BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

Valerie has been ignoring me for over a week now, ever since I told her I wasn’t in support of her telling my mother that she was pregnant without my permission.

Mother has been over the moon because of the news. Everyone now knows that Valerie is pregnant.

Whenever I have the intention of resolving this conflict between us, I always find her curled up in bed, leaving the couch for me to sleep on.

I got the maids to take another bed into the room where I sleep now. I no longer sleep on the couch but I wish I can sleep beside her on the bed.

Guilt is one of the emotions I feel more ever since she came into my life. I have no idea how she manages to let me feel this way.

I feel bad for what I said to her which caused her to become mad at me and I really want to apologize to her.

She is just trying to help.

Casually, I stroll out of her room and close the door behind me when someone bumps into me.

It is Valerie and she is raising a brow at me.

“What were you doing in my room?” She scrunches up her face at me in curiosity.

I never thought I would be caught. I didn’t even sneak out because she is always in my room. I don’t know what excuse to give so I say the only thing that comes to my head.

“I was looking for you”, I answer gently, scratching my chin.

She throws me a suspicious glare, not convinced by my reply. She is wearing a short nightgown and it looks like she is ready for bed.

I just arrived from work. Instead of going straight into our room, I came to Valerie’s room to get something.

Folding her arms around her bosom, she demands. “Why were you looking for me?”

I expected her to tell me that I was lying. I have met her in my room for three consecutive nights, other times, I met her in the living room watching a movie.

“We have dinner at my parent’s”, I lie perfectly, hoping she won’t suspect a thing. We haven’t even exchanged more than three words at a time for over a week now.

Sometimes, I want to ask her how her shoulder is doing but I haven’t been able to summon up enough courage to start up a conversation that might lead to another argument.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

I wanted us to make up first. Not argue with her again, endlessly.

“Tonight?” Her eyes bulge open in surprise and I nod, happy that she bought my lie.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Displeasure crosses her expression and I shrug.

She glares at me once more before turning around to go back to our room. I heave a deep sigh of relief, thankful that she bought my lie.

I thought she was going to insist on knowing what I came into her room for.

I watch her disappear out of sight before striding towards my room. I just need to change into something light and then off we go.

When I get into the room, Valerie is going through the closet and I realize the last session of my closet is filled with her things.

How come I never noticed?

The rain has stopped but she isn’t going back to her room. Does she enjoy sleeping in my room better?

She brings out a brown silk gown with sequins. I am about to tell her to wear it when she moves away from the closet with the dress, not sparing me a glance.

I nod with a smile, then drop my briefcase on the bed before taking off my suit. I don’t know what to wear yet. When I get closer, I begin to rummage through it to find something simple to wear.

I find a shirt and chinos black pants with a black classic sneakers. Without hesitation, I pull them out and then quickly change into them.

By the time I am done, Valerie is making herself up in front of the mirror. I stand behind her, watching in admiration and waiting so we can leave.

When she stands up, our eyes meet in the mirror and she hurriedly looks away.

She looks stunning.

“Shall we?” I ask, with a light smile. She ignores me, picks up her brown purse, and walks past me to the door.

Her heels are making those clicking sounds and her hair bounces up and down as she walks majestically out of the door.

What a woman! I muse within me.

I hope she doesn’t get mad at my plan, though. It won’t be worth it if she leaves angrily.

I dash out of the room and catch up with her on the staircase. Walking side by side, we take the front door out to the courtyard where the car is waiting.

John opens the door for us and we get in. He closes the door before going around to slump into the driver’s seat.

An awkward moment of silence falls over us. Valerie is glancing out of the window, purposely ignoring me while I watch her, thinking of the best way to strike up a conversation.

“Aren’t we going to your Mother’s?” She suddenly questions as she turns to catch me staring.

I nod without a word and she looks out of the window again.

John is driving on a different route. She must have figured it out. I guess the reason why she believed my lie was because my Mother was supposed to invite her over so we could celebrate the news of the pregnancy and Mother hasn’t done that yet.

The lie is working to my advantage.

Mother is super excited and I wonder why she hasn’t invited us over yet.

“This is a different route, Ryan”, she snaps her head towards me again, this time with a troubled look on her face.

“I am not kidnapping you, Val. Stay calm”, I try to laugh but it comes out as a snort.

She does not say anything. She keeps staring at me. She must be wondering if trusting me is right or not.

I am thinking she has given up on the topic until she mutters. “Why aren’t we taking the other route? Are we going somewhere else?”

“Yes,” I reply sharply.

There is absolutely no use lying anymore. I lied so I could get her out of the house. I am sure she must have learned her lessons now so she can’t possibly ask John to stop the car and jump out like she did the other day.

The least she can do right now is scream her lungs off at me or become angry.

“What?!” She exclaims with a tone of disbelief, her lips parting slightly, giving me a clear view of how beautiful they look.

“We aren’t going to Mother’s”, I say without any more hesitation.

We don’t need to keep fighting each other. It’s high time we do this thing called marriage responsibly like adults.

She gawks at me in shock. “Where are we going, then?”

“It’s a surprise.”

The surprise has been ruined already. I have no choice but to tell her half of the truth.

“Surprise?” She questions, sounding a little calmer and I nod. She shakes her head, folds her arms, drops them, then shakes her head again and opens her mouth to talk again when I interrupt her.

“Here we are”, I call out pointing my fingers out of the window to reveal the light illuminating the street the car just drove into.

Her gaze follows the direction of my finger with her mouth still slightly open. The surprise is still a meter away and I hope she will be patient enough not to question me till the car halts.

She seems to be in a trance because she doesn’t blink or say a word until the car comes to a stop in front of her favorite Chinese restaurant.

Slowly, I watch her mouth drop open and her eyes bulging out in amazement.