MR BILLIONAIRE'S REGRET: CHASING HIS IRRESISTIBLE WIFE

(SOFIA'S

POV)

I lay down on my back, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. The sound of the humidifier in the background was my only touch with reality.

My mind flashed back to the past. The first man I ever married was wealthy-decades older, but wealthy. That's what mattered to me at the time. He promised a life of luxury and affluence. I never married him for love. I wish I never did.

He turned out to be a control freak who hoarded most of his wealth from me and made me put up with an entire planet of rules and regulations, hollow promises and disgusting sex.

I took it till I couldn't do so anymore. I'd planned to wait until he died—he was nearer to his death day or so I thought so I could inherit his wealth. But when an easier way out came to me on a platter of gold, I jumped at it.

I was out at a pub one night and then a stranger walked up to me. He offered to help me in a way I hadn't expected. The terms of his offer were strange to me: he was going to help me get out of my marriage, but in return, I had to go back to the city where I'd grown up in and reconnect with Jared. I recall looking at him incredulously, amused by his inference of the terms of his offer as a price to be paid. For me, it represented the actualization of every dream I'd ever had the option to marry for love.

I took him up on his offer without giving it much thought anything to get away from the old man I'd ted myself to. When my husband died a few weeks later from an 'unknown' cause as the doctor's described it, the strange helper approached me again to remind me of my own end of the deal. How he'd gotten my husband out of the way remained a mystery to me but it didn't matter. It was all part of the plan.

With my husband dead, I returned to my old city and sought out Jared. It wasn't a very hard thing to do because he'd made a name for himself and become a billionaire. It was all good for me-like icing on the cake. I was more than sure that the bond we'd once shared was stronger than any new attachment he could form.

When I heard he was married I brushed it off as nothing, like it was a complete joke. All it took was for me to show up and Jared became entranced by my charm instantly leading to an inevitable divorce with his wife. But the story didn't quite go as planned.

After Arielle left him, Jared grew a little reserved. He seemed to be waking up to his senses. His thoughts were on everything else but me. He thought about her more even when we were together. It was completely unbearable.

I was desperate for his attention and in my desperation I caused my own miscarriage. I'd hoped that his sympathy and grief would be the bond to hold us together more permanently. I also wanted him to know that he wouldn't have to raise another man's child because I'd have only his.

I was shocked beyond reason when after the first few words of comfort, Jared's attitude to me remained unchanged. If anything, he seemed more entranced by thoughts about Arielle. Of course, he wouldn't admit this to me or anyone else for that matter, but I knew without doubt that his mind was engulfed by thoughts of his ex-wife.

For years after his divorce, I tried everything I could to get his mind away from her and on me. I pulled out every trick in the book to win his attention but it just was never enough. I was losing a battle to Arielle even in her absence. It was very humiliating losing a battle to an invisible presence, a mere shadow. How could Jared want her so badly even with me around, as if I'd never even mattered to begin with?

I clenched my fists by my sides as I dug my nails into the flesh of my palm. Arielle had taken everything from me and I was going to make her pay.

I sat up quickly and dried my tears with my hands. A new idea crossed my mind. I'd not thought about it before because it was a door in my life I didn't want to open-my strange helper from the past. But these were desperate times, I convinced myself and reached for my phone on the bed.

I dialed his number and waited hopefully as the dial tone rang.

"Hello?" he answered. The background was a bit noisy.

"Hi. This is Sofia," I introduced and paused hesitantly.

There was a long pause on the other end and I had to look at the screen to be sure he was still on the call.

"Sofia. Why have you called me?" he finally asked.

"I need your help. So I and Jared are kinda not talking anymore and I know how you helped me get back in his life. I was umm... I just need your help. He's thinking of getting back with his ex-wife and I can't let that happen. Please help me," I said.

"I see. I helped you once but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you now," he said.

"No please. There has to be something you can do, please," I said desperately.

"As heartbreaking as it is, I can't help you, Sofia. You're on your own. Now if you'd excuse me, I've got work to do," he said and the line clicked.

"No. Wait. Hello?"

I was met with silence from the

other end. The world was going dark around me. It felt like being forcefully submerged in water. I shut my eyes as the tears flowed freely. I was slowly coming to terms with the possibility that I'd actually lost and

there was nothing I couldn't do I about it.

I heard soft footsteps approach me and my eyes flew open in alarm.

"Would you pay more attention for

goodness sake, Sofia? I stood in front of the door knocking for a while before I left myself in and you still didn't hear me until I was up

close," my mum said disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, mum," I apologized, wiping my tears as I rose to my feet.

"Are you crying?" she asked with a hint of skepticism on her face. "Anyway I'm here for something more important. Did you get my text? I need some money," she said, switching topics so easily.

I fought back the urge to snap at her for being so insensitive. "I don't have any money, mum."

"What do you mean you don't have any money?"

"Look at those," I pointed at the stack of white envelopes strewn across the floor. "Those are the bills I have to pay and I don't have the money for them. Go and sort yourself out!"

Without warning she slapped me hard across my face. I held my face in shock. She looked away from me.

"So it's true."

"What's true?" I asked, still stunned by her slap.

"All our accounts are frozen, Sofia! And when I tried reaching your fancy boyfriend about it his secretary told me he was too busy to speak with me. Can you imagine that!" she said dramatically. Slowly, the realization began to settle in. I realized I'd indeed lost everything the lifestyle, the money, the status. Everything.

I had my own savings before meeting Jared but there was nothing left in it. I and my family had squandered the funds in my accounts because we'd assumed that Jared would always be there to be our cash cow.

"I have an idea," my mother suddenly announced. "How about we claim that you are pregnant with his child?"

I nearly rolled my eyes at the absurdity of her suggestion especially because it wasn't remotely possible.

"I already told you, mum, we never slept together. He was always fixed on his ex-wife," I said bitterly, flopping on the bed in frustration.

"How about that time you drugged him? The time he was unconscious?" she pressed further.

It was my turn to look at her skeptically. "Nothing happened, mum. You know it, so why bring it up?"

She ignored my question, her eyes

glinting with a twisted kind of

energy. "But he doesn't know that, does he? You could always find

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another man, get pregnant, and pin it on him-make him believe it's his.”

I cut her off, appalled. "Are you insane! What are you even saying?"

But she didn't flinch, her excitement growing. "The only thing that matters is making him believe it's his..."