Dangerously Yours CEO

Leo’s POV

I tossed and turned in the bed, my head pounding and my eyes heavy. The world around me was a blur, but then I saw her fair skin beside me, and a strange chill crawled through my chest. My mind couldn’t understand what had happened. I didn’t even know how I had ended up here. The last thing I remembered was drinking with my friends, glass after glass until my body couldn’t hold anymore.

It was supposed to be a special night. My first night with Bella, the woman I had chosen, the woman who carried my heart. Yet instead of her soft laugh and her gentle warmth, I woke up drowning in confusion.

“You were incredible last night, my love,” I whispered into the stillness, trying to shake the fog from my head. “I’m sorry I was so drunk… I wanted to make it perfect.”

I pressed my lips against the back of her shoulder. She moaned softly, a sound that sent a jolt through me. For a second, I let myself believe. I wanted to believe it was Bella, wanted to believe I hadn’t ruined everything.

“You always have a way of making me feel alive,” I murmured, kissing her again. But then my body froze. Her scent wasn’t Bella’s. Bella’s perfume was light, floral, almost like spring air. This one was stronger, heavier.

“Babe, did you change your perfume?” I asked, my voice uncertain.

She didn’t answer. She stayed still, her back to me. Something felt wrong. The shape of her shoulders, the curve of her waist—it wasn’t Bella.

“Of course I did,” she said finally, her voice steady. “I did it specially for you.”

The sound of her voice didn’t fit. My stomach twisted. I sat up slowly, fear crawling under my skin.

“Who are you?” My voice shook. “You’re not Bella.”

She turned, and my world shattered.

“Ciara?” My hands went to my head. “No… how did you get here? You’re Bella’s best friend!”

She didn’t flinch. Instead, a cruel smirk curled her lips. The Ciara I once knew—the friendly one, always laughing with Bella—was gone. In her place stood a stranger with hunger in her eyes.

“I love you, Leo,” she said, her tone sharp, almost mocking. “Don’t you see? Bella can’t take care of you like I can. She doesn’t deserve you.”

Her words struck me like knives. I wanted to shout, to throw her out, but my body was frozen with disbelief.

“How could you do this to Bella?” I asked, my throat dry, my voice cracking. “How could you do this to me?”

She leaned closer, her eyes glinting. “Because you don’t belong with her. You belong with me.”

I stumbled out of bed, pulling on my pants with trembling hands. “No. No, this is wrong. Bella and I—”

“You mean Bella, the one about to marry you?” she interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Do you really think she can give you the life you need? She has nothing, Leo. No money. No power. Nothing.”

Her words burned. Bella didn’t have riches, but she had given me her heart. She had believed in me when no one else did. I remembered the nights she held my hand while I dreamed aloud of building a future. She never cared that I had little. She only cared that I had love.

“I don’t care about money,” I snapped, my voice breaking. “I care about her.”

Ciara’s smirk deepened. “Last night, you cared about me. Don’t deny it. You couldn’t keep your hands off me. You kept whispering my name, telling me I was perfect.”

I staggered back, nausea rising in my chest. Had I really said those things? My memory was a blur of alcohol and darkness. I wanted to scream that it wasn’t true, that I thought she was Bella.

“No, no,” I muttered, shaking my head violently. “I thought you were Bella. I didn’t mean it.”

She laughed—a cold, mocking laugh that echoed in my skull. “Oh, Leo, don’t lie to yourself. You wanted me. And now you’ve had me.”

Her words crawled under my skin like poison. I grabbed my shirt, my movements frantic. I couldn’t stay here another second. Bella needed me. I had to explain before it was too late.

As I reached the door, Ciara’s voice cut through the air. “Are you leaving me for her?”

I turned, my jaw tight. I didn’t answer. My silence was enough.

I stormed down the hall, my heart slamming against my chest. Bella. I needed Bella. I needed her forgiveness.

When I reached her room, I stopped, my hand trembling against the door. How could I tell her? How could I make her believe me when I barely believed myself?

“Bella,” I whispered, knocking softly. “Please open the door. I’m sorry about last night. I was drunk. I didn’t mean it.”

No answer.

I knocked again, harder this time. “Bella, please! I need to talk to you. It’s not what you think.”

Still nothing. Panic swelled in me. She always answered me. She never ignored my voice.

I turned the knob slowly, pushing the door open. The room was silent. Empty.

“Bella?” My voice cracked as I stepped inside.

Then I heard it—the faint sound of running water. Relief washed over me. She must be in the shower. Maybe she hadn’t heard me.

But then my eyes caught something on the table. A small sparkle in the dim light. I walked closer, my steps shaky. My heart stopped.

Her engagement ring.

I reached out with trembling fingers, picking it up carefully as if it might burn me. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe.

“Did… did she know?” I whispered. “Did she see?”

Tears blurred my vision. The ring slipped from my shaking hand and clinked against the table before I caught it again.

“No, no… please don’t leave me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I sank onto the bed, my body heavy with despair. I slammed my fist against the cold marble floor until my knuckles stung with blood. Nothing compared to the pain tearing me apart inside.

“Bella…” Her name left my lips like a prayer, like a desperate cry for salvation.

Memories flooded my mind—our first kiss under the streetlight, her laugh when I tripped over my words, the way she hugged me when I had nothing and told me I was enough. She was my strength, my future. And now, because of one night, because of one mistake, she was gone.

I stumbled toward the bathroom door, pressing my palm against the wood. “Bella, please… open the door. It’s not what you think. I thought it was you, Bella. I swear on my life, I thought it was you.”

My forehead rested against the door, my body trembling. “Please believe me… please.”

I waited, praying for her voice, for even the faintest sound. But the silence was louder than any scream.

Finally, I twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

The shower was still running. Steam filled the air. But she wasn’t there.She was gone.

The sound of the water mocked me, echoing in the empty room like a cruel reminder of what I had lost.

I dropped to the ground, my body trembling uncontrollably. My heart felt as if it had been ripped out of my chest.

“Bella…” I whispered again, but she wasn’t there to hear me.

The woman I loved, the one who believed in me when no one else did, had left. And all that remained was the ring, the water’s echo, and the crushing weight of my guilt.