Billionaire’s Regret: The One He Lost

Braxton Payne had always valued Maxine Mason’s quick, sharp situational judgment, and the two were driving back to his estate together.

After a night of mind-blowing passion, Maxine had passed out cold from Braxton’s relentless energy. It was only 4 a.m. when a sharp, sudden cramp in her abdomen jolted her awake, gasping. Clutching her stomach, she sat up, stepping off the bed slow and careful. A quick shower later, she pulled on her clothes, glanced back at the rumpled sheets and the man sleeping dead to the world, grabbed her bag, and slipped out as quiet as a mouse.

The clinic was way more packed than she’d expected for that hour of the morning. Sophie rushed over to her, concern carved deep into her face, and shoved a test result into her hands. "What the hell were you thinking? You’re pregnant, and you’re still being this reckless? Braxton doesn’t know yet, but you can’t keep putting your own health at risk like this!"

Maxine’s eyes scanned the report, and she breathed a sigh of relief—turns out the pain was just from mild uterine pressure, nothing serious. Her gaze snagged on the doctor’s note: avoid strenuous physical activity for one month.

One month. Braxton could barely go a single day without it.

She handed the result back to Sophie, and flashed her worried friend a playful, reassuring grin. "I’ll be careful. Besides, you might as well start getting ready for your new title: Auntie."

Sophie’s heart ached for her best friend. She took the paper reluctantly, muttering, "He would’ve made me Auntie eventually anyway."

Maxine linked arms with her as they walked out of the clinic. A sharp, cold gust of wind hit them, making Maxine shiver and sniffle.

Sophie couldn’t stand seeing her freezing, and draped her own coat over Maxine’s shoulders. "With all the money Braxton has, you’d think he’d splurge on some decent warm clothes for you. Half the time you look like you’re barely wearing anything."

"There’s still a while before work starts. Why don’t you crash at my place for a nap?"

Maxine slid into Sophie’s car, listening to her friend’s worried fretting. "How are you planning to keep this hidden anyway? Braxton isn’t an idiot. If you keep dodging him, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out something’s up, and who knows what’ll happen to the baby then?"

She was right—it was a problem that couldn’t wait much longer. Maxine leaned her head against the car window, watching the night bleed into dawn outside the glass. "I’ll figure something out," she said lightly. She’d already dragged Sophie into enough of this mess; she didn’t want to burden her any more than she already had.

---

Back at work, Maxine carried on like nothing had changed. When she walked into his office, Braxton looked up from his desk, but didn’t ask a single question about her sudden disappearance that morning, like he didn’t care one way or another.

"Braxton, I’m gonna stay at Sophie’s place for the next month," she mentioned offhand, sorting through the day’s schedule on his desk.

Braxton, who’d been fully absorbed in his work, paused. His frown deepened, sharp with displeasure. "Are you fucking serious? I didn’t even nag you about bailing this morning, and already you’re making demands?"

He usually never questioned her choices, so Maxine froze for a second, caught off guard. She pulled a printed diagnosis out of her bag and slid it across the desk toward him. "Mild pneumonia. Highly contagious. Doctor ordered rest."

The subtext was crystal clear: no roughhousing.

"I can’t risk getting you sick, Braxton. It’s better if I stay somewhere else for a little while."

Her reasoning made total sense—Braxton couldn’t exactly force a sick person to stay with him. Even so, the way he flipped through his contract pages, sharp and loud with frustration, caught Maxine off guard. Before this, when she’d gotten sick, he’d only grumbled a little. Never this silent, simmering irritation.

While she was still turning that over in her head, her phone rang. The caller ID said *Mom*. Her heart skipped a beat, and she stepped out of the office without even excusing herself to Braxton.

"Mom?" she answered, slow and cautious, half expecting to hear the same angry, demanding voice she was used to.

Thankfully, it was her mom, sounding relieved and almost cheerful. "Don’t worry about me, baby. I found a job right near your office, it’s really nice working conditions."

Tears pricked Maxine’s eyes. "You should take more time off to rest, Mom. I still have enough money to cover you."

Her mom laughed softly. "Staying at a hotel’s so expensive, no need to waste all that cash. I’ll text you the address later."

"Okay. Take care of yourself, okay?"

After hanging up the short call, Maxine smiled a genuine smile for the first time in weeks. She walked back to the desk just as her mom’s text popped through with the address. It looked weirdly familiar.

Maxine pulled it up in a quick search. It was a small subsidiary under Payne Enterprises, with amazing benefits, and they specifically prioritized hiring older workers. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Braxton was the one who’d pulled the strings.

No wonder he’d been in such a foul mood this morning. Maxine glanced over at Braxton, who was still flipping through contracts, his face set in that unreadable stony mask.

She thought it over for a second, then walked over slow and graceful, leaned against the edge of his desk, and tilted his chin up gently with her finger. Braxton’s eyes locked on hers, and she pressed a soft, sweet kiss to his cheek. He blinked, caught completely off guard, then tugged her closer with one strong arm wrapped around her waist.

Maxine pressed a single finger to his lips, her smile turning coy. "No contact, remember?"

That only cranked up the tension, the anticipation thrumming between them. She let her hand drift slow down his chest, her smile growing more teasing, more tempting. "But I’ve got other ways to make it up to you."

Braxton’s office quickly filled with thick, heady tension. Maxine thought appeasing him like this would buy her enough time to figure things out without him doing anything drastic. But she quickly realized she’d severely underestimated how stubborn Braxton could be.

When he cornered her in the break room after work, Maxine pushed him away like before, her voice a mix of firm and fed up. "Braxton, did you already forget what I told you?"

He paused, then leaned in even closer, a flicker of annoyance glinting in his dark eyes. "I called the doctor. It’s not that serious."

He’d gone that far? Maxine’s eyes widened for a split second, but she dodged his embrace smoothly, a light smile still on her face. "Braxton, you should think about your health too, right?"

He caught her before she could slip away, gripping her waist tight to hold her pressed against him, his eyes narrowing. "Maxine. Are you hiding something from me?"

He wasn’t stupid. One or two little incidents could be written off as a bad mood, but this was clearly something else.

When she heard his suspicion, a jolt of panic shot through Maxine—but she pulled her composure back fast. "No, I just still feel like crap. You don’t want your best assistant overworking herself and collapsing, do you?"

Braxton stared at her in silence, scanning every inch of her face for any telltale give away. Unfortunately for him, Maxine had gotten really good at hiding what she really felt. She met his gaze with a calm, steady smile, totally unfazed.

Time dragged by as Maxine held her breath, waiting for him to push further. Suddenly, Braxton let go of her, stepped back, and straightened his suit jacket, his voice dropping to icy cold. "Make sure all the documents for tomorrow’s meeting are ready."