BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

Ryan is good-looking but dumb.

When I said we should grant his mother’s wish, I didn’t mean having sex but the horrified look on his face says it all. That was his own interpretation of my statement.

I lived with Fred yet I never had sex with him because I wasn’t ready. What then will make me have sex with Ryan whom I am not even attracted?

Nothing.

“I am not talking about sex, silly”, I rush forward toward him.

He sighs with relief and finally nods his head.

“Why will you even think of that? You are not even my type”, I voice out before I can control it. He does not answer and I bite my lips in regret for saying that. “Besides, it is against the contract…”

“You are not my type, either”, he brushes past me to go to the bathroom. I thought he wanted to take a bath but a second later, he comes out with a wet face.

Well, we are even now. He is not my type and I am not his type.

“Won’t you ask me what I meant?” I follow him behind as he walks to the bed.

He slouches onto the bed. “What do you mean?”

I really can not say if this sudden calmness of an egoistic man like Ryan is because of his mother’s health or because he is too exhausted to argue or fight me.

I never expected that he would back off like that about me leaving his room.

I guess both reasons are the factors. He is not in the mood to argue with me about anything.

I move to face him. “What I mean is that we will fake it. You know we talked about this on our first date. I told you we need to make them believe that we are liking each other gradually and I think I am already doing a great job. You should make your mother believe that this thing between us is working. She is our major focus now.”

“How will this help me? Will this make her survive?” He cries out and I see the pain in his eyes. He shakes his head and waves me away.

Faking it isn’t his problem. But it is to me. We should grant that woman’s last wish. We should make her happy while on her deathbed.

Myeloma has no remedy. Saying she is dying means it is in the last stage and there is little we can do to help out. What we can only do is shower her with more love and be there for her. We should make her happy too.

I haven’t spent much time with any of his family members but I like his mother already. The way she spoke about him that day speaks volumes of unsaid words. She loved him.

If I hadn’t met Ryan before I met with his mom, I would have thought he was the most handsome man ever who is also well-behaved. Maybe I would have liked him a lot but first impression lasts forever they say.

“Ryan”, I stop him from laying on the bed. “We need to make her happy.”

He yanks his hand away and sits up, hugging the big pillow to himself. He doesn’t look like the Ryan I got married to two days ago. He is nowhere close to resembling the same man I went on a date with who was all confident looking and arrogant.

He looks broken. Heartbroken. Just like how I felt when I saw my best friend with my boyfriend, naked.

“This is no longer about us, Ryan”, I say, sitting in front of him. I want him to get my point. Just hearing about her dying soon brings a sort of sympathy into me for her.

Scenes of how she made jokes about his childhood and how she managed to convince me to go along with it race through my head and I wonder what it means to lose someone.

Not just someone. A mother.

His mother.

“This is about your mother. She needs us to be there for her. How can we be there for her? By granting her wish. We are already married and stuck with each other for a while but it won’t hurt to grant her last wish, will it?”

“How?” He hits his forehead and throws the pillow away, startling me. “How? Tell me. How can I stop her from dying? That is all I want to know not some damn lectures on how to make her happy.”

“You don’t care if she is happy, is that what you are saying?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, woman!” He growls in irritation and I can feel my uprising anger.

Can we just go a day and a night without stepping on each other’s toes? I am not nice but I am trying to be because someone’s happiness and life is involved.

Obviously, Ryan is not just dumb but also stupid.

I am helping him. I am helping the idiot yet he isn’t seeing it.

What a man!

“You know what?” I stand up from the bed. “You are a coward.”

“What?!” He lifts his head and I see tears brimming in his blue ocean eyes.

“Yes, you are a coward. Only a coward will act this way. You don’t want to face your fear. What the hell is wrong with you? Is this how you want to help the poor woman? I won’t wallow in self-pity instead of looking for solutions if I were you…”

“This is not happening to you”, he cuts me short and I shake my head and turn to go to my bed.

He is a complete fool!

Angrily, I climb into bed and throw the comforter over my head. I shut my eyes tightly because I do not want to see how pathetic he looks right now if I turn around.

He is selfish. If he isn’t, then he will listen to what I have to say first. If he doesn’t want my help, then fine. I will keep it to myself.

What an ego!

At the expense of his mother’s happiness?

Nothing can be done to save her. Shouldn’t her happiness be his priority now more than ever?

My chest is heaving up and down in anger. Sleep isn’t coming either and I continue to toss with the heavy silence upon us both.

I almost forgot I am in his room because of the silence. It feels like I was alone in my cold room.

Suddenly, I begin to feel the urge to use the restroom. Without hesitation, I throw the comforter off my body and step out of bed without sparing him a glance.

I don’t want to see if he is still sitting up in bed or if he is deep asleep.

I just want to pretend like tonight never happened. I never thought of helping him talk more about getting rejected.

Who does he think he is?

I am not some pessimist. I always find solutions to problems immediately they showcase their ugly faces instead of getting drowned in my sorrows.

This was why I decided to meet up with him the very night I caught Fred cheating on me again with Brenda.

