrest. His jaw had been clenched so long that a dull ache pulsed along the side of his face. Irritation burned just beneath his carefully constructed calm, like sparks threatening to ignite.

And all because of her. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The memory replayed again. The woman who had shown up at Katherine’s apartment earlier that morning, uninvited and too comfortable in her arrogance. Leonard could still picture her standing there, her tone dripping with condescension, the smug smile curving her lips as she looked Katherine up and down before offering her hand as though she were doing her a favor.

"We’ll be good friends."

Leonard’s fingers drummed against his desk, each tap echoing louder in the quiet office. Good friends? The words had been laced with too much confidence, too much familiarity for a stranger. He had dismissed her at the time as another self-important woman clawing for attention in Felix’s orbit, but the unease lingered like a bad aftertaste.

He hated it, hated that he couldn’t simply brush it off. Katherine didn’t deserve to deal with vipers like her. And Leonard, despite everything, wasn’t about to stand by while someone slithered into her life with intentions he couldn’t yet read.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, pushing his chair back with a sharp scrape across the floor. He needed a distraction. Anything to pull his mind away from the smug curve of that woman’s smile.

Crossing the room in brisk strides, Leonard loosened the cuffs of his shirt and rolled them up past his forearms, exposing the tan of his skin. The act was mechanical, a small attempt to release the tightness wound inside him. He returned to his desk, flipped open his laptop, and typed in his login with a little too much force on each key.

The screen illuminated. He opened the news feed out of habit, skimming headlines that usually bored him: market fluctuations, political scandals, celebrity gossip. But today, one name dominated every page.

Felix.

Leonard’s eyes narrowed as he clicked the first article.

The headline screamed in bold letters:

Felix Crawford Secret Engagement? Mystery Fiancée Emerges Amid Rumors.

Leonard exhaled sharply through his nose. He scrolled, reading quickly. The article was little more than speculation, padded with blurry photos and breathless commentary from anonymous "sources."

What held his attention wasn’t the rumor itself but Felix’s response.

A press statement, sharp and uncompromising, quoted line by line.

"These rumors are entirely baseless. I have no secret fiancée, nor any hidden engagement. I will not tolerate this invasion of my personal life, and my lawyers will pursue legal action against anyone attempting to spread these lies further."

Leonard’s lips twitched upward despite himself. That was Felix to the bone, direct, fiery, and utterly unwilling to bend when it came to his reputation. The kind of statement that left no room for misinterpretation, no weakness to exploit.

"Typical," Leonard muttered, leaning back in his chair. He almost allowed himself a smirk, almost let the tension bleed away.

And then he saw the photo.

The article had attached an image of the so-called mystery fiancée. The grainy snapshot was of a woman stepping out of a sleek black car, her chin tilted at a practiced angle, lips painted into a faint but unmistakably smug smile.

Leonard froze.

Every muscle in his body went rigid, his breath stalling in his chest. His hand tightened around the armrest until the leather protested beneath his grip. Slowly, as though his eyes might deceive him, he leaned closer to the screen.

It was her.

The woman from this morning. The one who had stood in front of Katherine with false sweetness dripping from her words. The one who had dared to look at Katherine like she was a rival to be measured and dismissed.

"So, it’s her..." Leonard whispered the name, though he hadn’t heard it earlier, he saw it printed neatly beneath the photo in the caption: Lara Johanssen, alleged fiancée.

Leonard’s pulse thudded hard against his temples. He leaned back, dragging a hand across his jaw. The office suddenly felt smaller, the air heavier, pressing down on him as if the walls themselves were closing in.

His mind replayed the encounter in vivid detail. Her poised stance, calculated friendliness, and most of all, that parting phrase.

The words slithered back into his ears now, more sinister with context.

"She’s afraid," Leonard murmured, though his voice was low, thoughtful. He turned the idea over in his head. "Afraid of Katherine. Afraid she’ll ruin whatever she’s trying to hold onto with Felix."

The thought settled like a stone in his stomach. His irritation morphed into something sharper, colder. Suspicion. Lara wasn’t just another socialite. She was playing a game, and Katherine had been pulled into the crossfire.

Leonard shut the laptop with a decisive snap, the sound cutting through the silence like a gunshot. But even with the screen dark, the image of her smile lingered, burned into the back of his mind.

He sat back in his chair, his body coiled with tension. His fingers tapped against the armrest, a steady rhythm betraying the storm inside. His jaw tightened, teeth grinding together as though he could chew through the unease clawing at him.

"She’s not harmless," Leonard muttered, his voice low and edged with steel. He could still hear her voice echoing, taunting, in his head. We’ll be good friends.

The corner of his mouth curved downward into something between a grimace and a snarl.

Whatever she was after, Leonard would find out. And if she was circling Katherine for a reason, if there was even a chance that she meant her harm, he’d stop it before she got any closer.

This was the beginning of something far more dangerous.

Leonard leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, his eyes hard and distant as though staring into a storm only he could see. His fingers clenched together tightly, knuckles whitening.

Lara Johanssen was a problem.

And problems had to be dealt with.