The Billionaire's Fake Fiance

Chapter Thirty Nine

It was almost evening when Richard found himself alone. Grace had been with him all afternoon, sitting opposite to his chair and talking with him. She wasn't leaving him alone even for a minute, and frankly, he wasn't liking it that much.

The solidarity made him calm. No one was hovering over her, trying to cheer him up or anything. Grace had been trying to cheer him up, telling him that she understood how he felt. She didn't. She couldn't, in any way, understand how he felt; he was broken, completely shattered, whereas she didn't seem to be so much affected after Neil had broken up with her. She seemed....okay.

And his heart was ramming with secrets now. Secrets he meant to hide from Grace, and from everyone else. He couldn't let anyone know about his meeting earlier today, and also about the man who had come to tell him something and had informed him with so many wild, crazy facts with proof. He would keep them deep inside his heart, and investigate on his own.

His phone rang loudly, preventing his mind to create any more absurd thoughts. "Hey, Alex." He greeted his big brother in a fake, cheery voice.

Alex didn't speak for a long time, and then huffed. "Where's Jean? And what the fuck is your problem? You throw her away, then pull her close, what's wrong with you, Richie?"

Richard took a deep breath. Alex had confused him. "How the hell am I supposed to know about her whereabouts? Isn't she staying with you and Fay?"

"Of course, she is! But she went to meet you in the afternoon, and she's not back home yet!" Alex shouted, and in the background, Richard swore he could hear Faith panicking and crying. "She's--she's not even picking up her phone! I've been calling her for the past one hour! Richie----"

Richard felt his heartbeat stopping. She had come to meet him in the afternoon, but she wasn't home, yet? What the hell? He swore he could feel palpitation rising from his stomach, in bouts and waves of nausea. "Wh-what--?"

"Do you know where she is, for God's sake, Richie? Please, answer, dammit!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs.

"No, no. She left just after talking to me, why...why isn't she home then?" Fear gripped him more tightly than he cared to admit.

"I--I don't know!" Alex shouted, and the call ended in haste.

Richard was almost crumbling down with silent panic that began to torment his psyche with mindless tremors. She had come to meet him, god. She had looked at him, begged him to believe her,  with her eyes sparkling like a blue firecracker, her totally pink and kissable mouth gaping open in shock, and her hair loose on her shoulders resembling a kind of wilderness that could strip off any man's decency.

She hadn't reached home? Hell.

He needed to find her. Not communicating or picking up her phone wasn't her nature. She was responsible, more so than any other woman he had acquainted with. With his heart on his hand, ready to explode mercilessly any minute, he dialled her number, and kept on trying. Her mobile was switched off.

Damn!

Then he ran. He ran towards the elevator, shrugging off all the things Alan and Elizabeth had told him about her, the fact that she was talking with Neil and helping him cheat on Grace, and also the facts that the person had told him today. Enough, he didn't care about anything! He wanted to go to Jean as soon as possible. He was growing restless with each passing second, his heart ramming against his chest.

He bumped into someone on his way to the elevator. Grace stabled him by his arms, peering up at his sweaty face. "Oh, what's the matter, Richard?"

Hell. She had terrific timing, note the dual interpretation. "Not now, not now, Grace, just....let me go!" He didn't wait for her reply, instead, he jerked her hands away from his arms and then dashed into the elevator, quickly pushing the ground-floor button.