BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

Dressed in dark jeans and a white shirt, his hair looks messy and perfect, making me stare at him from my peripheral view as I slide in beside him in the car.

The car roars to life immediately while we sit quietly without a word till we get to the location, my gaze shifting from the car door to Ryan who has a smile on his face.

When he told me we were going out, I wanted to protest but he won’t hear any of that. I didn’t expect he would bring me here either.

Why bring me to a party of all places? I thought he was going to take me out on a date again as he has done before.

“A party, Ryan?” I ask in complete disbelief with my mouth dropped open.

He nods and steps down from the car. Before I can process what is happening, he opens the car door for me to get out.

I step down, excitement filling me up at the thought of partying tonight. After Ryan and I got married, the first time we came to party was because I forced him here.

I practically dragged him here and the day didn’t end well because we ran into Brenda and Fred.

Taking a last look at my dress, I sigh heavily, wishing he had told me we were coming here so I am not dressed this elegantly.

I am wearing a short dinner gown because I thought he would take me to have dinner with his mom or take me out on a date.

“Shall we?” He demands, pulling out his arm for me to entwine my arm with his.

I nod my head and entwine my arm with his before we begin to walk toward the front door leading to the club.

This is high class. Different from the ones we used to go to. I don’t need to worry about bumping into Brenda or Fred. All I need to do is enjoy tonight.

Ryan produces a ticket and stretches it to one of the bouncers. They permit us to go in.

The moment we enter, I take my arm away and begin to dance to the music.

“Wow!” I say out loud, twirling back to face Ryan who is silently watching. “it’s been so long since I had fun.”

“Dance all you want”, he mutters indifferently with a loud voice. “I need a drink.”

He doesn’t sound as excited as I am and I wonder what is wrong with him. As he brushes past me to walk towards the bar, I follow.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask with concern. When we left home, he was all smiles and now, he is all moody.

Didn’t he bring us here to have fun?

“Nothing”, he answers. “I just need a drink.”

We get to the bar counter and he drags out a high stool to sit on. Ignoring my desire to go back to the dance floor, I do the same thing and sit beside him.

“A vodka, please”, he requests of the bartender and I raise a suspicious brow at him.

Did he come here to get drunk? There is a bar in the house, why is he doing this? What the hell is wrong with him?

The bartender pours a glass of vodka for him before pushing it toward him. Without caring about the burning sensation it brings, he gulps everything down, then pushes it back towards the bartender.

I watch him.

I wish I know what exactly is on his mind but I can’t get any single thing from his expression. He is expressionless but I know he is not himself.

“I need one too”, I ask the bartender. We can dance later. If he wants to drink, so be it.

Ryan spares me a glance. “You shouldn’t drink…”

“Why?” I demand sharply, as though I was expecting the question he is directing towards me.

He does not say anything.

I smile at him. “If you want to drink, then let’s do that together.”

“What if someone sees you drinking when you are faking a pregnancy?” he whispers into my ears, making me remember that we are faking a pregnancy.

I forget about that role too much, probably because I barely see his mother so I do not need to pretend to be pregnant when I am not.

“Well, I am not pregnant and no one will see me”, I whisper back into his right ear.

The bartender pushes a cup towards me and I drink everything in one gulp too, the hotness burning down my throat.

Ryan does not say anything else as we begin to compete on who drinks more of the vodka. It continues to burn down my throat but I keep ignoring it until I feel dizzy.

I signal to the bartender not to give me any more drinks as I step down from the stool, staggering. “I need to dance.”

I can’t come to a party and not dance.

The loud music blasts into my ears and I begin to swing my hips, throwing my hands in the air as I twirl around till my dizziness increases.

When I stop, my head hits a hard wall and I rest my head on it while I shut my eyes tightly.

A voice pulls me out of my trance. “Hello, beautiful”, it says and a loud unfamiliar chuckle follows.

I lift my head to meet a pair of green eyes with dirty brown hair. His gaze is intense and he is good-looking but not as good as my husband, though.

Remembering that I came here with Ryan, I realize I am holding him so I let go and then turn around to search for Ryan when I stumble again, two pairs of hands grabbing me from falling.

“Hey”, he shouts into my ears and I try to wriggle out of his hold all to no avail. “You are drunk.”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“I know, get your hands off me!” I snap at him in irritation.

He does not let go of me like I think he will, instead his grip on my hips becomes firmer as we move.

Before I can say anything else, another hand grabs me from behind and my head hits another strong wall, a familiar cologne hitting my nostril.

Ryan.

I don’t need to look up to know that it is him.

“Who the hell are you?!” he growls out loudly in annoyance. “What the hell do you think you are doing?!”

Without hoisting my head up, a smile creeps to my face as a sigh of relief washes through me.

He slides his hands around my hips, dragging me closer to him as the music changes into a slow, melodious one.