The Billionaire Recluse & The girl who stayed.

Life Changing.

~ Lexi ~

The ceiling above me had become my world.

White.

Still.

Endless.

I stared at it most of the day because there was nothing else I could do.

I'd made it back.

That's what everyone kept saying.

You're safe now, Lexi.

But my body didn't feel safe.

It didn't feel like mine at all.

I still couldn't move.

Not my legs.

Not even the smallest twitch.

Nothing.

The doctors said I needed a full body scan, something they were having brought in especially. Lilly had arranged it within hours—apparently it cost fifty thousand dollars.

Fifty thousand.

The number should've shocked me.

But it didn't.

Not anymore.

Not in this world.

Not when Jasper had a hospital wing inside his own home.

Not when money meant solutions.

Or at least... it was supposed to.

Jasper.

My chest tightened slightly just thinking about him.

He was still unconscious.

Shot multiple times.

Blood transfusions.

Machines.

But alive.

That's what mattered.

Alive.

Elizabeth was dead.

Lilly had shot her.

Clean. Final.

No hesitation.

And Dale...

Dale was locked away.

A psychiatric hospital, they said.

Never getting out.

That should've made me feel something.

Relief.

Closure.

Something.

But all I felt was...

Numb.

Because I couldn't even process what he'd done to me.

I hadn't said it out loud.

Hadn't told anyone.

I couldn't.

If I said it—

It would be real.

And I didn't think I could survive that.

The door opened softly.

Lilly.

She walked in with her usual warmth, carrying flowers and a small bowl of grapes.

"Here we go," she said gently, placing them beside me. "For my favourite patient."

I tried to smile.

It felt weak.