BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

Netflixing for over two hours with a bowl of tasteless popcorn, I sigh deeply and take the phone and the cone of popcorn away.

I am bored despite the movie. I have lost interest in almost everything and nothing seems to kill the boredom.

Not even the popcorn.

Maybe it’s because it is tasteless.

I am beginning to feel sick out of boredom. At first, I thought it was because I was in my room so I came over to Ryan’s room so I could at least feel his presence but that only worked for a while because I am now dead bored.

I need a walk.

When I was unmarried and in a relationship with Fred, I barely felt bored but whenever I felt bored, the solution was easy.

Fred. Or parties.

I miss my old life. Not the relationship lifestyle but the enjoyable moments I had without having a cause to worry about anything.

Now, I am not just worried about Ryan and me as well as our relationship but also worried about my Parents.

Ryan is too cold for my liking. He is making me wish I never agreed to this in the first place. I already apologized yet he isn’t making an effort to forget about that damn picture.

With a huff, I wear my flip-flop, grab an earpiece from the bed as well as my phone, then take the door out.

Ryan won’t be back home anytime soon so I can’t even work my magic on him like I did yesterday.

I tried to start a conversation with the idiot but he bluntly told me he has work to do so I left him alone and went to my room.

I couldn’t sleep a wink.

I am not just suffering from boredom but also sleeplessness. All thanks to the douchebag of a man I am married to.

I take the staircase down and begin to walk towards the front foot, thinking of taking a walk around the courtyard when a sudden idea strikes me.

I should walk down the street. The evening air outside should help relieve me a little. If only it wasn’t too late, I would have gone home to spend the night with mom and dad.

Putting the earpiece in my ears, I begin to play Christine’s music on my phone, and then I dip my phone into my cardigan.

Nodding at the guard, I step out of the gate just in time for a horn to resound from close by. The car is approaching the gate so I wait to see if it is Ryan’s.

The automatic gate opens and John drives closer, making my gaze interlock with Ryan’s. I am thinking he will ask me where I am going but he is watching me lazily before looking away.

My mouth hangs open in disbelief.

Is Ryan seriously going to keep up with this bullshit? I already apologize but he is overreacting. Now I am beginning to blame myself for apologizing to him. I did nothing wrong.

Is he this angry because of Fred or there is more to this?

With adrenaline shooting down my spine, the car drives in and I stomp away in the opposite direction, increasing the volume of the music.

My eardrums are on fire so I stop walking, and decrease the volume again before I continue to walk slowly this time.

I still feel guilty.

No matter how hard I think about what happened between us, I feel guilty. If I was in Ryan’s shoes, I wouldn’t take this personally, though.

I wanted to see if mom was right when she said he has feelings for me but he doesn’t. He is still as selfish as I remember. All he wants is just my body and he won’t get it.

Christian’s music manages to soothe my nerves and I stop walking. I don’t want to walk too far away from home but I guess I should walk a little bit more before heading back home.

I don’t think I can sleep over in his room tonight because of his behavior. Should I just act petty and start to ignore him too?

I sigh again, then fold my arms.

When I take a step, I hear a sound from behind and I turn in awe.

Fear grips me, even though I have no idea if this is just an assumption from my imagination.

Is someone following me?

The street is quite secure, I say within me. I shouldn’t be having weird thoughts just because I was attacked a few weeks back.

That happened because I was careless.

I continue to walk quietly and slowly with my arms folded around my bosom when someone appears from nowhere.

I see his face before I can scream for help. He looks familiar and not dangerous.

With a little smile, he asks. “You don’t remember me?”

I look closely until I recall where I know him from.

The policeman.

Or the man related to a police officer rather. The one who saved me from the bike man.

“Hey”, I wave at him, a smile creeping to my face too. Surprised that he is here of all places, I look around and ask him. ” You live around here?”

He nods.

“Wow.”

“How have you been?”

“Cool, you?”

“I’m cool too”, I nod and take the earpiece away from my ears. When I look up, he is staring right behind me. “Aren’t you two together?”

With a puzzled expression, I question. “What do you mean?”

He points behind me and I follow the direction of his finger to see the back of a man in a suit.

Ryan.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

He isn’t following me. He is going back.

Was he following me?

“I guess I should go. See you around”, he dismisses me and before I turn back to face him, he is gone.

“Ryan?” I call immediately and he stops walking without turning back.

I run to meet up with him, strolling forward to face him. He is still dressed in his office wear but without his briefcase.

Was my suspicion about someone following me right? Why was he following me? Why did he turn back now?

“Ryan, you were following me?” I demand with a raised brow. He does not reply so I take that as a yes. He was following me. “Why are you going back then?”

“I see you have company”, he mentions, then walks past me.

Company? The police officer who appeared from nowhere? Was he following me to know where I was headed out of curiosity or he wanted me to be safe? Is he jealous?

I think I just detected a note of jealousy in his tone. He is walking back because I have company.

I rush to block his way. “Hey…”

Before I can say anything else, it thunders and it begins to rain immediately. Ryan and I stare at each other in surprise and we quickly race toward a shade for cover.

Another unexpected rain. This is different from the forecast this morning.

By the time we are safe in the shade, my hair and clothes are already wet. We stand beside each other in complete silence as we watch the rain.

I have a lot of things to talk to him about and also a lot of questions to ask him. I want to talk to him about his father and my father and I want to ask him about us.

Our relationship. Why is he jealous? And also why he wants us to have sex.

A touch interrupts my thought.

His touch.

His suit is off his body leaving him in a white clean long sleeves shirt sticking to his body because of the wetness. He places the suit around my shoulder to prevent me from getting cold.

I watch him.

His expression is still as cold as ever but behind it is a little warmth he is trying hard to hide.

I wish I can break through the stupid wall of coldness he has built around himself since the other day when he saw a picture of me and Fred together.

But I can’t think of a possible way to do that. Ryan is becoming too hard to comprehend and predict.

When he is done placing the suit on my shoulder, he stands straight and looks ahead as though he wasn’t the one who just did something as sweet as giving me his suit so I won’t be cold.

“Ryan?” I call.

“The rain won’t stop anytime soon”, he mentions without staring at me. “Let’s go now!” He yells and grabs my hand as we race out of the shade and back into the rain till we get to the safety of our mansion.

His mansion.