BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

CHAPTER 55

Valerie's POV
 
Finding out a huge part of my life like this is something I never want Mother to know about. I never gave it serious thinking. I just assumed she wouldn't mind as long as her goals were achieved.
 
But seeing her mouth still hanging open, I feel ashamed of myself and I wish she didn't get to eavesdrop on my conversation with Ryan.
 
It is embarrassing.
 
It is as embarrassing as letting Ryan know that I am still a virgin, despite all the wild parties and the silly things I have done in the past as well as my strong-headedness.
 
"A contract marriage?" She demands again, as though she still can not believe what she clearly heard. Finally, she shuts her mouth while I slouch to the bed with my head lowered down in shame.
 
We shouldn't have done this here. 
 
"Valerie, talk to me. What did he mean by a contract marriage? Did you two sign a contract?" She grabs an ottoman and sits on it while she faces me squarely.
 
I guess Ryan was still enraged to even answer yes or no to mom when she directed the question at him. He only made sure she was standing upright before taking the door out.
 
Now I don't even know how we are going to act towards each other or how we are going to cope with all of these in the next months left for me to leave.
 
I didn't pay more attention to the excuse I would give Mother if this ever got out. Maybe I never thought it would get out since it was solely between Ryan and me.
 
I never imagined this happening and I never thought Mother would ever be interested in knowing why Ryan and I signed a contract for our marriage.
 
"Aren't you going to tell me what is going on?" She shouts at me and I shut my eyes, unable to raise my head. "Do you want me to go tell your father right now?"
 
That does the trick. Her threat makes me jerk upright and face her finally.
 
"You signed a contract?" She questions again and I nod immediately, avoiding her gaze. "Oh my God!" She gasps.
 
She must have been expecting me to deny it so she can be rest assured that she didn't hear right. Obviously, she isn't in support of the idea of a contract.
 
Hitting me on my shoulder, she barks at me. "Why did you do that?"
 
"You expect me to stay with that man all my life?" I wince and retort back sharply, not knowing where the courage came from.
 
She is stunned. Her eyes are open in surprise.
 
"Val."
 
"We don't love each other, and we can't be together forever so I suggested a contract and he made the rules", I fold my arms again, acting nonchalant.
 
I have a lot of thinking to do, seriously and I wish she can just let me be. I don't even know if I have enough courage to go home today.
 
How will I face him?
 
"You don't love each other?" Her question amazes me and I let out an awkward laugh. "Don't you see the way he looks at you? Are you sure this isn't a case of one-sided love?"
 
One-sided love?
 
No matter how much I think about it, I still find it unbelievable that Ryan might have feelings for me. 
 
It sounds absurd. 
 
I don't know why I feel this way but I guess it's because I don't feel right for him or I believe he can never fall for a difficult woman like me.
 
Apart from how foolish he can be sometimes, he is a real gentleman. The first few days of our marriage were hell because I made it that way. If I wanted everything to be rosy, I would have been able to do that with him but I didn't because we didn't want each other.
 
We both hated the fact that our parents had to do this on our behalf. He hated my guts too which is enough reason for him to never fall for me.
 
I snort.
 
"Why did you kiss Fred?" Mother interrogates again and it dawns on me that she heard it all. She heard everything we talked about.
 
Taking a deep exhale, I reply. "I didn't kiss him, Mother."
 
"Then what happened?" She asks, peering at me in curiosity.
 
Taking another deep sigh, I answer. "He kissed me."
 
I don't bother to add anything else because she might not even believe me the same way Ryan didn't.
 
As if hearing my thoughts, she mumbles. "I believe you."
 
Amazed, I stare at her. My mother has never said something like that to me. She never really understood or believed whatever I said, which is why we never got along well. My Dad knows me more than my Mother does and he believes every word I say to him. He knows I don't lie unless it is necessary and I admire him so much for the trust he has in me.
 
What has happened to Mom?
 
"I trust you if you say you didn't kiss him. But I feel you should have explained everything in detail to Ryan instead of arguing with him, don't you think so?"
 
I want to agree but instead, I question. "Why are you doing this? Are you trying to take sides with him?"
 
