BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

After a round of handshakes, I finally left the office in a hurry to go home and see how Valerie is doing.

I have been thinking about her all day and I could barely concentrate on work. I was thinking about how we made love last night and also what she must be thinking right now.

As for my last statement, I would call it fear. I am scared she will go back to that cold woman, ignoring me like nothing happened last night between us.

I was tempted to call her over the phone this morning but I kept refraining myself from doing so because I don’t want to push her away.

Obviously, she wants us to take it one step at a time. And that is what I want to do with her. Even though she didn’t tell me she likes me or she accepts to be real with me, I feel on top of the moon already because of what happened between us last night.

I never saw it coming. Probably because of how she flares up when I talk about having sex with her or whenever I do something close to that.

I was damn scared she would sober up and push me away like she did the other day but obviously, she wanted me too.

As much as I think of it, I still can’t believe Valerie will go easy on me that way. I came up with two conclusions. Both make me unhappy.

First, Valerie might pretend as if nothing happened between us last night and will avoid topics that will result in discussing about last night.

Second, she might have given me the wrong impression that she wanted me when in reality, she gave me herself simply because she feels grateful for all I have been doing, especially what I did to make her birthday special.

As much as I think about these two conclusions, I desperately wish she wouldn’t think this way.

The car drives in slowly and my heart beat increases in fear of what I would meet up there when we see each other.

Will she run to hug me? Will she throw her arms around me and tell me how much she misses me? Will she greet me nonchalantly and act all cold towards me again?

With a deep sigh, I grab my briefcase as John parks the car slowly. Before he can get the door for me, I step out.

I stride towards the front door with a pounding heart filled with eagerness. I yank the door open and get inside without a word to John.

I just want to see her. I want to see the look that crosses her face when she sees me.

If she smiles, it’s a good thing but if she doesn’t, then it’s a bad one.

My heart sinks at the thought of seeing her in a bad mood. I walk briskly into the house, trying so hard to calm my nerves.

I climb the staircase, my heart still racing in fear. When I get to the top landing, I move closer to my door, then take a deep breath before twisting the doorknob to enter.

I am met with heavy silence and emptiness.

The room is empty. But the bed isn’t laid. It looks like she has been in bed all morning and she didn’t bother to lay it well before leaving the room.

Where is she? Is she back in her room? Does this mean she wants to avoid me now because of what happened last night?

Hurriedly, I take the door out with my briefcase hanging beside me in my right hand. I race for her door, more desperate to see her.

When I get to the door, I don’t run inside, instead, I keep calm, breathing in and out before taking a hold of the doorknob and turning it slowly, a smile creeping to my face.

I should meet her with a smile. This way, she can smile back at me and I will have nothing else to be scared about.

All I need is for her to smile back at me.

Just like my room, her room is also empty. It doesn’t look like she has come in here since morning because the bed is well laid and nothing seems out of place.

An idea hits me and my heart begins to thump wildly in anxiety.

Did she leave?

I race for the closet, to see if her clothes are still intact or missing. I pull it open to see that there are a few of her clothes left in there. Most of them are in my room.

Without wasting any more time, I dart backward and make for the door again. Within minutes, I am back in my room, tossing the clothes away to be sure none is missing.

Everything is intact.

Where the hell is she then?

Despite the fear consuming me, I breathe a deep sigh of relief that she is still here with me and not gone. Having her belongings here with me means she is here. If only they are missing, then I will have a lot to worry about.

The Valerie I know is someone who can wake up one day and decide to leave. What happened between us last night is enough reason for her to leave.

Maybe she went out because she was bored.

Maybe she went to visit her parents.

Maybe she is around the house.

I drop my briefcase, breathing heavily with arms akimbo, thinking of where she could possibly be.

Is she in the bathroom? I walk towards the bathroom door and shove it open to see no one inside.

I close it back, then walk back to grab my phone from my briefcase. Instead of getting worked up over nothing, I should call her. When I hear her voice, I will be calm to know that she is fine and still with me.

I dial her number, still breathing heavily with one arm on my waist and the other hand gluing the phone to my right ear.

I wait patiently as it begins to ring and ring until it goes to voicemail. I dial it again but it is still the same. She isn’t picking up her calls.

When I try to call her for the fifth time, my heart almost bursts out of my chest, dreading the fact that my assumptions might be right after all, it says unreachable.

The phone is no longer ringing but unreachable.

I toss the phone on the bed in frustration as I rake my hand in my thick hair, twirling around the room and thinking of where she must has gone and where to find her.

Maybe she is hiding. Maybe she doesn’t want to give me the impression that she is gone.

I grab my phone again and race for the door immediately, just in time to see a maid walking up the staircase with a tray of food for me.

“Emma, have you seen Val?” I attack her with the first question that pops into my head.

She looks surprised at the question but shakes her head anyway. “No, sir.”

“You haven’t seen her all morning?” I ask again and she hesitates before answering.

“I saw her this morning when she was heading out but I didn’t know when she came back or..”

“She came back?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know if she did or not.”

Emma spends most of her time in the kitchen, the head maid should know more since she is in charge of the affairs of the house.

“Call me the head maid”, I instruct her as I begin to pace to and fro. She nods immediately and disappears down the staircase with the food.

I was hungry a while ago but not anymore.

When I am out of patience, I decide to go down myself to find her when she appears.

“Good day, sir. Emma said you wanted to see me”, she mutters, staring at me intently with her hands on the rails of the stairwell. Emma must have told her I was looking for Valerie.

“Have you seen Valerie today?” I throw the same question at her immediately.

“Yes, she left this morning in a hurry”, she points to the direction of the front door.

“In a hurry?” I demand with scrunched brows. “Was she with any bag?”

“No”, she replies sharply.

“She didn’t look like she was traveling or going to be away for a while?” I ask again to be sure it is not what I am thinking.

“No.”

“What was she wearing?”

“A short gown.”

“She didn’t tell you where she was going to? Did she go in the car? Did she come back and leave again or she never came back?” I bombard her with the remaining questions left in my head for me to know whether Valerie is indeed gone or not.

She shakes her head slowly, watching me with a concerned expression. “She went with the car but she hasn’t come back since then. Is everything ok, sir?”

“You can go.” I dismiss her immediately, thinking of giving her mother a call.

Just before I can find her mother’s number, a call comes in and I pick up instantly, thinking it is Valerie and she is stranded somewhere.

A sob is the first thing that hits my ears. A female sob. But it doesn’t sound like Val’s.

I take the phone away from my ear to check the number again but it isn’t an unfamiliar one.

“Hello?” I say into the phone, noticing that the head maid is still watching me without moving an inch from where she was standing when I dismissed her.

“Ryan”, a familiar voice calls out, shifting my attention back to the call. “Come to the hospital quickly.”

“Who…who is this?” a lump of dread gets stuck in my throat that I can barely make out my own words. Dread fills me up instantly as I try to connect this call to Valerie.

“Valerie’s mother. Come to the hospital now!” she cries out before disconnecting the call.

With the phone still glued to my ears, my mouth drops open as shock courses through me at the thought of Valerie being dead or in critical condition.

“Sir, is everything ok?” she peers down at me, jerking me back to life.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Without giving her a response, I rush past her, take the staircase down and dash out of the house.