The Billionaire’s Regret: Ex-Husband Wants Me Back

Chapter2

OLIVIA’S POV

“MATEO SURRELLO; CEO, ” was written in bold letters on the door.

I half expected someone to grab me at any moment and throw me out of the building. Yet, bracing myself, I knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a female voice said in clipped tones.

I pushed open the door and stepped in, and shock hit me. The first person I saw was Mateo.

But this wasn’t the Mateo I knew—the one who wore faded jeans and sang karaoke with me, standing on top of tables at Jules. This was a very different man: cold, ruthless, and extremely rich.

He was dressed in a three-piece Italian suit. His usually unruly hair was combed back and tied at the nape of his neck with a band. He was seated on the other side of the desk—the owner’s side—perched on its corner.

He ignored me. His eyes were trained on the only other woman in the room.

“So this is the riff-raff you’ve been wasting your time with?” the woman asked coldly, yet she didn’t look at me.

“Mother, Olivia has a name. She was my wife these past two years, after all,” Mateo said coolly, still not looking at me.

**Mother?** None of this made any sense. Mateo had told me that his parents died when he was eighteen. And what did he mean by “was”? I am his wife still!

“Oh, stop that rubbish,” the woman snapped. “I checked the registry before coming, and your name wasn’t on any marriage list. Whatever marriage you did with this poor woman here, you know it’s illegal.”

“What’s illegal?” I choked out. “Can someone please tell me why I’m here? Why my husband, Mateo Carvey, is sitting in an office that belongs to a CEO, Mateo Surrello? Why the mother he told me died in a car crash is still alive? And why you both have been talking about me as if I’m not present!”

“Would you tell her, or should I?” the woman continued, still not looking at me.

Mateo nodded. “Alright, give us a minute, Mother.”

He waited until the woman left with a huff before turning to face me. This was the first time he’d looked at me since I stepped in, but none of the usual warmth was in his eyes. It was almost as if we were strangers.

“Mateo, what’s going on? Why are—why…” When my voice broke, I kept quiet and forced myself to breathe.

He ran a hand through his hair—his first familiar gesture. “I guess I have a lot to explain. You see, my name is not Carvey. I’m Mateo Surrello, CEO of Surrello Business Conglomerate.

“Three years ago, I inherited this business from my father—and no, my parents aren’t dead. I wanted to run things my way, but my father was against all my innovations. So we made a bet.

“I was going to strike out on my own, change my name, get married to a small-town girl, and try rising to the top. If I didn’t make it in three years as a small-time business owner, without having the Surrello backing, I’d come back as CEO and do things his way. But if I did, I’d do things my way. Thanks to you, my little hardware store has been thriving. I won the bet.”

“So this is all I ever was to you—all our marriage was to you—a bet? Mateo!” I cried out, an unfamiliar pain making it impossible to breathe.

Mateo shook his head, his expression cold. “I apologize for every inconvenience I’ve caused. Of course, I’ll compensate you for that—name your price. The thing is, I’m not the man you thought I was. There’s obviously no need for us to continue with this charade. You are a mere waitress; you don’t belong in my world.”

“What are you saying, Mateo?” I whispered sheepishly, my emotions clouded.

“I’m saying our marriage was fake, so I shouldn’t even be doing this. But because I have a conscience, I’m offering you a divorce. I’ll compensate you with whatever amount of money you name for your time.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Mateo, I love you. You promised that you loved me. We got married, for crying out loud. Why do you think I’ll trade all that for money?”

“Olivia, don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” he snapped, handing me some documents. “Sign the divorce papers—though the marriage was fake—and name your price so we can get on with this.”

I shook my head. “I’m pregnant, Mateo. Don’t you see? We can’t just throw away the two years we spent together.”

For a split second, several emotions flashed in his eyes. Then they were replaced with anger.

“I told you never to get pregnant! You promised you were taking your pills. What nonsense is this?”

His words cut me like a dagger. Why was he acting as though I’d gotten myself pregnant?

My mind struggled to process everything. I had thought the reason he didn’t want a child was that he wasn’t ready to be a father. But all this while, it had merely been because he didn’t want complications tying him to—a fake marriage?

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to keep myself from crying.

“For your own good,” he continued coldly, “I’d advise you not to let my mother hear about this pregnancy, or your life will become a living hell. Sign the papers, name your price, and leave immediately. I suggest you abort the baby.”

I stared dazedly at him. This was not the man I had known and fallen in love with. This was not the father of my baby. It was as if he had morphed into a completely different person merely by taking on the name Surrello.

But he was Surrello. Mateo Carvey—the man who kissed me silly and told me my eyes looked like the midnight sky—that man was the fake one, the one that did not exist. I had fallen in love with a chimera. I had no place in the life of Mateo Surrello.

With tears in my eyes, I took the document from him and signed where I was supposed to. Since the marriage had not been legal, I wondered at the need for a divorce document.

My eyes were thankfully dry when I looked up at him. I hoped they were as expressionless as his. “A million dollars.”

“What?”

“I want a million dollars,” I said coldly.

He smiled. “See, I knew everyone has a price, even innocent little waitresses.”

“Pay up, Surrello,” I snapped, using anger to mask my pain. I needed to get the heck out of that accursed building before I burst into tears.

Mateo pulled out an envelope from his breast pocket and handed it to me. “Abort that baby and forget me, Olivia,” he called as I walked out. “I will not regret this later and come looking for you. We are done.”