The billionaire’s true love

Part 9

Even though Hailey was already married, seeing her dressed up as a bride still managed to fill my heart with sadness. It felt like she was getting married for the first time and now she would be spending time with someone other than me. Theodore was a great guy and I was glad they were getting married-again-but I still felt a pinch of resentment for Theodore. He had taken my best friend from me, because of him, I was left with nothing but an empty apartment which thankfully Jose was now sharing with me. But despite all that, I was truly happy for the couple, and I wished that someday I would be lucky enough to get a man who would really love me.

“How do I look?” Hailey asked, twirling in her white mermaid dress.

“You don’t need me to tell you that you look absolutely stunning,” I replied.

“Still, I need your opinion. So?” Hailey eyed me expectantly.

I rolled my eyes. “You look perfect.” I told her sincerely.

“Ingrid? April?” Hailey asked the other two women who were sitting with us in the dressing room.

“I agree with Amanda,” Ingrid said.

“Me too,” April agreed.

A knock sounded at the door before it opened to reveal none other than Trent. Great, my asshole of a boss has finally arrived. Trent looked sexy in his tux as he strode inside the room holding a small, rectangular box in his hand.

Seeing Trent made me realize just how fast these two weeks had gone by. With my career and Trent’s yoga classes, and on top of that making plans for the wedding, time flew away.

“To the most beautiful bride ever, I present you with this gift from your husband who is also your husband-to-be,” Trent said, extending his hand with the box towards Hailey, who took it with a breathtaking smile on her face.

“Thank you so much, Trent,” Hailey said.

“The pleasure is all mine, sister.” Trent turned to leave but caught my gaze. And it was like a switch has been flipped because instead of walking out of the door, Trent walked to me.

“After this, I need to have a word with you. Wait for me in one of the guest rooms,” Trent ordered before sauntering out of the room leaving me staring after him. I swear if he wasn’t my boss, I would never do as he said, but right now I was in a compromising position.

The wedding was being held in Theodore’s parents’ estate in their backyard. And when I saw the view of the transformed backyard from the room’s window, I was in awe of the beauty that was displayed before me. It was like my best friend was getting her very own fairytale wedding.

The door opened once again and this time Harry entered carrying a small maroon box in his hand. Harry was wearing a navy blue three piece suit and his hair was styled to perfection. If the best man looked so dashing I wondered how handsome Theodore must be looking.

“This is from Theodore,” Harry said to Hailey who hadn’t stopped smiling since Trent left.

“Thank you so much, Harry,” Hailey replied.

“By the way, when are you coming down?” Harry questioned, checking his wrist watch.

“In about twenty minutes,” Ingrid stated.

“Can’t you make it sooner, Theodore is getting agitated,” Harry responded.

April giggled. “Tell him to wait twenty minutes. And why is he getting agitated, he already married my cousin.”

Harry gave April an affectionate look, a look that was a little too intimate to be given in public; I actually felt like I was intruding. But that look told me one thing: Harry liked April-a lot.

“All right ladies, I’ll take my leave now. Hailey, try and have mercy on my brother or else he’ll bite my head off.” With a soft smile directed at Hailey, Harry strode out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“What’s in the boxes, Hail?” Ingrid asked.

“Let me see.” Hailey quickly opened the boxes and gasped as she pulled out a blue bracelet from the rectangular box and a thin gold necklace from the maroon box. She pulled out a small card from the maroon box as well.

“Princess, even though we are already married, I still wanted to carry out the traditions. The blue bracelet is your something new and blue; and the gold necklace is your something old and borrowed. I wish to see you wearing these items when you walk down the aisle and become mine in the eyes of the world. I love you, Theodore,” Hailey read out a card, and when she finished, a lone tear slipped from her eye, but the smile that she wore told me she was ecstatic.

“Okay, I’m in love,” Ingrid sighed, her face taking on a dreamy look.

“It’s okay, Ingrid. You’ll get your man, don’t worry,” I said.

“Hailey, can I have Theodore?” Ingrid asked.

Hailey’s eyes widened. “Take me down before she gets my man!”

All three of us burst out laughing at seeing Hailey’s alarmed reaction, which caused her to narrow her eyes and glare at us. “You are so mean!”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“And you believed us.” Ingrid held her stomach as she laughed.

“That’s it. I can’t wait anymore, let’s go now. Take your places,” Hailey ordered, and since she was the bride, none of us argued and simply did as she said and took her down to her husband.

~*~*~*~*

“What took you so long?” I asked as soon as Trent entered the guest room.

I had reached the guest room as soon as Theodore was given the permission to kiss his bride and dance with her. While everybody was busy dancing, I located a nearby guestroom and slipped inside, and for the past twenty minutes I had been waiting for Trent to show up.

“I had to dance with my new sister,” Trent explained.

“Well what did you want to say to me, tell me so I can go,” I said.

“Excuse me?” Trent arched his eyebrow.

“What?” I huffed. I really wanted to go out and dance, Jose was waiting for me, and Trent was making me stay here.

“Sit down, you’ll be here for some time,” he stated.

“What?! No way! It’s my best friend’s wedding and you’re telling me that I have to stay here and listen to you, forget it, it’s not happening,” I shot back.

“I am not telling you, shady, I’m ordering you. Sit. Down.” He emphasized the last two words.

“Trent, you don’t get to do this, not here,” I argued.

“It’s Mr. Benson to you, and I can do whatever the hell I want, wherever the hell I want, you don’t get to argue, so sit down.” He gave me a hard look, but I was not going to back down.

“You don’t get to do this either. You can’t act like my boss whenever you feel like and act like a normal person whenever you want. You don’t get to abuse your power like this,” I countered.

