BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

For no reason, my heart keeps racing and I am having wild imaginations of what might have happened or what will happen.

This man isn’t safe. He isn’t healthy either.

Something is wrong somewhere.

I keep asking myself if my Father is also responsible for how he fell unconscious right after I left his room or if this is a result of desperation.

I have been trying to call Valerie all morning. It was ringing but she wasn’t picking up. I was uneasy.

I had to call my mom to ask her about Valerie and she said she hadn’t seen her too and that did the trick.

I was on the edge. My emotions were almost bursting out of my chest in fear that something bad had just happened to her too.

Mrs. Adams is nowhere to be found and this is all too confusing for me to fix.

When Valerie eventually picked up, she wasn’t sounding tense or like someone in trouble and I hope she will be here soon.

Her father is in there, the doctors aren’t out yet and I don’t even know what is happening.

I am pacing to and fro at the reception with my arms akimbo, expecting at least one of his family members to show up.

I really don’t know where his wife would be now but I hope she will be fine. I was supposed to spend just an hour with Valerie’s father when I visited him because I have an appointment fixed for 2 pm but I had to cancel it.

My secretary keeps blaring my phone up with calls and I had to call her back to inform her that I won’t be available till later.

I just hope Mrs. Woods won’t be mad at the sudden cancellation of our appointment. I can’t help it.

When some minutes have gone by and Valerie hasn’t shown up yet, I dial her number again but it’s unreachable.

Shit!

What the hell is happening?

When I twirl back to continue pacing, I spot her rushing into the hospital and I run to meet up with her.

She runs into my wide embrace and pulls away almost immediately. “What happened? Where is he? Where is mom? How did you find him?”

She looks beautiful in her outfit which shows that she had the intention of going out. She told me she wanted to visit my mom and I was surprised when I called mom and she told me she hadn’t seen her.

Where has she been?

She told me she wanted to visit mom and she called around 10 am this morning when I was having a hard time going through some paperwork.

It is almost 2 pm and she hasn’t gone to my mom’s place yet.

“Ryan”, she calls out as she shakes my shoulder, jerking me out of my thoughts. “Where is he?”

She is panicking.

Without a word, I help her to the reception seat and I sit beside her too. We face each other squarely, her expression curious and expecting some answers while I stare calmly, despite all the conflicting emotions I am feeling.

“Be calm”, I only say and she nods.

“I visited him because I wanted to know why my Father has refused to stick to his promise. I felt he must know the reason but he wasn’t ready to give me any answers. He was indirectly asking me to leave and I left…”

“Then what happened?” She cuts me short.Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

“I don’t know what happened but I heard his phone ringing and then a loud thud”, I complete.

She gasps, her hands clasping her mouth as her eyes begin to brim with tears.

“When I ran back inside, he was unconscious”, I add again, holding her two shoulders and thinking of ways to calm her down.

It reminds me of my Mother. How I reacted when I got to know that she was sick and was dying.

Valerie played a huge role in letting me accept the reality of her ailment and accept it as my fate but the same thing is happening to her too. Now.

We don’t know what is going to happen to her Father. We don’t know if he is dead or going to survive it.

No one is coming out of the ward where he was talking to. No one is answering our questions.

It makes me feel sad. Not at Valerie’s reaction but also because my Father might have been responsible for this. He might not be directly responsible but not sticking to his promise made this man depressed and sick.

He is indirectly responsible and I hope to get to the root of this.

For Valerie’s sake and for the sake of the answers I want to get to help them get, I want him alive.

Valerie’s sobs jerk me out of my reverie. Her head is lowered as she continues to clamp her hands over her mouth to suppress the sound of her cries.

While I watch her, she bursts into uncontrollable tears and I hug her tightly, hoping this will help.

It is unfair and I feel bad that this is happening. I wonder what Valerie will be thinking. Will she blame me for this?

She got married to me for this but nothing has changed. The promises we made have not been fulfilled. This is truly between my father and her father but I also feel responsible.

We are being used.

We need to find the answers to these puzzles first before we know the next line of action. Her father needs to tell us all that we need to know about his relationship with my father.

“Ryan”, she calls in between sobs, her body shaking tremendously. “Is he going to die?”

I shake my head and pull away from the hug, my two hands holding her face firmly. “Let’s be positive.”

Her tears continue to fall on her pretty face. “What if he dies?”

I asked myself this same thing when Anita told me my mother was dying. I asked myself how I was going to survive without her in my life. I asked how I was going to cope with everything after her death but Valerie made me understand that I can survive it and this is just part of life’s routine.

I can’t say the same thing, though. This is a different scenario.

Valerie will be shaken if he dies. She might look so strong and tough but deep down, she is the most caring person I have ever met. She is soft on the inside.

“He will be fine”, I assure her, caressing her face gently and wiping her tears with my two thumbs.

“Are you sure?” More tears roll down but I am not tired of wiping her tears. Being here with her is satisfying. It is as if she had been holding everything in until now and now her tears are unstoppable.

Without saying another word of consolation or assurance, I move closer to her and do the only thing that comes to my head.

I kiss her cheek, hoping it will stop the tear. A taste of her salty tears reaches the tip of my lips and I lock eyes with her.

Wiping it with my thumb and my lips, it stops eventually but she sniffles, dragging my attention back to the closest thing to her nose.

Her lips.

Very full and inviting.

She has nude lipstick on and they keep calling to me to take them. I try not to heed the calling and concentrate on making her feel better.

But the sadness locking in her eyes is encouraging me to do what I need to do. That sadness is what I want to wipe out of her mouth and every part of her body.

With my nose on hers, I peck her lips, our breath mixing. I can taste the flavor of her lipstick and it drives me to the edge.

With trembling hands, I hold her face more firmly, so she won’t pull out without warning.

It feels like my heart is throbbing painfully for no reason and it will soon burst out of my chest if I don’t do this.

I want this. To kiss her lips.

Without any more hesitation, I slam my lips to hers, releasing a soft gasp from her and a little groan of satisfaction from me.

This is heavenly.

This is heaven on earth.

Her lips taste like orange. The more I wipe my tongue around it, the more I crave the taste.

I delve my tongue inside her mouth, wanting so desperately for her to open up for me and kiss me back with much vigor but her lips remain tightly sealed until I push further, determined not to stop till I get what I want.

I graze my tongue over her neatly arranged teeth before kissing her lips again. I bite the edge of her lips slowly, wishing she can hold me tightly to signify that this isn’t about me alone.

I want to feel the need from her as well.

When she touches my back, my whole body arch with need and want for no one else but her. My heart begins to pound wilder than ever before as we forget our worries and pour every emotion into the sweet touch of our lips.

Then I feel another touch and a tap.

I open my eyes and see the different look on her face. She disengages from me slowly and I swallow hard, wondering what she thinks.

I shouldn’t have done this here. Not in this situation.

Before I can think of something to say, she stands up straight and calls out to someone who just came in. “Mom.”