BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

Slamming my fists on the steering, I let out a growl of frustration as my head drops to the wheel.

I hate him with all my being.

I hate him for pretending to be my father all these years. I hate him for everything.

After letting out several puffs to calm my nerves, I finally step down from the car. I close it back and walk straight into the hospital.

I wonder when Mother will be finally discharged. Even if he wanted her back into the mansion, I wouldn’t have allowed it. I have plans of keeping her with me till everything is resolved.

After making plans to keep her in my house, I was a little scared she might want to go back home but now that he is throwing her out, it will work to my benefit. I can never let her take him again and I need to know what exactly is happening and why all of this happened.

After all, he asked me to demand questions about this from her. I only hope she answers me this time and does not lie to me.

I step into the ward and open the door to her room. The first thing I see makes me halt in my tracks.

The back of a woman.

If I had never seen her in these

clothes, I would have thought it was Celina again because I never thought she wouldn’t come to check up on Mom ever again because of her anger.

The sound of the door opening must have alerted them both because she turns back immediately to meet my gaze. Mother has a light smile on her face like they have been discussing something funny about me behind my back.

That amusement in her expression says it all.

Abruptly, she rises from the chair.

She is wearing a pleated two-tone knitted white and red mini dress and carrying a red leather bag. She has golden red stud earrings on and leather sandals.

Her dress makes me raise a brow, tempted to question where she is headed or where she is coming from.

We have had our fair share of arguments and disagreements but that doesn’t stop me from admiring and respecting her so much. I can’t deny that she gets me really upset sometimes but her absence makes me miss her and know her worth more than anything else.

If we keep up with this, then our marriage might not work out but I want it to work. Father must have thought it won’t work out but I am sure it will.

I guess the bulk of this lies in my hand. If Valerie isn’t ready to back down and let go of some of her silly attitude for us to work, I will. This is how much I love and miss her. I will learn to overlook a lot of things about her behavior and I will learn to always apologize for my mistakes.

I just hope she realizes all of this and does her part.

“Ryan” Mother calls, her voice a bit louder than ever before. I close the door behind me with a little smile playing on my lips as I approach them.

Valerie looks like she is about to leave but I don’t know if she will since Mother doesn’t know about our fight.

“I should go now”, she turns back to peck Mother on the forehead as I stop behind her with folded arms.

“Why?” I question with my brows furrowed.

This means she must have told Mother about our fight.

“I need to go back home now, I’ve been out all morning and I don’t want to get Mom worried about me”, she replies calmly, making me more confused.

She just talked about going home, not my home which means Mother knows she is no longer staying with me.

“Valerie, sit. I want to talk to you both”, My mom utters indifferently, as if hearing my thoughts.

Valerie sits back immediately and I go to the other side to grab a chair to sit on as well. While staring at her beautifully made-up face, I wondered where she went.

Valerie is definitely not one to go back to her vomit. She would never go back to Fred and I wonder why the hell I believed Celina. I knew she did that to make me mad but I still went ahead to accuse Valerie.

If Valerie still wanted Fred, she wouldn’t have married me. She stopped loving him long ago, why then should I keep bothering myself about him being a threat to our marriage?

“Valerie”, she takes a hold of her hand still smiling. Valerie smiles back and it melts something in me. I realize just how much I miss seeing her smile or laugh. “I want you two to sort out your differences as soon as possible. The earlier, the better. If this keeps up for a long time, it will become too hard to resolve. Please forgive Ryan for whatever he must have done to hurt him. Please forgive him for my sake, ok?”

She shakes her head.

Now I am so sure she must have told Mom something.

Why is she shaking her head, though? Has she given up on us? I was beginning to get excited that there is a third party to help us resolve our differences since we seem not to understand each other again. Why is she shaking her head, then?

“I’m not mad at him anymore, Mom”, she squeezes my Mom’s hand reassuringly and I smile with my head down. “It’s just that I need space.”

My face falls and I hoist my head up immediately.

Our eyes meet.

“I need a bit of space to know if this is going to work or not. I can’t be with a man that doesn’t trust me. I can’t be with a man that doesn’t believe every word I say. Ryan’s recent actions have shown me that he doesn’t trust or believe me. He sees me as a liar and an unfaithful…”

“No!” I cut in sharply. “I never called you that.”

“Your actions did, Ryan”, she retorts back quickly, as if expecting that outburst from me. “Your actions did. I never lied to you and I have never been with any man since our marriage, except of course that stupid picture of Fred and I which you saw. I would never do anything to hurt you purposely but you don’t seem to see beyond the first impression you made of me.”

“That’s a lie, Val. I don’t see you as any of that. I love you so it’s a little normal for me to act jealous if….”

“Jealous? You weren’t acting jealous, you were accusing me of sleeping with my ex.”

“What?!” I exclaim loudly. “Of course not. I didn’t.”

“If you didn’t, why then did you believe Celina over me?” Pain flashes across her expression and I know I have hurt her. Suddenly, I feel like apologizing again and stop the argument.

“I didn’t.”

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“I’m sorry”, I finally apologize. “I’m sorry…”

“I didn’t meet with Fred that day. I haven’t seen it since the other time”, she utters slowly. “I also got the wrong idea when I saw her with you, on your bed, feeding you. I’m sorry?”

That sounds like a question to me.

I look down and smile at myself.

Remembering that we are in the presence of Mom, I gaze up to meet her smiling down at me before shifting her attention to Valerie.

She stretches out her hand for me to take and I do so. “This is what makes a great couple, you know?”

Without any more words, she brought Valerie’s hand closer and entwines it with mine. “You barely knew each other before getting married. It takes a lot to know each other within a space of half a year so I guess you two are still getting to know each other better. Give room for more to learn about yourself. Accept each other’s shortcomings and flaws and know that there are certain things you both have to work on to make this work. First, you have to admit some of your shortcomings and then try to adjust. That makes you better.”

Silence ensues.

Valerie isn’t looking at me and I guess she is still upset about everything. Suddenly, Mother sighs deeply and lets go of our hands. Valerie pulls away.

With my gaze fixated on Mother, I know she is thinking about him. That monster she called a husband.

The sudden anger I am beginning to feel again is reminding me about the questions I have for her but I wonder if this is the right time.

Before I can decide on whether to ask her now or when Valerie is gone, the ringing sound of a phone pierces the silence of the room.

It is Valerie’s phone. It must be her mom because of how she stands up to go again. Maybe her mom is worried that she isn’t home yet.

Instead of bading Mom and me goodbye, she picks up the call and glues the phone to her ears.

“Mom?”

I was right.

A gasp leaves her mouth immediately and I almost shoot to my feet in fear of what must have happened this time again.

That monster is still out there, walking freely instead of being locked up like the criminal that he is.

So no one is safe.

“What?!” her phone crashes to the floor as she exclaims. I jump up from my seat and rush to grab her before she can fall.

“My dad”, she mumbles before falling to the ground despite my hold on her.