“It’s my power, bumblebee, I can do whatever I want with it. And right now, I choose to abuse it, so sit down.” God he was a stubborn man.

With a withering glare at Trent, I looked around for a chair but found none. “There is no chair.”

“Sit on the bed,” Trent replied like I should be smart enough to figure it out on my own.

With a scowl, I flopped on the mattress, making sure to let Trent know just how unhappy I was over this. Trent as usual chose to ignore my sour mood and came to stand right in front of me, towering over me.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“I want you in the studio at 4:00 am tomorrow,” Trent stated.

My eyes widened in disbelief. “Four in the morning? Are you crazy? I can’t come at four in the morning, that’s insane!” This guy was not serious, I couldn’t come at four in the morning, I was busy dreaming and drooling at that time.

“I didn’t say you had a choice. You have to be there at four and that’s it,” Trent responded.

“Are you crazy?! Why do you want me at work at four? What’s the big emergency?” I questioned.

“When you’ll come tomorrow, you’ll know.” He told me softly.

“Tell me now because I’m not coming tomorrow.” I eyed him expectantly.

“You are,” Trent said.

“No,” I asserted.

Trent placed both of his hands on the mattress on either side of me before leaning down, causing me to lean back a little in order to maintain eye contact, but not so much as to make me fall back on the bed.

“You are going to be at the studio at four in the morning,” Trent repeated.

“I am not going to do any such thing. The time you’re telling me is utterly ridiculous,” I replied stubbornly.

He leaned closer resulting in me leaning back. “Don’t be stubborn with me, shady, bad things happen to stubborn people,” he said in a deadly tone.

I raised my eyebrows. “If you’re trying to scare me it’s not working. I am not going to sacrifice my sleep just because you want it. And for the last time, stop calling me shady.”

“Don’t be stupid, bumblebee. Say you’ll be there.” Trent’s voice dropped to an eerily soft tone.

“What part of no do you not understand? You call me stupid when you are unable to understand a simple word. And don’t you have something better to do than to order me around?” This man was infuriating.

“You are my model, and if I want you at the studio at four in the morning, you’ll be present there at four in the fucking morning, is that clear?” I knew by the tone of his voice that there was no room for argument.

“If you’re done, can I go now, Mr. Benson?” I said sarcastically.

Instead of replying with a yes or a no, Trent placed a hand on my chest and pushed me down until my back met the soft mattress. I gasped in surprise at his sudden actions. What was he planning? Panic exploded in my heart as his eyes darkened and an unusual look entered his eyes.

“You are not going to be easy, are you?” I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or to himself, but that eerie soft tone had goosebumps pebbling my skin. Trent looked dangerous.

“Your demands are ridiculous.” I was surprised my voice managed to sound normal despite the panic that was building within me.

“You are going to accept my demands no matter how ridiculous they are, you don’t get a say, you are my model,” he enunciated.

“I can be someone else’s model,” I retorted.

“No you can’t. I will never let that happen. I won’t let anyone else have you. You belong to me.” Trent gave me an intense look.

My heart started pounding, and it wasn’t from fear, it was because of Trent’s words. Just what did Trent mean by all this? Was there a double meaning or was I reading too much into it?

“Could you move, please. I need to go now.” I was getting uncomfortable with his close proximity and I needed to be a familiar setting, away from this intense man.

“Why?” He questioned.

“Jose is waiting for me,” I answered.

“I don’t like that friend of yours. I really don’t like him.” I had no idea why Trent was acting like this, and I didn’t want to stay and find out.

“You can’t do anything about it,” I stated, feeling a little confident.

“Actually, I can. And I might do something about this friend of yours. Something permanent, a temporary solution wouldn’t suffice,” he whispered. My heart clenched in fear, fear for Jose. No, Trent was lying, he wouldn’t really do anything to Jose, would he?

“You stay away from him. If anything happens to Jose because of you I swear I will never forgive you,” I hissed.

“If something happens to Jose, trust me bumblebee, you won’t know that I did it.” Was he telling me exactly how much power he had? If that was the case, I didn’t need his threats to realize that, his bloody name was enough.

“You better not hurt Jose,” I warned him.

“Be at the studio at four in the morning tomorrow and he won’t get hurt,” Trent stated.

My panic mounted and at the same time my anger sparked. “That is blackmail!”

“You want your friend to be safe, you do as I say.” He told me.

His words not only left me speechless, they made me feel cornered. Trent had me right where he wanted me, and despite the fact that he was threatening me, he knew he had me cornered. The man was not decent, not at all. Decent men didn’t blackmail you into doing their bidding. Trent was evil, and I was so stupid that I did not see it coming. He had power and he loved using it.

“You are a menace!” I seethed, glaring at him.

“You don’t know exactly how much of a menace I really am, and trust me, you don’t want to know. So tell me, will you be at the studio at four in the morning tomorrow?” The victorious glint in his eyes told me that he knew what I was going to say.

“Fine. I’ll be there. But you better stay away from Jose, I mean it Trent,” I stated. Jose was my friend. I wasn’t sure if Trent’s words had any truth to them, but I wasn’t going to take a risk. If Trent wanted me at the bloody studio at four, I’d be there; not for me but for Jose.

With a soft smile, Trent stood up, allowing me to get up from the bed. I kept glaring at him as I straightened my dress and all I got from Trent was an amused glance. The man was getting on my nerves and I needed to do something in order to get him under control, otherwise he was going to crush me.

Just as I neared the door, Trent grabbed my bicep in a firm grip. “Do not be late,” he said, before releasing me.

I bit my lip to stop myself from saying something I would surely regret, and instead kept looking straight ahead as I opened the door and walked out, anger and confusion ruling my mind.