SEDUCING THE BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 30

Duke tried to use Audrey’s family to get her to stay, telling them how sorry he was about his mistake which had resulted in Connie’s pregnancy. Mistake? Audrey couldn’t help scoffing, he had been sleeping with her for months, what did he think was gonna happen?. Of course the family believed him and encouraged Audrey to be strong and not let an outsider wreck her beautiful home. She was just seated their biting her tongue, what beautiful home? Oh, perhaps they meant the mansion. Yeah, sure the mansion was beautiful but the marriage?, Not so much.
Even after the talks she told them that she still wanted a divorce, but her family insisted that she takes some time to think about it before making any rash decisions.

Since Jerome had refused to help him, Duke had hired a private investigator on his own and the man was trailing Audrey everywhere until he eventually found Clement.
“This is the guy she wants to leave me for?” Duke tossed the file on Jerome’s table. “I could buy everything he has and still not make a dent in my finances.”
Jerome rolled his eyes.
“that’s your problem, you think everything is about money” he sat up straight “maybe she just wants a man who won’t make her feel bad about her natural body, who won’t push her to always appear slender and “perfect” …sometimes peace of mind and mental health is worth more than whatever millions you can throw in her face.”
“please, let’s not lie to ourselves and claim that money doesn’t matter, she married me because of money. If that guy was a bus conductor, I doubt she’d divorce me for him” Duke scoffed and leaned back in the leather chair.
“it doesn’t matter why she’s doing what… she doesn’t want your ass and you have to respect that" Jerome told him off "the only reason you want her now is because she's not desperately pining over you anymore, you always want what you can't have".
"I always get what I want" he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"and that's the problem... You need to learn that you can't have everything you want just because you're rich"
"I'm not getting that divorce J" he frowned deviantly
"okay you know what, am tired of this. If you keep pushing for this I will help Audrey and she will walk away with even more money. I am the one who prepared all your documents and I can easily find loopholes for her to take advantage of" Jerome warned him
"you wouldn't!" Duke's eyes widened "you're my best friend!".
"exactly, and as your best friend it's my duty to make sure you don't turn into some evil rich bastard. You'll be okay without her" he assured him, if he could move on from their short lived relationship and be happy that she had found someone she could freely date then Duke could surely do the same.
"she's good for Lindsey" Duke kept on arguing
"with the adoption, she'll always be her mother figure. I doubt she'll completely cut her off" he assured him. Duke still didn't want to do it but he couldn't fight Audrey without Jerome on his side, perhaps he could but he didn't want to.
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Duke dragged it out until Connie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and the DNA confirmed that he was indeed the father, she had succeeded with her plan, perhaps he should have kept it in his pants but it was too late for regrets, the baby was here and even though he wasn't in love with the mother, he loved the baby and wouldn't abandon him.
"is aunt Audrey leaving?" Lindsey asked him, they had just come from visiting the new born, he wanted her to know that she had a nephew now so he had taken her with him to deliver some gifts for Duke junior. He glanced at her and could see the fear and panic in her eyes, she had bonded with Audrey and trusted her, sometimes when she was having trouble with a teacher or classmate she would confide in Audrey and not him.
"no she's not leaving" he assured her "I mean she may leave me but she won't leave you" he clarified.
"what does that even mean?" Lindsey frowned "is she leaving or not? Why did you have a baby with someone else?" tears lingered in her eyes "I don't want her to be my new auntie" she cried referring to Connie.
"Connie is not moving in with us and what I meant was we adopted you together so even if we get divorced Audrey will still be your adopted mother and she'll be here for you." he hoped it would be true, the entire thing had been a transaction to help him get custody but he never thought Lindsey would bond like this with Audrey.
"I can visit her and stay with her sometimes?" she asked hopefully
"sure" Duke agreed even though he wasn't sure.
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Later that evening he requested to have a talk with Audrey in the bedroom.
"I will sign the divorce papers under some conditions" he told her
"I'm tired of your conditions Duke" Audrey scowled at him, since the baby was now here and Connie had confirmed to the public that indeed Duke was the father, she figured she had a good case against him and had started looking for a lawyer.
"just hear me out please..." he pleaded and she let out a sigh
"fine, what is it?".
"Lindsey is scared, she doesn't want to lose you. I know we only put you as the mother in the adoption process so that it can help me win but she really loves you and I truly believe you're good for her. If we separate and you leave, am requesting that you let her be visiting you" he told her and Audrey averted her eyes so that he couldn't see the tears lingering, she hadn't even thought about how much it would affect Lindsey but she couldn't stay there forever just based on that.
"I want us to have joint custody and continue raising her together" he went on to say.
"okay" Audrey nodded, wiping the stray tear which had made it down her cheek.
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Audrey didn't mind being there for Lindsey, sure they weren't blood related and her marriage to the brother was basically a business deal but she loved the girl and wanted to make sure she'd be okay. When she told Clement that Duke had finally agreed to get the divorce he was over the moon, he wasn't so thrilled about the joint custody.
"but she's his sister, how do you come in?" he had asked
"honey I was put down as the mother in the adoption application and I do want to be there for her" he tries to explain.
