Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 40

Emmy’s heart skipped a beat.

When James tossed out a casual “Go ahead, dig in,” his words practically sizzled in the air, making her ears burn hot. She turned away without thinking, unable to meet those intense, almost predatory eyes of his.

James noticed and cleared his throat, breaking the silence with a low, rough voice. “Did you eat too much? Want to go for a walk downstairs?”

Emmy shook her head right away. “No, I still need to read.”

He didn’t push. He just said, “Alright,” and left.

The room felt even quieter after he was gone. Emmy started cleaning up the dishes, her eyes drifting to the absurdly huge bag of rice and that oversized bottle of oil sitting in the corner.

Honestly, this guy’s appetite was unreal. Tonight’s dinner probably barely made a dent.

Without really meaning to, she caught herself thinking, Tomorrow… I should probably cook for two.

For the next few days, James basically treated her place like his own personal cafeteria.

At first, she’d send him a quick message to remind him it was mealtime. But it didn’t take long for a new routine—like clockwork, as soon as dinner rolled around, he’d show up at her door.

He always brought some kind of meat—beef, pork, lamb—saying it was a “team benefit.” Because of him, Emmy was starting to notice a new softness at her waist, a little curve she’d never had before.

One afternoon, her phone buzzed. It was Rory.

“Ms. Lincoln, the Dome crashed again. Evelina managed to fix it for now, but if this keeps happening, we’re going to lose a lot of clients. The board’s already said if we can’t solve the core problem, they’ll just scrap the whole system.”

Emmy’s expression went cold.

The Dome was her project. There was no way she’d let them destroy it.

“I’ll figure something out,” she said, pausing. “Rory, I’m coming back to Starlight Corporation sooner or later. Just keep things stable for me until then.”

Rory sighed. “We all know what the problem is, but it’s been a year with no progress. Have you thought about talking to Dominic? Maybe he can help you break through.”

Emmy was quiet for a long moment, her mood darkening.

“…Alright. I hear you.”

She hung up, then opened her closet and pulled out a plain box where she kept all her research.

Inside, everything was neatly lined up—hard drives, USB sticks, data cards.

“You stubborn thing!” Dr. Pepper was so mad he was shaking on the video call. “You don’t deserve to be my student. You don’t even deserve to be in this field!”

She remembered it all. In her last life, when she sold that box, Dr. Pepper ended up in the hospital from the shock.

She tried to visit, but his students blocked her at the door, calling her a heartless traitor.

A few years later, she heard that Dr. Pepper died of stomach cancer.

She went to his memorial, but they still wouldn’t let her in.

One of her senior classmates, eyes red, told her, “Before he died, Dr. Pepper said the one person he never wanted to see again was you, Emmy.”

The pain of those memories faded, leaving only a cold, determined resolve.

Emmy picked up her phone, her finger hovering over the screen for a moment.

In the end, she sent the message.

Dr. Pepper, are you still accepting students?