The Billionaire's Sixty-Day Wife

Chapter 10

Alejandro's POV

"What exactly is so funny?"

The moment the words leave my mouth, the entire table goes silent.

Good, because judging by the expression on Camila's face, whatever happened before I arrived wasn't funny at all.

Several women suddenly become very interested in their drinks,others avoid eye contact completely.

Only Isabella keeps her composure,mostly.

"Alejandro." She rises smoothly from her chair. "We were just having lunch."

My gaze moves around the table before settling on Camila.

She's smiling,a fake smile.

The same fake smile she's been using whenever she's upset and doesn't want anyone to know.

The sight immediately irritates me.

"Really?"

The single word is enough to make the room even quieter.

Camila glances at me, something flickers across her face,relief.

The realization catches me off guard.

Relief?

Why would she….

No,later.

I'll think about that later. Right now, I have bigger problems.

"Alejandro, it's not what it looks like." Isabella gestures toward the table, but the movement feels rehearsed, and that only makes my mood worse.

"What does it look like?"

Nobody answers.

I slip a hand into my pocket and slowly look around the room.

"Because from where I'm standing, it looks like a group of grown women invited my wife to lunch and spent the afternoon making her uncomfortable."

The accusation lands exactly where I intended.

Several women immediately look embarrassed as they should.

"Alejandro…."

"No." My gaze returns to Isabella. "Let's not pretend."

A flash of annoyance crosses her face.

Brief but visible.

"We were having a conversation."

"About what?"

Nobody speaks.

That tells me everything.

Across the table, one woman suddenly finds her napkin fascinating. Another checks her phone,cowards.

The entire room is filled with them.

I look toward Camila again.

She doesn't say anything,doesn't need to.

The doubt in her eyes says enough.

Something twists unpleasantly inside my chest.

I know that look, I've seen it before.

People wear it when they start believing they don't belong somewhere. And for some reason, the thought of Camila feeling that way bothers me more than it should.

A lot more.

Finally, Isabella exhales.

"You're overreacting."

I laugh,actually laugh.

The sound surprises everyone mostly because there's no humor in it.

"Am I?"

Her jaw tightens. "Alejandro."

"No, let's hear it." I take a step forward. "What exactly am I overreacting to?"

The silence stretches.

Nobody volunteers an answer,funny.

A few minutes ago they apparently had plenty to say. Now suddenly nobody can find their voice.

"Maybe we should all calm down." One of the women offers a nervous smile.

I turn toward her.

"Did you spend years working twelve-hour shifts in an emergency room?"

The woman blinks.

"What?"

"Did you?"

"No."

"Interesting."

My attention shifts around the table.

"Any of you?"

Nobody answers,of course they don't because none of them did.

None of them spent nights trying to keep strangers alive. None of them worked through holidays, none of them watched people die yet somehow they're sitting here judging the woman who does.

The realization makes my blood pressure climb,fast.

"You know what's impressive?" I ask quietly. "It's not private islands. It's not old money. It's not having the right last name."

The room remains silent.

"What's impressive is spending your life helping people who can't help themselves."

Camila's eyes widen.

I ignore it.

"What's impressive is working a job where mistakes actually matter because lives depend on you showing up every day."

Nobody looks comfortable anymore,good.

"They inherited privilege."

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

I don't regret it,not even slightly.

My gaze settles on Camila. "She earned everything."

The silence afterward feels different, heavier,real.

Across the table, several women suddenly look ashamed.

Isabella doesn't. She looks shocked,completely shocked.

Then I realize why, because she's staring at me,not Camila.

Me.

As though she doesn't recognize the person standing here and maybe she doesn't. Because honestly, I'm not entirely sure I recognize myself either.

I've never cared this much before,never felt this protective,never felt this angry on someone else's behalf.

"Alejandro…..." Isabella shakes her head slightly. "This is ridiculous."

"No." I look directly at her. "What's ridiculous is believing someone's worth is measured by money."

For the first time all afternoon, Isabella doesn't have a response.

Interesting.

I turn toward Camila. "Ready to go?" She blinks. "Uh….. yes."

The answer sounds almost surprised.

I don't blame her,I'm surprising myself.

Without another word, I pull out her chair and wait.

As Camila rises from her chair, the room stays quiet, filled with people watching us leave, listening for one last comment, and probably judging us both, but none of it matters enough to make me stop walking.

The second we walk away from the table, I feel some of the tension leave my body.

Not all of it,enough.

The elevator ride down is quiet,too quiet.

Eventually, Camila looks at me.

"Thank you."

The words are soft,unexpectedly soft.

I glance toward her. "For what?"

A laugh escapes her,disbelieving.

"Seriously?"

I shrug.

The movement earns another laugh,a real one this time. The sound does strange things to my chest.

"Nobody's ever done that before."

The confession catches me off guard.

"What?"

"Defended me like that."

Something about the way she says it makes me dislike every person who's ever failed her which is ridiculous.

I don't even know most of them.

"You didn't deserve that."

Her eyes remain on me.

The silence stretches. Different this time,dangerous.

The elevator suddenly feels smaller than it did thirty seconds ago,much smaller.

When the doors finally open, both of us step out a little too quickly.

Probably for the best.

The drive home isn't much better.

Every time our eyes meet, something shifts. Something neither of us seems willing to name.

By the time we reach the estate, my pulse is behaving strangely,not ideal.

Camila stops near the front door.

"So…..."

Our eyes meet, and for several seconds neither of us says anything as the moment stretches with an intensity that's becoming harder to ignore.

Then her phone rings, breaking the silence instantly, and the second she sees who's calling, her expression changes completely.

I recognize the hospital number too, and as the warmth vanishes from her face and fear takes its place, a knot forms in my stomach while she slowly answers the call.

"Hello?"

Several seconds pass.

I watch the color drain from her face. Watch her fingers tighten around the phone,watch panic begin replacing confusion.

Then a voice speaks loudly enough for me to hear part of it.

"Miss Reyes, your mother's latest test results just came back, and we need you here immediately."

Everything inside me goes cold,because nobody from a hospital calls with news like that unless something is very, very wrong.