Clement wanted her to completely cut Duke off after the divorce, that was including all his family but Audrey told him that she couldn't just cut Lindsey off, the kid barely had any relatives who were genuine and weren't out to get their hands on her inheritance.
Clement wasn't thrilled about it but he couldn't stop her either and just had to accept the compromise.
"Are you at least moving in with me?" he asked her and Audrey started to hesitate "baby I moved into this house to create more room for you... And we have enough space for this Lindsey girl when she visits" he argued
"I know baby, I just don't know how it will look if I immediately move in with you".
"who cares about how it will look? Would you be happy to come and live here with me?" he asked her.
Audrey knew it didn't matter, yes she would be happy to wake up in his arms every morning and to fall asleep cuddled up next to him but her parents would lose their minds if she just moved from her husband's house to her boyfriend's house just like that. She tried to explain this to Clement and he wasn't happy about it.
"so you'd rather go back to your parents' house?" he asked her.
"no, am not going back there. I will find an apartment" she said and he did feel a bit better, at least he could visit her whenever he wanted and even sleep over.
"what about a job?" he brought it up, he knew paying for two places would be a bit much for him, it would be way easier if she just moved in with him.
"I'm getting a settlement in the divorce, you don't have to worry about money" she assured him as she leaned in for a kiss "I promise after everything has died down I will move in with you"
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When Connie heard that Duke had signed the divorce papers she was thrilled, with Audrey gone and a baby in the picture, surely this was her chance to become Mrs. Kalomo, they already had sexual chemistry, she was already in the gym to get rid of the baby fat and she was barely breastfeeding the baby because she didn't want her breasts to sag. She knew it was only a matter of time before Duke finally told her to just move in with him. He was calling often and even driving by to see the baby, slowly getting back to their comfortable zone where they could be flirty. Perhaps she should start a YouTube channel and teach ladies how to seduce a billionaire and trap him for life.
When Duke told her that he was co-parenting Lindsey with Audrey she was not pleased, she wanted the woman completely out of the picture but she had to take what she could get and smart and subtle about her plans. She kept on reminding herself that she had something Audrey didn't have, a baby with Duke and a body he could barely resist.
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With the divorce, Audrey saw the opportunity to disclose that she didn't need a job. She told Clement that she had gotten a large sum of money in the divorce settlement and she was using it to invest in properties. Duke had kept his end of the bargain according to their initial agreement and gave her the $5 million which he had promised in the initial agreement. They had agreed that Lindsey would be spending weekends and holidays with her unless something came up.
Her family wasn't too pleased because Duke stopped sending the monthly allowances but hadn't they benefitted enough? They had boosted businesses and made small investments here and there, they would be okay.
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Audrey was standing in front of the big mirror, she was just in her bra and full pant, her hand caressing her stomach.
"maybe I should join a gym, or start running every morning" she spoke, Clement was just in his boxer shots relaxing on her bed.
"what are you talking about?" he asked
"I'm gaining weight.." she pinched the flesh on her sides.
Clement got up from the bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her neck..
"what's wrong with a little flesh?" he asked rhetorically "you're perfectly fine."
"are you sure?" she asked with a bit of insecurity, the last thing she needed was another Duke situation, she couldn't bare it if Clement was to switch up and say he wasn't attracted to her anymore.
"honey you look hot," he assured her "but if you want to start exercising I guess we can do that... You've been overfeeding me and now I'm about to have a potbelly" he laughed.
She enjoyed cooking for him, making sure he went to work with a full home cooked meal. Sure she still had her apartment but she barely spent any time there unless Lindsey was around, it was an apartment in her building even though Clement didn't know it yet. He knew she was now rich after the divorce but he had no idea just how rich she was. Audrey was just grateful that his behavior and attitude towards her hadn't changed, she had been afraid that he may start feeling inferior and insecure.
"we should register at a gymn, we'll be going every Saturday morning" she suggested
"oh come on, Saturday we're supposed to sleep in and wake up at 10AM" Clement groaned in complaint and she couldn't help laughing at him.
"well which day do you want?"
"how about we make a home gym and we'll be exercising at least once a week during the week in the late afternoons?" he suggested and Audrey was for the idea. They would be doing from home with no one watching them and she could go in there at whatever time she wanted.
She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.
" that's a great idea" she agreed.
She was planning on buying the house he was living in and giving it to him for his next birthday, hopefully he would like that.
She had gone from wanting to seduce a rich guy so that she could have a fairy tale life to being the rich one living the fairytale life with a simple man who loved her. She appreciated the fact that he was aware of his flaws and had a therapist, maybe if Duke had a therapist he wouldn't have been such a selfish prick with narcissistic tendencies but the past was the past, she was grateful for the experience which not only made her rich but also taught her to choose herself and learn to protect her peace and mental health.
She guessed Duke was happy, he still had Connie who was willing to be opening her legs for him whenever he wanted and he still had her helping him raise Lindsey and be there for her as she was navigating puberty and growing up. Connie may have managed to seduce the billionaire but she had gotten millions out of him and didn't even have sex with him, not even once. So who was the real winner here?.

THE END