Dear Billionaire Ex, I am more than an arranged marriage

The San Francisco fog, usually soft and familiar, felt heavy on Eva Langston's shoulders. It clung to the Golden Gate Bridge, covered the tops of tall buildings, and now, it felt like it was sinking into her bones. Two years. That’s how long it had been since she left this city, chasing truth and justice with a pen name—E.L. Verity. Back then, it felt powerful. Now, it felt like an old costume she'd outgrown.

She stared out of the taxi window, watching familiar streets and recognizing familiar faces. Every turn brought back memories she wasn’t ready for. The little café where she’d first interviewed a whistle-blower. The park bench where she’d spent hours reviewing documents. The street where she’d last seen Lucian Thorne; his face cold, angry, unforgiving.

“Almost there, miss,” the driver mumbled, snapping her back to the moment.

Her stomach twisted. Home. The word felt wrong in her mouth. Home meant facing her father, Henry Langston, and everything she’d tried to run from. She’d pictured returning as a successful journalist, someone who had made it. Instead, she was coming back broke, disgraced, holding a cardboard box of her things.

The taxi stopped. The house in front of her used to be warm and full of life. Now, it looked tired. The paint was chipped, the garden wild and untended. It didn’t feel like the place she grew up in. It felt like a house barely hanging on.

Her father opened the door. His loud, joyful voice was gone. Instead, he smiled weakly. His strong shoulders looked smaller somehow, his face older, worn down by stress.

“Eva, my girl,” he said, pulling her into a tight hug. But it didn’t feel like a welcome. It felt like he was holding on for dear life.

“Dad, what’s going on?” she asked as she stepped inside. The house felt too quiet. No smell of her mom’s cooking. No background noise from the TV. It felt like a ghost of what it used to be.

He sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Come in. Sit down. We need to talk.”

What followed felt like slow torture. Her father explained how everything had fallen apart. He’d made risky business decisions, hoping to recover from a major client pulling out. He took loans, mortgaged everything and now Langston Innovations was drowning in debt. Bankruptcy was right around the corner.

Eva sat there, stunned. The scandal she’d tried to expose the one that got her fired and blacklisted suddenly felt like a sick joke. While she was trying to fight for what was right, her own family was collapsing, and she had no idea.

“I… I don’t get it, Dad,” she whispered. “How did it get this bad? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked down, ashamed. “Pride. And stupidity. I really thought I could fix it. I tried, Eva. I went to banks, investors... No one wants to help.”

Silence filled the room. In the distance, a siren wailed. Eva felt