Page 7 of Wrong Number, Right Billionaire (Wrong Number, Right Guy #7)

CHANTAY

I wake up in Max's arms feeling like a completely different person. His chest rises and falls beneath my cheek, steady and warm, and for a moment I let myself pretend this is normal.

But as consciousness returns, so does reality.

I'm naked in a penthouse suite that costs more than my monthly salary, wrapped around a man who claims to be a simple wildlife consultant but clearly has serious money.

I ease out of his arms carefully, not wanting to wake him. I need time to think, to process what happened and what it means.

The bathroom is bigger than my bedroom, all marble and gold fixtures. I catch sight of myself in the mirror and barely recognize the woman staring back. Thoroughly debauched. And happy. Happier than I've looked in years.

But as I splash cold water on my face, doubts start creeping in.

What do I really know about Max? He rescues animals and lives in Nevada and is apparently wealthy enough to afford penthouse suites without blinking. He's educated, sophisticated, clearly successful at something that isn't just wildlife consulting.

My phone buzzes from the bedroom. Maya.

Maya: Please tell me you're alive and Mountain Man didn't turn out to be a serial killer.

Me: Alive. Definitely not a serial killer.

Maya: And? How was dinner?

Me: Dinner was amazing. He's... complicated.

Maya: Good complicated or bad complicated?

Me: I don't know yet.

I need to see his room key, his ID, something that might give me a clue about who he really is. The nagging feeling in my gut is telling me that Max the wildlife consultant is only part of the story.

I quietly search where Max left his wallet last night. Inside, I find exactly what I was afraid of finding.

A driver's license that doesn't say Max anything.

It says Maxim Chen.

And a black American Express card with the same name.

Maxim Chen. I Google the name with shaking fingers, and my stomach drops.

Maxim Chen, founder and CEO of Apex Innovations. Net worth estimated at over two billion dollars. One of the youngest tech billionaires in the country. Known for being reclusive.

There are photos. Professional headshots, paparazzi shots. And they're all definitely the man currently sleeping naked in the bed behind me.

I'm not dating Max the mountain man wildlife consultant.

I'm dating Maxim Chen, tech billionaire.

And he's been lying to me about it since the moment we started talking.

I set his wallet back exactly where I found it, hands shaking. The betrayal hits like a physical blow. Everything we've shared has been built on a lie.

He made me fall for someone who doesn't exist.

I grab my dress and slip into the bathroom to get dressed. When I emerge, Max is awake, sitting up in bed with a lazy smile.

"Good morning, beautiful. Come back to bed."

"I need to go."

His smile fades at my tone. "What's wrong?"

"You tell me, Maxim."

I watch the color drain from his face as he realizes I know.

"Chantay, I can explain."

"Can you? Can you explain why you've been lying to me for two weeks about who you are?" My voice is steadier than I feel. "Can you explain why you let me fall for someone who doesn't exist?"

"I didn't lie about who I am. I just didn't tell you everything."

"You told me you were a wildlife consultant named Max who lives alone in the mountains. You're actually a billionaire tech CEO named Maxim who probably has houses all over the world."

"The mountain cabin is real. The animals are real. My feelings for you are real."

"But Max isn't real, is he? Max is just a character you created to play with the stupid girl who accidentally sent you a photo."

"That's not what this is." He's out of bed now, pulling on his pants. "Chantay, please let me explain."

"Explain what? That you thought it would be fun to catfish some random woman?"

"No, that's not... I never meant for it to go this far."

"How far? The part where you flew to Atlanta? The part where you took me to dinner? Or the part where you fucked me while pretending to be someone else?"

He flinches. "I wasn't pretending to be someone else. I was being myself, just... not all of myself."

"Right. The convenient parts. The parts that would make me fall for you without asking questions about your real life."

"My real life is complicated, Chantay. It's not something most people can handle."

"So, you decided to handle it for me? You decided what I could and couldn't know about the man I was falling in love with?"

"You're in love with me?"

The hope in his voice makes me want to scream. "I was in love with Max. But Max doesn't exist, does he?"

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? Tell me honestly, Maxim, if I'd known from the beginning that you were a billionaire, would our conversations have been the same? Would you have trusted that I was interested in you and not your money?"

His silence is answer enough.

"I thought so." I grab my purse and head for the door. "Congratulations, you successfully manipulated someone into falling for your carefully crafted persona."

"Chantay, wait. Please don't leave like this."

I pause at the door, not turning around. "What did you think would happen? That you could keep lying indefinitely? That I'd never figure out who you really are?"

"I was going to tell you."

"When? After we slept together a few more times? After I fell even harder for your fake mountain man act?"

"It's not fake. Everything I told you is true. I do live in the mountains. I do rescue animals. The only thing I didn't tell you is how I made my money."

"The only thing? You didn't tell me your real name, Maxim. You've been living a double life, and I was just entertainment for your alter ego."

"You're not entertainment. You're the first real thing I've had in years."

" Prove it. Tell me why you really started this deception."

He stares at me for a long moment, calculating his response like the CEO he actually is.

"Because people want things from Maxim Chen. They want money or connections or to be associated with success. But you wanted to know Max. You were interested in my thoughts and stories and animals. You made me feel like a person instead of a bank account."

"So, you decided to lie to me to keep that feeling."

"I decided to protect what we were building."

"By building it on deception."

"By building it on the parts of me that mattered."

"All of you matters, Maxim. The good and the complicated and the parts you're ashamed of. That's what real relationships are built on."

"I know that now."

"Do you? Because it looks like you're still trying to manage my reaction instead of just being honest."

He opens his mouth to respond, then closes it again. And in that hesitation, I have my answer.

"I need time to think. I need space to figure out if any of what I felt for you was real or if it was all just part of your performance."

"Chantay, please..."

"Don't. Don't make this harder than it already is. You lied to me, Maxim. For two weeks, you let me fall for a reality that doesn't exist. I need time to process that."

"How much time?"

"I don't know. Maybe forever."

I leave him standing in his penthouse suite, and I don't look back. But I can feel him watching me go, and the weight of his gaze follows me all the way home.