She smiles. "I ought to be mad at you right now, you know? You signed a contract yet you never told me or your father?"
 
"Don't change the topic now, Mother. I asked you a question."
 
She doesn't reply.
 
"Why should I explain things to him? We are not going to be married forever, it is just a matter of time before our marriage gets annulled and…"
 
"That shows how he feels about you", she cuts me short. "A man would never question you or accuse you of having an affair unless there is solid evidence and a man who doesn't love you will never accuse you of cheating. I believe Ryan is heads over heels in love with you which is why he is acting all jealous and possessive", she laughs out shortly and I find myself smiling.
 
"It reminds me of how I always throw tantrums whenever your Father invites some of his female business partners home for dinner. I always study each of their features and try to compare their beauty with mine", she chuckles again as she stares into space. "Despite my beauty, I always felt intimidated and insecure."
 
I want to ask her if Father never accused her and if he didn't love her if he never did accuse her.
 
"Your father on the other hand was a green snake under the green grass", she smiles at me. "At first, I thought he was one of a kind and he never gets jealous. I never knew he was just hiding it. The fact that I also cut ties with all my male friends after we got married was another factor. He didn't feel threatened but the day I met with one of my classmates from the University, all hell broke loose."
 
I can imagine what would have happened. I always thought Father never fought with Mother unless she did something extremely wrong.
 
I wonder how he reacted.
 
"So back to you, Ryan is just jealous to see his woman kissing another man."
 
I gasp. "I thought you just told me you believed me when I said I didn't kiss Fred. And I am not Ryan's woman. We can't fall in love with each other."
 
"Why?" She asks and I know she is referring to my last statement and ignoring the others. "Why can't you fall in love with him? Or why can't you two be in love? You are married after all."
 
"You want us to love each other?" I gap dramatically and she laughs lightly and shakes her head.
 
"If it works out, I will be happy", she winks at me.
 
"Because you will get a lot of money from him, right?"
 
"It doesn't matter. I can still get a lot from him now if I want to."
 
"You should apologize to him. You should learn to always do that when you are wrong", she counsels, taking a hold of my hand.
 
I try to remember if there is a time my Mother ever apologized to my dad.
 
"I might act all stubborn with your dad when we are outside and I might act like I don't love him but I do and I always apologize to him whenever we fight and I know I am at fault. The best way to do that is whenever we are retiring for the bed", she winks again and this time, I can't control my laughter.
 
We both laugh and I shake my head at her. She is indeed a drama queen.
 
I guess I also don't know much about my Mother. If Ryan and I didn't fight, would this happen? Will I get this much information from my Mother in just a night?
 
"Ryan and I can't be in love because this wasn't the plan from the onset and then our Fathers have their own tussle. I don't think this will ever work out", I express myself, hiding the fact that Ryan never told me anything else apart from his offer for me to become his sex partner.
 
Despite her convincing words, I still don't want to believe that Ryan is in love with me. If he is, he doesn't need to hide it, he will tell me how he feels but all he did was ask me to become his sex partner.
 
It still makes me annoyed anytime I think about it.
 
"The relationship between both Fathers has nothing to do with you two. They both got you married. You should make it worthwhile and maybe this will bring an end to their so-called tussle."
 
"No, mom. We don't even know what is happening. Dad won't tell me anything and…"
 
"Well, I know one thing you should also know."
 
With widened eyes, I grab her two hands and ask in curiosity. "What is it?"
 
"I believe this should be enough to convince you that their conflict has nothing to do with you two. You can choose to fall in love with each other or not. Don't stop yourself from falling in love with him simply because his father is not on good terms…"
 
"What is it, Mother?" I ask with impatience.
 
She heaves a deep sigh and leans forward towards me, making me think she will whisper the sacred words into my ears.
 
Instead, she says in an extremely loud voice. "He is not Ryan's biological father and your father knows this."
 
At first, I didn't know how to react. Am I supposed to react to the first news that he isn't Ryan's father or the fact that my father knew?
 
When it suddenly dawns on me that Ryan might not even be aware of this, I exclaim. "What?!"

****

Mr. Lorenzo isn't Ryan's father? Do you think he knows about this? What the hell is Mr. Lorenzo trying to do then?

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