(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

Gerald watched Ariana leave without saying a word. His wife was clearly upset. When Ariana was emotional, she became harder to control. He glanced at Shelma, who was also observing Ariana’s departure with a puzzled expression. Meanwhile, Gerald turned around, walking quickly towards Vivan and harshly slapped his assistant’s face. “What did you say to her?” he asked even before Vivan could get up.

Gerald’s blow left a bloody mark at the corner of his assistant’s mouth. “I didn’t say anything, Boss. Just mentioned that you had a lunch appointment with a client as you requested,” Vivan replied honestly.

Gerald stomped his foot on the floor and cursed vehemently before looking back at Vivan and muttering an apology. Shelma, who had walked closer, reached out her hand and grabbed Gerald’s arm. “What’s wrong? Why are you so angry?” she asked in a soft, gentle tone.

Gerald looked in her direction, precisely where Shelma’s hand was. He realized that was his fatal mistake. He then lowered his hand, brushing off Shelma’s hand as gently as possible. “I’m sorry, I have something I need to attend to,” he said. He then glanced at Vivan and walked quickly towards his car.

“Ge, where are you going?” Shelma shouted, still trying to follow him. But Gerald chose to ignore her. Vivan was already in the front of the car, and Gerald sat in the back seat, massaging his temples, instructing his driver to take him to Ariana’s restaurant.

Oh God, why did nothing ever go smoothly? Just when he thought his relationship with Ariana was improving, there was always a problem approaching. Karenina, his mother, and now Shelma? Until when would all of this end? Gerald was starting to believe that Ariana was beginning to have feelings for him.

“Do you think she’s jealous?” Gerald asked Vivan. Vivan, who was questioned, looked at his boss through the rearview mirror. His head nodded in agreement.

“If the lady wasn’t jealous, she wouldn’t have run away,” Vivan logically replied.

“Is she really jealous? What if she’s just angry and offended? Or perhaps she feels deceived?” Gerald’s question was more directed at himself.

The fairly long journey with traffic during the lunch break made Gerald extremely uneasy. He hoped his assumption was correct, that Ariana was at her restaurant. Unfortunately, his assumption was completely wrong. When Gerald entered the restaurant where almost every table was occupied, he was greeted with a furrowed brow from Dara.

“Ariana?” he asked one of his wife’s employees. His head turned towards the cashier, where Ariana usually stood when Amber wasn’t there. Ah yes, Amber. That girl still hadn’t shown up. And now, the cashier was occupied by Adel. It made sense that his wife came to the office; she already had a substitute who could take her place in the restaurant.

“Ariana isn’t here. She said she’s having lunch,” Dara replied nonchalantly. Gerald simply nodded. Now, he himself was confused about where to go. If Dara said Ariana wasn’t in the restaurant, it meant she wasn’t there.

Gerald reached for his phone; for the umpteenth time, he tried to contact Ariana. She didn’t pick up, and the call didn’t even go through. Then he heard Dara behind him answering her phone. “Mba, what’s going on? Mr. Gerald is here. Are you two having a disagreement?”

Instantly, Gerald turned and looked at Dara. He didn’t care about what Ariana said to her employee because he snatched Dara’s phone away. “Where are you?” Gerald asked his wife. Silence ensued. Gerald suspected Ariana had muted her call. But when he looked at the screen, the call was still connected. “You deliberately blocked my number, didn’t you?” Gerald asked again.

“Did I?” Ariana replied flatly. “I’ll check the blocked list later. Can you please talk to Dara? I need something from her,” Ariana replied, choosing to ignore Gerald.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“Ariana, where are you? Stop disappearing like this. I don’t like it,” Gerald said again.

Ariana snorted. “Of course, you don’t like it. What you like are beautiful, fair-skinned women with perfect breasts and buttocks. And don’t forget, expensively dressed and elegant,” Ariana mocked. “By the way, when are you two getting married? I heard the employees there can’t wait for your wedding. Should I be at the front of the line to congratulate you?” she continued.

Gerald roughly ran his fingers through his hair. Dara, witnessing this, was left gaping. “Ariana, this is all a misunderstanding,” Gerald replied in frustration.

“Is it? Well, you can clarify it later. For now, I want to amuse myself. And now, could you please hand your phone back to Dara, Ge?” Ariana asked, using the name Shelma used for him.

Gerald didn’t want to argue again. He handed Dara’s phone back to its owner, but quickly, he wrote something on a piece of paper. ‘Ask her where she is?’ was what he scribbled. “Where are you?” Dara said, voicing Gerald’s question on his behalf.

Instead of answering, Ariana sneered, “Don’t do what she wants, Dara. You work for me, and I pay your salary, not her.” Ariana continued, “Ignore Gerald and listen to my instructions.” Dara looked at Gerald and shook her head. Then she heard what Ariana instructed. Gerald cursed again. He walked away from the restaurant. Vivan was still waiting for him outside the car, and Gerald felt guilty for hitting his younger assistant so impulsively. He truly felt sinful for unleashing his anger on the man. Hopefully, Vivan wouldn’t hold a grudge.

“Is she there, Boss?” the man asked. Gerald shook his head. He roughly opened the car door.

“Where to next?” Gerald asked dispiritedly. There was no point in looking for Ariana. She was determined to avoid him at the moment, and Gerald didn’t have the time to search the city for her. His schedule was incredibly busy right now.

His phone ringing made Gerald reach into his jacket pocket again. Shelma? Gerald chose to ignore the call. Let the woman be angry on her own. Right now, Gerald was just as frustrated as she was.

Meanwhile, elsewhere…

“Mommy, I want this, this, and that,” the little boy pointed to the items on the menu board behind the cashier’s desk at a fast-food restaurant.

Ariana shook her head. “Sweetie, that’s too much. Choose one, Axel. Just one. If you finish your food and you’re still hungry, we can buy more later. Okay?” Ariana looked at the child. The boy stared back at her, confused.

“Why? Papa and Grandma said I can choose what I want,” Axel voiced his protest. But Ariana shook her head again.

“That’s Papa and Grandma. But it’s different with Mommy. Mommy doesn’t like you to buy food that you won’t finish. Mommy doesn’t want you to waste food. That’s bad, honey,” she said while stroking Axel’s head. “Come on, choose one meal that you want. Just one. Mommy will buy it for you again if you finish it.” Ariana persuaded him. Axel just nodded and then pointed to one menu item for himself. Afterward, Ariana chose three other items for herself, Axel’s babysitter, and also her driver. Yes, Ariana chose to avoid Gerald by spending time with Axel.