I made that decision that night even though I told mom I was never going to meet him.

That is what I do best. Finding solutions to my problems and making sure they are tackled with the right approach instead of sulking and crying all day long without a single remedy or idea on what next to do.

I use the restroom and clean up still fuming in anger. My anger has many reasons; because he refused to hear me out first and because he is out of my expectation of a decision-making man. He seems weak in making decisions and I wonder how he runs his company with this weakness. Third, he is acting like a child. He is acting like the woman is dead already.

I am making a mental note to visit his parents tomorrow. I have no work so it won’t hurt to make her my best friend till her time is up.

I have plans for her already.

“Val”, I hear a voice that is unrecognizable call me the moment I get out of the bathroom door. It is Ryan’s.

I close the door quietly behind me and look up to know why his voice changed. Is he crying?

He hoists his head up at the same time as mine and I see his face is dry. He isn’t crying.

Just sad.

I almost think he wants to apologize for waving me away abruptly without hearing me out.

“What is this idea of yours?” He asks with a low tone, more like a whisper. I fold my arms and continue to examine him.

It is just two days. I have only spent two days with him and I have him analyzed like the lines in my palms.

“Aren’t we going to sign the contracts anymore?”

“We will.”

“What is your opinion?” Before I can say anything, he adds. “I’m sorry for shouting at you that way.”

He is still sitting up in bed and his eyes are wide open with no signs of sleep.

I nod and walk to my bed.

“Valerie, can you please…”

“Let’s fake it, I already told you but you were too lost to get what I am saying. Let’s pretend we are ok with each other then finally, we will announce to them that I am carrying a baby.”

“What?!” He exclaims, disbelief skating his expression.

“Yes.”

“How.. when.. how do you want to do that?”

“Leave that to me.”

“What about the contract…”

“This has nothing to do with the contract. We are going to play safe according to the rules of the contract. No one is breaking the rules, we are just going to add more rules to it which will include; faking dating and fake pregnancies. This will exempt us from some certain rules like being touchy with each other like you stated.”

“Does that rule hold grounds? I thought you said it was silly?” He arches a brow at me and I shrug.

Silence remains.

“Have you revised the rules?”

“Not yet.” He replies nonchalantly. I get that this is the least of his problems but I feel we should get it done tonight.

I wish I can console him but the only way I can do that is by giving him a solution which I have already done. That is the best I can do.

I stand up and walk towards his bed. I grab a pen from his side drawer and open the first session just like he did in the penthouse to see if there is any sheet of paper.

There is. I take one of them and go back to my bed.

“Since you already gave the rules. I will revise for you and also add a few more things..”

“I am making the rules, you have no right…”

“We are not arguing tonight, I am not in the mood”, I cut him short.

He snarls at me. “Is there even a day you don’t always feel like arguing?”

“Today is one of those days”, I retort back sharply, rolling my eyes dramatically at him.

He shakes his head and mumbles an inaudible word to himself.

I don’t care what it is.

“First rule, no strings attached. Accepted”, I say aloud and write it down on the paper.

“Second rule, no lies unless when necessary. Accepted.”

“Don’t lie to me. I hate lairs”, he speaks up. “You can lie to other people, especially now that we want to lie that you are pregnant.”

“Accepted”, I flash him a cute smile and it vanishes almost immediately.

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“Third rule is not to be touchy with each other. I won’t be touchy with you otherwise unless when necessary. Accepted.”

“Fourth rule, we need to go on dates to make believe of our marriage. They need to think we are falling in love with each other. Accepted.”

“You added that yourself?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“Fifth rule, do not invade each other’s privacy.”

“Sixth rule, stop arguing, do not flirt with me, and stop shouting whenever we are having a matured conversation”, he comments and I almost roar in laughter.

He looks at me expectantly.

“Not accepted. I can’t do without arguing because I know I am smart. I don’t flirt with men I don’t like and I love shouting so it can sink into people’s heads.”

“Are we done?” He says instead.

“These rules I listed are accepted by both of us. We can give it to your lawyer tomorrow and if there should be any more addition, we will sit and discuss it. I just want us to sign the contract as soon as we can and please I need a copy of it too so I can give it to my lawyer as well.”

“Are you a lawyer?” His question jerks me up as I drop the paper in the drawer beside my bed.

Do I need to answer him?

No!

Without any answer, I get back into bed, and then I remember one last thing.

“Please drop off your phone number tomorrow morning before you leave for work. I don’t wake up till it is 8 am most times and I’m sure you will be gone to work before then. We need to have each other’s number now that we are fake dating.”

He does not reply.

I snap my head towards him. “Did you hear me?”

He nods.

“What will you save my number with?” He demands loudly.

His questions tonight are coming unexpectedly.

I think about it for a while without turning to look at him.

Finally, I mutter. “Jerk. I will save it as a JERK.”

“And I will save yours as THAT CRAZY WOMAN!” He replies as though he knew I was going to say something silly.

Unconsciously, I smile and shut my eyes.