BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

There stands Christine Moore.

My favorite guitarist.

My jaws drop open fully and I turn to meet Ryan’s gaze. He is smiling proudly and I find myself running into his arms.

We are out of the car already. I couldn’t believe my eyes so I had to come down quickly to be sure I am not seeing something wrong.

Christine stands there gracefully, looking extremely handsome in a black cotton jacket on a white purple shirt. He is also wearing a pair of blue purple trousers with a brown leather belt.

He is wearing matching black sneakers too. He has short wavy black hair that fits his entire outfit as he slides the guitar across his body.

I realize I am still in Ryan’s arms and I quickly disengage from the hug, a chuckle leaving my mouth.

I have no idea how Ryan got to know about Christine and how much I love his songs but I appreciate whatever effort he has made to bring Christine here.

I have always seen him on TV. When my father’s business was still doing well, Brenda, Fred, and I had plans to go to one of his concerts in Paris. I was going to sponsor my trip and that of Brenda’s but things changed and we couldn’t go.

Fred didn’t even offer to sponsor our trip.

Live and direct, Christine is staring back at me with a huge smile on his face. There are two men behind him and suddenly, he begins to play the guitar and he starts to sing as well and I feel butterflies in my stomach.

It’s been so long since I felt them. It feels unreal but it is surreal.

I thought they were gone with my best friends. I thought my best friends were the only ones who could give me this much happiness.

I turn to Ryan again. His hands are clasped behind him and it suddenly dawns on me that this is his way of apologizing to me for what he did the other night.

I already forgave him. I was just ignoring him on purpose. But right now, I want to forget everything he has done to piss me off.

“Thank you”, I whisper into his ears and I nod at myself.

We stand watching Christine play till it comes to an end and I walk majestically to hug Christine.

It feels like a dream.

“Congratulations”, he says with a cute voice that makes me blush.

“Thank you”, I answer before realizing that I don’t even know what he is congratulating me for.

Before I can ask, Christine shakes hands with Ryan and I watch them talk like buddies before a big car appears and they all get into it.

He has two hefty bodyguards as well, all dressed in black.

We watch them get in and the car roars to life. It feels like a short dream. It feels like he was never here and I was dreaming the whole thing.

When he is gone, I turn to Ryan. “Congratulations?”

He looks amused for a second before asking. “Aren’t you pregnant?”

My mouth is agape. Did he tell Christine that I am married to him and pregnant?

Oh no! My face falls.

“Don’t tell me you told him that”, I stamp my feet on the floor.

He laughs to himself and then guides me into the restaurant. “Are you in love with a celebrity?”

“I was going to use you to get to him, why did you have to tell him all of that?”

“Well, I thought you said men are scums?”

“Of course, you all are but Christine Moore is different. Did you see how his eyes sparkled when he saw me?” I face him squarely, stopping him from walking ahead.

Jealousy flashes across his face but I don’t want to read meanings into it so I continue to walk ahead.

I really do not know if I can ever be in another relationship again but I won’t mind considering Christine. He is more handsome than I thought.

My marriage with Ryan is just a month out of the twenty months we agreed to spend with each other.

Argggh!

We get to the reservation space and he hurries over to pull out the chair for me. I smile and sit down gently.

He takes the seat opposite me as a waiter approaches us.

“What would you like to order?” He asks us.

Ryan shifts his gaze from the waiter to me. “What would you like to order?”

“Can we order later?” I ask him and he nods. Turning to the waiter. “We will order later.”

He nods and walks away.

I am not hungry because I ate some snacks before Ryan arrived from work. Aside from that, I am dying of curiosity. I want to ask him a lot of questions; how did he get to know that I am a die-hard fan of Christian Moore and how did he get him to come here? I want to know about his relationship with Christian and if it’s possible to meet up with him again.

“You look like you have a lot to say to me right now”, Ryan mentions and I nod promptly.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Of course. How do you know him? How do you know I like him? Are you friends? Why did you bring us here? Where…”

“One question at a time, mi lady”, he cuts me short and takes a hold of my hand, just like he did the other day.

I inhale and exhale deeply before blurting out again. “How do you know him?”

“From someone.”

“How do you know I like him?” I can’t stop the questions from rushing out.

“I found out from someone.”

That someone must be my mother. She loves him as well.

“Why did you bring us here?”

It’s a Chinese restaurant, one of the biggest, and having to get a reservation here is very hard. I wonder how he did it. Has he been planning this for some days?

“He happened to have a show here so I reached out to him because I wanted to ask you to forgive me. He could spare me a few minutes and here we are.” He explains and I almost laugh out loud.

That explains why he left immediately after singing one of his famous songs about love.

I can’t believe Ryan went through all of this for me. Just to seek my forgiveness.

Even though he is an asshole, he does have a conscience.

Then, I remember he went into my room. I saw him coming out of my room when I wanted to get my charger from the room. Did he lie about looking for me? Is this all about his plans to get me here?

“I could remember vividly how you mentioned to my hearing that you hated lies and that is one of the rules stated in our contract, Mr. Ryan Lorenzo”, I cross my right leg over the left, yanking my hands away and smirking with pride.

He looks amused. “I could also remember how you lied so perfectly to my Mother that you are pregnant when you aren’t.”

“50/50, then?”

He shrugs. “I lied so you could be happy. Aren’t you happy to see him?”

I gasp. I am damn happy. “Of course I am. I wish to see more of him, though.”

He does not say anything.

“Can we order now?” I ask him and he shakes his head.

“I also have a question to ask you.”

“Ok?”

“Would you be offended if I find myself a sex partner?” He sounds like the question would annoy me from his tone. It comes out more like a whisper.

I don’t see anything wrong with that. He is a man but his question is making me respect him more.

I had a boyfriend whom I loved so much. He claimed to love me yet he cheated on me. But here is Ryan, a man I don’t know but married to asking for permission to have sex outside our marriage.

He is a man.

I let out a short laugh. “Of course not.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t mind.”

We aren’t real so I see no reason why this should be a big deal.

He seems troubled by my answer as I touch his hand to assure him that I am fine with it. “It’s fine.”

“Ok.”

Before I can ask if we can order dinner again, he brings out a box from his pocket and stretches it toward me.

“I want you to be my sex partner, Valerie!” He drops the bombshell and my eyes leave the box to meet his serious gaze.

“What?!” I exclaim sharply with a loud voice.