Taken By The Arrogant Billionaire

Valerie almost hit herself in the head for being such a fool. She cleared her throat in embarrassment as she awkwardly turned it right. She picked a random dish, but he took his time before picking his. Everything she ate tasted like wax. Maybe it wouldn’t have been like that if she had been alone and comfortable. Jared sensed her discomfort.

“Do you feel uncomfortable around me?”

“Of course… not. Why would I? But, you said we were here for a meeting, why are the people we are meeting not here yet?” She asked tentatively. He dabbed his mouth, focusing on her.

“Actually, we are not here to meet anyone”

She furrowed her brow. “Then why are we here?”

“I brought you to this place because….. because I want us to be alone… just the both of us. You see, i-”

“This food is really wonderful, but I’m full now, so….. can we leave?” Jared stared at her for a considerable amount of time before nodding. Looks like she was still not used to him.

She nodded a thanks when he opened the car door for her. He was her boss and she did not feel comfortable in the least with him doing things for her, but she said nothing. None of them noticed someone in another car not too far away, taking pictures of them till they drove off.

Damon took off his sunglasses, his tongue poking his cheek, and a lopsided smile on his lips. Jared… was he being serious? A taken man taking a single woman on a date, and not just anyone, his secretary?

With that smile still on his lips, he picked up his phone and sent those pictures to someone.

“Let’s see how this plays out” he laughed madly.

****************

Jared dropped her before her house and she awkwardly said her goodbye. He felt so mad because she didn’t look this uncomfortable with that man. He nodded curtly before driving away. Valerie sighed and walked towards the door. She was stunned when she realized the door was unlocked. She was sure she locked it before going to work.

Her first thought was, “Did someone break in?”

Luckily, she had a bottle of pepper spray in her purse. She quickly brought it out, raising it as she slowly opened the door. Immediately, she entered, she smelt something pleasant coming from the kitchen. The intruder was even cooking? She tiptoed towards the kitchen, making sure her feet made not even the slightest sound.

She was ready to release the content, but the person in the kitchen turned.

“You are here” Layla said, smiling. Valerie returned the spray into her purse.

“Oh, I thought you forgot you had a house”

Layla stopped what she was doing. “I know you are mad at me, but -”

Valerie laughed. “Mad? Why should I be mad at you? You have made it clear you would rather not be part of us anymore. I respect your decision, so I’m not mad”

“I realized my mistake now, and I’m deeply sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise. Here! Look what I made”

The appetizing smell of roasted chicken assailed her nostrils. She salivated and almost gave in. She shook her head in conviction. She wasn’t going to eat her food.

“Thanks, but no. I am not hungry” she headed to her room, leaving Layla hurt.

The next morning, Valerie got dressed, ready to leave, but was stopped by Layla again.

“What now?”

“I made these” she flashed several pieces of whoopie pies.

“Whoop-” She looked away and swallowed. To be honest, she was hungry. She didn’t eat last night, and what she ate at the restaurant wasn’t considered food. Layla stared expectantly and hopefully.

Valerie suddenly looked away, scoffing.

“What is this? A bribe?”

“Well…I thought they were your favorite, so I made them for you. I see you don’t want them. I’m just going to throw -” the remaining words were cut short when it was snatched away from her.

“I…. I just don’t want it to go to waste. Don’t you dare think you can make me forgive you with this” With that she walked out and Layla’s lips broke into a smile.

************

Jane threw the phone she newly bought on the wall out of fury. It was that bitch again. Why? Why was she bent on taking her man? She needed to do something. Without further ado, she left the house.

“Where to, Madam?”

“The old mansion” she replied distractedly, looking outside the window.

“Where’s grandfather?” She asked the butler as soon as she entered.

“He is in his study”

She went there and knocked twice. “Come in”

He was standing, staring outside.

“Hello Grandfather” he only spared her a glance and grunted in response before looking away. She silently took a deep breath. Though he wasn’t harsh to her, she was still a bit scared of him. She had no idea what his reaction will be when he finds out the reason for her visit.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Came his rough voice. She cleared her throat.

“Grandfather, I came to see you for something important” he kept mum, but she took it as a go-ahead. “I want my engagement to happen… next week”

He slowly turned to her, and she mustered all her courage to look him in the eye.

“Any particular reason why you want to rush this?”

“No reason. I….. I just can’t wait” he spent a few seconds staring at her like he could see right through her.

After what seemed like forever, he finally turned to look outside again. “I will call Jared and talk to him about it”

“Really?” She didn’t think he would agree that easily. She received no response, but she was okay with it. “Then, I’ll take my leave” he nodded subtly.

He picked up his phone and dialed Jared’s number.

“Come home for dinner” he hung up before Jared could speak, leaving no room for discussion.

Jared nose flared on the other end. He hung up before he had the chance to talk. What if he had plans?

He stood up and left the office. He met Valerie on the way. Immediately she realized he was coming towards her, she ran into a corner. Jared sighed exasperatedly. Why was no one giving him a chance to talk? He chose to pretend not to see her and walked away. Valerie breathed a sigh of relief after he left. She had no idea why she was hiding. She couldn’t hide from him, especially when she was his secretary. She brought out her phone when she received a message. The number wasn’t saved, but she could guess who it was.

“Do you have plans tonight?”

She texted back. “Why do you ask?” She was about to return the phone when it lit up again.

“I was hoping we could go out for a drink tonight”

Valerie narrowed her eyes. It wasn’t such a bad idea. She wasn’t really ready to face Layla yet.

“Okay”

************

Sandy sat alone in the huge living room, bored out of her mind. The election was very near and Dylan has been quite busy recently. She was not able to go out without bodyguards trailing after her. He stopped her from going out after the incident at the grave, but she refused. When he realized she wasn’t going to listen to him, he increased the security by a dozen. It was suffocating. According to Dylan, danger was lurking in every corner, and they needed to be careful. She sighed. She already signed up for this, so why was she complaining?

“Sandy?” A sweet voice brought her back.

“Mother” she stood up, but Mrs Smith quickly sat her back down.

“You are bored, aren’t you?” She held her hand, placing the other one over it. Sandy nodded.

“Things are not looking good recently. We have to be extremely careful, so please, put up with it for some time, hm?” She patted her hands. Sandy forced a tight smile and nodded.

“I guessed you would be bored, so I brought this” she raised an old photo album. “This contains the picture of my children when they were still little” she opened it and dived into explaining.

“This is Dylan?” She asked, pointing at the picture of a small boy in a panama hat. He had rosy cheeks and was quite chubby.

“Yes. This was on his fifth birthday”

“Oh my! He’s so cute” she gushed.

“All my kids are cute. It’s in the gene” Sandy nodded in agreement. Dylan and Jared were handsome men. She hadn’t seen their sister before.

Mrs Smith pointed at the picture of a short girl standing between her two brothers.

“This is Cheryl. My last child” The smile on Sandy’s face immediately vanished. That face… it looked extremely familiar.