Betrothed To The Cold Billionaire

*THE NEXT DAY*© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

~Around 6am in the morning~

It was still a little bit dark when I woke up. I picked up my phone that was laying idly on the bedstand and turned it on. My eyes squeezed with discomfort when the bright light emitting from the phone reflected on them.

I had to lower the brightness before I was finally able to see well. It was already 6 am in the morning. Wait.. my eyes snapped open immediately I realized that it was actually 6am. How long have I been asleep??

I was about to stand up from my bed when I felt strong arms wrapped around my waist. I became really scared as I don’t recall sleeping next to someone last night.

I glanced around my room to be sure I’m still there. Thankfully, I am so which idiot had the audacity to lay next to me in my room? I turned on the flashlight on my phone and pointed it towards the person.

My eye balls bulged out of their sockets when I saw Adrian laying next to me with his hands wrapped around my waist. I had already forgotten that he forced me to sleep next to him yesterday evening.

I turned off the flashlight immediately when I noticed his eyes squinting in discomfort. I didn’t want to wake him up so I would be able to sneak away from his hold.

I held his hands lightly as I lifted it slowly away from my waist. I sighed in relief when I was finally able to get out of his hold. I was about to stand up and escape when his hands resumed their position around my waist and he pulled me really close to him.

“Where are you running off to huh??” His deep and husky voice resounded in my ear. I’ve got to admit, he has a really amazing voice especially in the morning. The type that every woman would wish to wake up to.

“I just need to get water to drink.” I answered. My back was still facing him so I wasn’t able to see his face.

“You sure you aren’t running away??” He asked as he turned me to face him. A little bit of light that escaped through the window shoned on his face so I was able to see his beautiful green orbs.

“W.. why would I run away?” I stuttered out as I was so lost in staring at them. He stared at me for a while before he smiled.

“Be quick about it then.” He muttered as he placed a small peck on my cheek before letting go of me.

I stood up in a daze and walked out of the room. I didn’t even know how I got to the kitchen as all that was on my mind at the moment was how he pecked me.

That wasn’t the first time he was doing it but it feels like that every time he does. I touched my cheek, the same spot he had kissed earlier. How does he manage to awake all of the dormant butterflies in me without even doing much??

I felt heat slowly creep unto my face as I thought about the moment again and again. I was giddy all over like a middle school student that had just had her first kiss.

I was still acting like that when some maids entered into the kitchen. They were stunned to meet me there but they still greeted me anyway. Their voices were enough to pull me out of my trance.

I slapped my cheek softly as I tried to get rid of the ridiculous thoughts I was having. I don’t know what got into me that made me start fantasizing about that dickhead.

I picked up a bottle of water from the fridge and left the kitchen immediately. I knew better than to go back to that room. I didn’t want to loose control in front of him again so I went to my quiet spot in the garden.

I didn’t expect to see Grandma there so I wanted to leave discreetly but I wasn’t fast enough.

“Come my child. Come sit with me.” She said as she patted on the space next to her. I couldn’t say no to her so I walked over to where she was and sat on the space provided.

“Good morning Grandma.” I greeted.

“Morning Ariel. You were finally able to escape from the clutches of your husband?” She asked with a knowing look on her face.

“Wait.. how..”

“How wouldn’t I know? Your door wasn’t locked so I was able to catch the both of you and that beautiful position.” She said as she smiled at me.

“Please don’t be like that Grandma. It was very far from beautiful.” I answered in discomfort as I recalled how he forced me to sleep next to me.

“That wasn’t what I saw. You have always been complaining about how impossible your husband is but I didn’t see that yesterday.”

“That’s only because he’s pretending.” I answered.

“Really??” She asked in a very unbelieving tone.

“Yes. Same way he managed to fool me with his identity.” Saying that made a thought cross through my mind.

He was able to fool not just me but everyone about his real identity since he showed himself as a crippled in public but I noticed something yesterday. No one in my family seemed shocked when they saw his appearance.

I mean, they are supposed to because the Adrian that showed himself to the public was a crippled man with a disfigured face but the one that I bought home with me had a completely different and opposite appearance.

They didn’t even show any look of surprise and that made me wonder if they had always known how he looked.

“There’s something bothering you.” Grandma said when she noticed how I looked.

“Yes. I wanted to ask you a question.” I muttered as I waited for her permission before asking.

“Go ahead.” She said.

“Have you perhaps seen Adrian before?”

“Quite a lot of times.” She answered. I stared at her in confusion. Is she saying that she has met him before we got married and had always known about his real appearance??

“You want to know if I had always known that was how he really looked like.” She said like she had read my thoughts. I nodded my head slowly to affirm what she had just said.

“Well, the answer is yes.” I was kind of expecting this answer but it was still surprising.

“Also, it’s not just me but the whole family.”

“The whole family except me. Why didn’t you tell me before? You made me believe that my husband was handicapped.”

“I did? If I could remember clearly, I told you not to believe any of those rumors when you had asked me about his identity.”

“Why didn’t you just say that he was fine?”

“It wasn’t in my place to. Besides I would never let you marry him if he was handicapped.”

“But you accepted the marriage proposal a long time ago. Long before his supposed accident” I reminded.

“I did but I would have done everything in my power to get you out of it if I had known he was the way people described him.” So she could have ended the proposal if she wanted to.

“Why didn’t you do it when I begged you to?” I asked.

“I’ve always told you before everything I do is for your own good. You might not notice it now but you will, later in the future.” She said.

“Selling me off to my nemesis doesn’t seem like a good thing to me but who am I to complain?” I muttered but she could still hear me. She smiled at me as she patted my hair lovingly.

“Ariel, you’re still stubborn as always. I wonder how your husband is able to cope with you.”

“What you should be wondering is how I am able to cope with him.” I said and she bursted out laughing. The laughter was so contagious, I couldn’t help but join too.

“Speaking of husbands, don’t you think it’s high time you head back to your room? He might be looking for you.” She asked when she were finally able to control our laughter.

“Let me just have this time to myself today. For the next two weeks, I would be stuck with him.” I complained.

“Stop acting like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not like it’s a good thing either. Like living with him isn’t enough for me, now I’m being sent off to a honeymoon that I obviously don’t want.” Grandma smiled as she listened to my complains.

“Just know this Ariel. One day, you’ll look back at these days and you’ll be really grateful for what you’re trying to get out of now.” She said.

“I sincerely doubt that I ever will.” She didn’t try to argue with me. She just smiled at me instead.

“Oh… but you will.”