Addicted (A Billionaire Romance Novel) Read Online Free Page A

wished he could go back in time to change things. Maybe if he hadn’t been so reluctant for them to become an item, things might have turned out differently for him. Some days, he was unable to think of anything else as his chest became heavy and he lost the ability to concentrate. After several years, he decided to try to locate her, just to see if her and her old boyfriend, Rob Lawrence, were still together and what her life was like now. He was amazed when he saw a newspaper article online that featured her name and the mention of a fatal automobile accident though it had no mention of Rob; but it did mention the name, Alex.  
     
    Suddenly, he felt dizzy and his stomach began to churn. His eyes darted back to the title of the headline as he found himself unable to click the link. Tightening in his chest took over and his breaths became labored; he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath to prevent himself from hyperventilating. Slowly, he opened his eyes and willed himself to click on the link. As he scanned the article, he noted that Alex was Audrey’s son and continued reading on as he learned more details about the accident. His heart broke when he saw that Alex was her son. When he’d first read the search engine result and saw her name with Alex’s name, he assumed that Alex was the other driver. He wished he’d been correct once he read the entire news article.  
     
    A sudden urgency overwhelmed him and he realized that he needed to reach out to her even though it had been over a year since the accident. His gut told him that she needed him, though he couldn’t explain why. Continuing to search for her online, he was unable to locate any information about her; not even a social media account. The search engine had indexed several social media pages, but every time he clicked on one, a message appeared saying the page was no longer available. As a last resort, he thought of searching for her son’s obituary. Still at work, he got up from his desk and closed his office blinds to prevent anyone from seeing in. He didn’t know how he’d react once he found it—if he found it—but he didn’t want to put himself on display. Returning to his desk, he reluctantly sat down in front of his computer. With his shoulders slumped forward and head bowed, he slowly typed in ‘Alex Morris Obituary’ and hit the enter key. Clasping his hands together while the search engine returned his results, he scanned the hallway to make sure no one was coming.  
     
    His stomach began to churn as his heartbeat pounded. Is it right, he thought, to search for a dead child to find his mother? Bile began to sour in his mouth as his limbs became shaky. The search brought back a hit and he clicked the link to the online obituary. It saddened him to see it. The first thing that caught his eye was the picture at the top of the obituary that featured Alex and Audrey together. She was holding him in her arms as he blew bubbles from, presumably, their front porch; she still looked the same. Her medium chestnut brown hair flowed gently over her shoulders and she hadn’t gained a pound since college. She was still petite at 5’4” and roughly 130 pounds. He noted that the picture must’ve been from the previous fall as they were both wearing blue jeans and she had on a sweatshirt; Alex sported a hoodie with a car on the front. The two of them looked adorable.  
     
    Reading the obituary sent chills down his spine as goose pimples broke out all over his body and he felt cold. His chest ached for Audrey and her loss. He could feel a lump forming in his throat as his chest continued to tighten. Trying to regain his composure, he left his office and headed to the men’s room. He needed to splash cool water on his face against his gummy eyelids. On his trip down the hall, everything seemed to move in slow motion. He avoided eye contact as he felt the need to be alone. The last thing he wanted was for someone to strike up a conversation