BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

Frederick is the type of man who loves a woman with everything he possesses. He was the exact type of man I wanted; one who loves fiercely and passionately. One who loves me for who I am. One who doesn’t criticize my shortcomings but accepts and loves them as well.

A man who looks at me and smiles for no reason. A man who loves even my dirtiest moment.

That is Fred.

This is the exact definition of Fred. He is that man. And it was so hard not to fall deeply in love with him.

The way he loves me, the way he smiles at me, and the way he shuts me up with a kiss whenever I am in the mood for an argument always gets me weak in the legs.

I keep loving him every single day for loving me despite everything.

But one thing is an obstacle.

His cheating nature.

I doubt if Fred would ever stop doing that. Being with Brenda is what broke the camel’s back and I don’t ever want to be with him again, even though it hurts.

It hurts so much.

My heart hurts. It feels like a fire is in my heart, impossible to be quenched by anything.

Seeing his call earlier made the memories I have been trying so hard to erase crash upon me heavily and a small shiver ran down my spine.

My heart was beating twice its normal rate and it saddens me to know that I still love Fred. Getting married in a short time simply because I want to make him jealous and regret what he did to me won’t let the feelings I have for him go away.

Whenever I crave his attention and he isn’t there to listen to my rants, I take solace in writing now.

Being married, I really wish I can create new good memories so they can easily erase the old memories I have of Fred.

I have been having a hard time letting go. But it makes me pathetic and I don’t like being pathetic.

I am a strong lady. No man can bring me down. Fred made me cry, he is the first and last man I am going to cry for.

Brenda might have won but I am going to have the last laugh.

I guess getting his call is enough evidence that my plan is already working. I am getting their attention already and I will see how things end up.

But for now, I have to put my feelings on hold. No man is worth it.

With grace, I walk into the restaurant where he invited me, making an effort to calm my racing heart and stop the trembling of my hands which is in anticipation of seeing the man I have always loved.

Finally, my heart obliged. The trembling stops too and I spot him. His eyes lock with mine and a nervous smile crawls up to his face.

It feels like a dream. That I am here and I am not excited to see Fred. It makes my heart break more into the tiniest pieces to know that Fred and I can never be together again.

I wonder if I can ever find a man like him. I wonder if I can ever get rid of those sweet old memories. I wonder if I won’t feel the gap of his absence. I wonder if I will continue to feel this way; this betrayal, this pain.

Tears sting my eyes and I quickly get a grip on myself.

Pinning him with an expressionless gaze, he bolts upright and walks to me.

I am wearing an elegant sleeveless off-shoulder bodycon gown with block heels. I have a purse strapped on my shoulder too and I feel confident about my look.

The moment his gaze shifts to my lip which has red lipstick, I know my plan is working.

This is a new dress and I am wearing it because I want Fred to know that I am married to a billionaire and he can go f*ck himself.

A driver brought me here. If I wanted to go somewhere else, I wouldn’t have bothered about going with a driver so Ryan won’t know but I had to do this because I want a show for Fred.

He can go tell his bitch at home about this.

“Val”, he calls, stretching his hand for me to take. The way he calls my name reminds me of how I screamed my lungs out at Ryan last night because I didn’t want him to call me what Fred calls me.

It is like a pet name. Fred calls me that. And dad.

Mom calls me that once in a while, especially when she wants me to do something for her.

I take his hand and we walk back to the seat. Like a gentleman, he pulls the chair out for me to sit and I do that.

I drop my purse on the table and lean upright with confidence.

“What would you like to order?” He asks, taking a hold of the menu.

Anger courses through me at the smile plastered on his face. Is this how he ought to react? Is this it?

After sleeping with my best friend and breaking up, is this the best he can do?

I see him sigh deeply and drop the menu, the smile vanishing from his face. “Val, I know…”

“Why did you call me out?” I ask without taking my eyes off him

He remains silent for a while before looking up at me. “I heard you got married.”

“Yeah?” I raise a brow.

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“I didn’t know…I didn’t expect.. you…”

I almost laugh out loud in annoyance. He didn’t call me for a whole month but after hearing about the news of my marriage, he called me out a day after when I was supposed to be on my honeymoon.

“Do you realize how much of my time you are wasting?” I point out. “I am supposed to be heading to Paris on a honeymoon with my husband, not here listening to whatever rubbish you have to say to me after a while…”

“I’m sorry, Val”, he grabs my hand, making my breath hitch and my mouth stop talking. “I was an asshole. I was a jerk, babe. I’m sorry. I wanted to give you space, I never knew you were planning to…”, he trails off. “It’s unbelievable so I wanted to hear it from you, is it true?”

“Of course”, I chuckle nervously, jerking my hand from his hold. “I am married to Ryan Lorenzo, the most handsome and richest billionaire in New York.”

Get that into your f***ing skull! I almost scream at him in addition.

His jaws drop and he looks hurt all of a sudden. Maybe he thinks it was a rumor. Maybe he never expected that I would be married at this age.

“Val, I’m sorry. You need to believe me…”

“How is your girlfriend?” I cut him short. I guess this is the reason why I am here in the first place. I want to know what’s up between him and Brenda.

Are they together now that I am out of the picture?

“Girlfriend?” He looks clueless and I almost bang my hand on the table.

“Brenda”, I offer to give him a clue. “How is she? Why isn’t she here?”

He leans his head down. “Brenda means nothing to me, Val. What happened was just a mistake.”

“A mistake? Really?!” I find myself shouting, uncaring about the other people in the restaurant who must be looking at us right now.

This is really not the right time to let out all the pent-up anger I feel toward him and her but I can’t help it.

“You think I am a fool? A mistake happened twice? Forgiving you when it wasn’t her was easy but now it is never going to happen. Go make her your girlfriend and let me enjoy my married life.”

I stand up abruptly, breathing heavily as I grab my purse to leave.

When I twirl around to take the exit out, he hurries to my side, restricting me from going out.

“Val, you need to believe me. I love you. I still do. I never stopped loving you. Brenda means nothing to me. I stopped talking to her. She is…”

Before he can complete his statement, I raise my hand in the air and it strikes him across his left cheek.

Gasps arise from the people in the restaurant but I don’t care less. I wish I could slap him till my hands feel numb.

Instead, I take a step sideways and brush past him to take the door out.