Taken By The Arrogant Billionaire

Facing Jared after his confession became a difficult task. She buried her face in her work, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

“You don’t have to avoid me” he said when she was called into his office.

“I’m not-” she stopped short of denying. He rested his back, his eyes on her, making her more self-conscious.

She had just come out of a failed relationship, and didn’t want to dive into another one, especially with someone who had a fiancée and the whole country knew it. She would be tagged a mistress. Her poor heart couldn’t take it.

“I like you, but I won’t force you” he knew within himself that it was a lie. He had only said that to make her feel better.

She nodded, relieved.

************

Layla sat in her power room alone. There was no one in the house. Just her. Her gaze was directed towards the ceiling, as she rocked back and forth. Her mind went back to her conversation with Sandy, and she sighed heavily. Two of her friends were involved with the men of the Smith family. One, a personal secretary, the other, a fiancée. She ruffled her hair angrily. How could this be? Was her luck that bad? Her fear turned into anger.

“Those damned men” she said and soon, her fingers began flying on the keyboard with only one mission in mind. Hack into Smith Industries’ system.

************

It was all higgledy-piggledy in the IT department of Smith Industries. The technicians were sweating bullets. They had been alerted that their system was about to get hacked. They immediately swung into action. It has happened a couple of times, and it was a piece of cake, so they were confident they could take this one on this time. But they were so wrong. They had been battling for the past two hours, and the hacker was slowly breaching their wall of defense.

Will dashed into Jared’s office.

“What is it?”

“We’re being hacked!”

“Tell the blue team to handle it” he replied dismissively.

“They have been at it for the past two hours. They said this one is too powerful” Jared’s brows creased.

He promptly stood up.

“Let’s go” Valerie wondered what was wrong.

“Did something happen?” She said to herself, but loud enough for the one next to her to hear. Living up to her name as the Smith Industries’ gossip queen, Kathy said,

“I heard the company’s system is being hacked”

“Hacked?”

“Yes. I also heard the person is very powerful. Too powerful for the security team. But our formidable CEO is off to the rescue” she said proudly.

Valerie was surprised. “He does these things? That is amazing”

Kathy laughed. “Tell me what I don’t know”

The blue team heaved a heavy sigh of relief, like they had seen their savior, when Jared walked through the door. The person in charge of it quickly stood up, giving way for him to take over.

On the there side, Layla was covered in sweat, she smiled, and she slowly began to break into their defense. However, it was cut shut when she got locked out. She was confused for a second before she realized what happened. Their boss had taken over.

“Bunch of magnificent chowderheads!” She cursed and increased her speed. The further she went, the fiercer it became. Five minutes later, her system went dead. She cursed multiple times, as she hit her fist against the table.

“Ouch!” She patted the affected area. Her eyes on the dead computer. She still could not defeat him.

The team almost screamed out loud when the battle ended. If the hacker has succeeded, they were going to lose their jobs. The happiness was short-lived when they realized their boss was staring, more like, glaring at them.

He pocketed his hands.

“Give me a reason I shouldn’t fire you at this moment” he said coldly. The room went silent. “You are so incompetent that you could not defeat an amateur”

Amateur? Even the boss, who never spent up to two minutes when dealing with hackers, spent a whole five minutes. But they didn’t dare say that out loud.

He walked out, something constantly ringing in his mind. The hacker’s technique felt awfully familiar, and just didn’t know who.

************

“I’m getting married to Sandy in the next two weeks” Dylan announced during dinner at the Old mansion.

He had informed Sandy and though she felt it was a little rushed, she still agreed.

“Isn’t that too fast?” His mother asked.

“We have to. She’s pregnant, so we have to rush things” Only three people at the table were surprised. Old Smith and Jared knew about it.

“Pregnant? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It escaped my mind”

Old Smith’s brows creased deeply. “Two weeks? That would be your brother’s engagement-”

“It can be postponed” Jared interrupted. “Dylan’s wedding is very important. The earlier it happens, the better” Old Smith fell silent before nodding. He had given up trying to convince Dylan. Since he had disregarded his advice, he was going to leave him be.

Jane was extremely dissatisfied. Now she had to wait for Dylan to get married before she could have her engagement. Her wedding date wasn’t even decided yet.

************

Sandy was absolutely relieved after speaking to her mother about the baby and her wedding. Luckily, she didn’t ask about Dylan’s family. If she knew who they were, her mum would definitely refuse.

Her phone rang, bringing her back to the present. It was a call from Dylan informing her he would pick her up, without telling her why. She tried asking when she entered his car, but he kept mum. She was on pins and needles, unable to take the suspense. Her thought even went wild. Was he going to kidnap her? She didn’t trust him yet. After an hour, the Roll Royce finally stopped. She looked around. This was a fashion store.

“What are we doing here?” She asked.

“Follow me” was all he said. They went into the lavish store. Everywhere was practically bathed in gold.

“Welcome sir. The boss is waiting for you in his office” a lady in uniform said. He nodded and proceeded, holding Sandy’s hand. They got to a door and Dylan entered without knocking. Behind a massive desk was a lanky man in a t-shirt and jeans.

“Mr Smith” They shook hands. “Please have a seat. I’m guessing this is Mrs Smith” Dylan nodded.

Mrs Smith? They were not married yet! She accepted his outstretched hands.

“I’m Elvis Falcon. I’ll be designing your wedding dress, ma’am”

“Elvis? The celebrity designer?” She was astounded. She had searched him up on the internet, having no idea she would see him in the flesh. He was even going to design her wedding dress.

“Thank you” she said. He only replied with a smile.

The wedding day came by in a flash.

The hall was filled with politicians from all levels, celebrities, CEOs, and the press. Jared and his friends as the groom’s men, while Sandy had only Valerie with her. Layla could not come with the excuse that she had to travel outside the country for filming.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Do you think she’s still not happy with this?” Sitting before the mirror, she asked sullenly. Valerie sighed.

“It’s your day. You should not be sad” That was all Valerie could say. She had no idea what was wrong with Layla.

They left for the hall, where they made vows and exchanged rings. Valerie and Jared, stealing glances at each other. Jane was taken aback when she saw Valerie. What was she doing here? She was even more surprised when she saw her behind the bride. They were friends? She seethed. She didn’t understand why Xavier was putting off killing this woman.

“You look pretty” Dylan whispered in Sandy’s ear.

“Thanks” It felt so surreal. She was now Mrs Smith. The first daughter-in-law of the most powerful family. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. Two months ago, she had no idea her life would change this much.

Because of her pregnancy, she became tired, and they had to leave early.

Their wedding made the headlines the next day. Layla sat under a tree at the filming location, staring at the pictures of the couple on her tablet. So, they are married now, huh?

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