Taken By The Arrogant Billionaire

“Oh, you’re done” she smiled when she saw him descending the stairs.

He nodded, smiling back at her.

“Did you have fun?”

She shook her head. “I’m alone. How could I have fun? Moreover, this house is so huge that I’m afraid I’ll get lost.

“How about I take you around?”

She perked up immediately. “But before that, can you play that?” she pointed at the instrument.

“The piano” she nodded.

“You want me to play?”

“Yes. Can you?”

“Of course. I’m absolutely good at everything” she scoffed his narcissism and followed him. He sat down gracefully as she stood by the side. He patted the seat beside him, motioning for her to seat.

“What should I play?”

“I don’t know much about music”

He nodded and started to play a classical piece. He looked sexy while playing. His hands flew over the keys skillfully, and he locked eyes with her sometimes. After few minutes, he stopped.

“How was it?”

“Beautiful, I must say. What piece is that?”

“Moonlight sonata by Beethoven”

“It was great. When did you learn it?”

“Since I was a kid. Children born into families like mine were mandated to learn stuffs like this. But I took a liking to it, unlike others. I mean Dylan and……. Cheryl, my sister” he paused.

“You have a sister?”

“I had a sister. She is gone now”

“I’m sorry”

“It’s okay. They both were not interested. Cheryl especially hated it that she would sneak out of the house during lesson”

“You miss her, don’t you?”

“I do. Sometimes, I wonder what kind of woman she would have grown up to be if she were alive”

She should not have asked.

“I said I’d give you a tour. Let’s go” he helped her up and closed the piano.

There was nothing special about the house interior. Masculine and elegantly simple with no lavish decorations and display. No pictures were hanging around.

However, the place was actually bigger than she had ever imagined. At some point, her legs began to ache.

He noticed and said, “Let’s just stop here today”

“What room is that?” She asked, pointing at a room down the hallway”

“That? Do you want to see it?”

She nodded. Her mouth was wide open when she saw the interior.

“Oh! My! God! You have a home cinema?”

He nodded. “Wow! The rich sure lives differently”

“Now that you have seen it, get some rest” he lifted her off the ground despite her protests.

The doorbell rang loudly. “He’s here”

She furrowed her brows. “Who?”

“Will”

Will was carrying several shopping bags with him as he struggled to enter due to the large number of it. He suddenly received an order to shop for female wears and deliver it to his house. He didn’t need to ask who it was for.

Valerie looked away when she saw Will. She felt awkward and guilty. He nodded at her, and she did the same.

He dropped it on the table. “This is it. Don’t worry. I didn’t pick all these myself. The lady at the store did. I only came here to deliver”

“What are those?”

“Your clothes”

“You brought my clothes”

“No. I asked him to buy new ones”

She looked through the bags and realized they were all designers. There were underwears in it too. She now understood why he explained that he didn’t pick them himself. She felt so embarrassed and guilty. He was practically second-in-command at the company and everyone accorded him the same respect they gave Jared. Will must hate her right now.

“Since I didn’t bring those alone with me, I thought you would need new ones. You have been wearing my shirt, and even though it’s sexy, I figured you would feel uncomfortable”

Her face turned red. How could he say that in front of Will?

“I can’t accept this”

Even a year worth of salary would not suffice.

He shrugged indifferently.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I won’t force you to accept this, but I’m not taking it back. If you don’t want it, burn it or do whatever you want with it”

She definitely could not burn something so valuable.

“Can I take my leave now?”

Will had no expression on his face, so she could not tell what he was thinking. Did he hate her or not?

She could not tell. He was still her superior at work, and she felt ashamed being seen by him like this.

“Don’t leave yet. Follow me” he turned to her. “I’ll be back soon”

Will follow him to his office without sparing her a glance. Not that she expected him to.

“Have a seat. I want you to put a tail on the man and Amelia. It doesn’t have to be you. You could get one of our people to do the job”

“Do you think she wants to harm you?”

“I don’t know. Her presence itself is suspicious. I can’t trust her”

“Okay. I’ll do that….”

“What?” Jared drawled when he noticed Will had something to say.

“Nothing. I’ll be on my way” he headed for the door only to stop again, turning to face Jared.

“Out with it already!” He snapped at Will, who sat back down.

“Boss, I know you are not interested in Jane, but this isn’t right”

“What isn’t?”

“Whatever it is you are doing with Valerie. This is basically cheating. You should at least break off your engagement first”

“I’m going to”

Will was visibly shocked. He definitely wasn’t expecting him to say that.

“You’ll end your engagement for her”

Did he truly love her?

“But not now. I’m planning to announce it once Grandfather gets better”

“So the wedding will not hold?”

“It won’t. I think I’ve answered your question. You are dismissed. I need some alone time with her” he said with a sly smile.

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

It was easy for him to find Amelia’s number.

She sighed knowingly when she received a call from him. What was she expecting? He was Jared Smith, of course he’ll find out.

“Let’s meet” he spoke harshly, immediately accepted the call. He sent her the address. He chose a restaurant close to his house, choosing not to be far from her. He had instructed her not to open the door for anyone except him.

“What is it?” She feigned ignorance as she sat with the grace and poise befitting a royal.

“I should be asking you that. What do you want?”

“I still don’t get what you mean?”

“Diego Fernandez. You hired him, didn’t you. You had him follow me”

He had found out already. There was no need to hide.

“Then I should ask you this. Are you cheating on your fiancée?”

“That is none of your concern”

“Really. I’m quite close to your grandfather. I wonder what his reaction will be once he finds out”

“Are you threatening me?”

She shrugged indifferently. “Call it whatever you want”

“That man, I can just torture him and get the answer I want, right?”

She glared at him. “You weren’t the target. It was someone else”

“Who?”

“The lady who was with you. Valerie”

“Why?”

She didn’t know how to reply without dropping hints. She didn’t want to tell him about Damon. He would definitely investigate and dig deep if she did. She could afford any slip up.

“I once saw her with a man I had a past with. That is all I can tell you. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her” She stood up and left briskly.

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

They had just returned from her father’s funeral. Just as she wanted, it was a simple on with just Dylan’s parents, Jane’s parents, Jane, her mum, Jared, Dylan, Valerie, and the priest, present.

She slowly sat on the bed. She had only a few weeks left before delivery and the more the day drew close, the more nervous she became, but she didn’t say that loud.

“Are you alright?” Dylan asked when he noticed her lost in thought.

She rolled her eyes. This was the sixth time he was asking her that. “And for the umpteenth time, I am alright”

There was a knock. Dylan opened the door and saw a servant standing outside.

“I’ve settled Mrs Cornell in her room as you ordered, Sir”

“Okay. You can leave”

He had asked her to stay with them, since she was going to be alone if she left. Moreover, Sandy’s due date was approaching.

Her phone lit up. It was a video call from Layla.

“Hey pumpkin” Layla’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hi, Layla”

“I heard what happened to Uncle. I’m sorry I couldn’t call until now. I’ve been so busy that I barely had any free time. How are you holding up?”

Sandy shrugged. “He’s gone and that’s it. When are you coming back? I miss you so much”

Dylan paid attention, waiting to hear her answer.

“Probably in a few weeks”

“Probably?”

“Is that Layla?” Dylan suddenly asked. Sandy nodded.

“Can I speak with her?”

She tilted her head. He wanted to speak with Layla? Well, that made sense. He had never met her before and he probably wanted to see her now.

“Is someone there with you?” Layla asked.

“Yes. It’s Dylan. He wants to speak with you”