Billionaire's Crystal Love

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

(Two weeks before Chris and Ethan’s meeting)…. !! Why the hell that meeting happened in the first place????  The reason is in this chapter.

It had been a week since my parents broke the news of my arranged marriage to me, and since then I’d been restless and my brain was on over-thinking mode.

I liked the concept of arranged marriages. For me those seem so pure and magical, but I only liked those in the movies and in my imagination. Having real life version was scary because in real life people are often shady. And it is like a gamble as well. I was not ready for this gamble.

So, I asked my chauffeur to to drop me off at Chris’s penthouse. Taking my bag and laptop I entered the private lift and unlocked his place with the key he gave me.

It was evening and nobody was home. I slumped on the couch and turned on the TV while watching boring news as I had no mood of watching any show or movie. As I felt hungry, I ordered pizza and many more items from a local restaurant and waited for my brother to come back.

“Baby, I think there is an intruder,” I heard Chris saying this.

Mr. Drama Queen is here.

He entered with Sarah. She gave me a beaming smile which made me to forget about my worries in an instant. Although she was my sister-in-law but we were more like real sisters. On the other hand, Chris had mischievous grin on his face, so ready to annoy me.

Getting up from the couch, I went to Sarah and hugged her for several seconds.

“Hey! She’s my wife. If you so want to hug someone’s wife, go get a wife for yourself.” And… just like that my brothers stupid comments had started.

“Why would I find a new wife when I could hug your wife all the time, Mr. Jealous.” I rolled my eyes at him, but with pout I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. Like a sweet brother, he hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. He sorta knew why I was here.

I pulled back. “I hope, I am not disturbing you,” I said to Sarah but Chris opened his mouth to answer me, “you’re f*****g nuisance in my married life. Every time, I plan to impregnate my wife, you show up.”

“Ewwwww…. Gross! Chris you’re terrible. i***t. Have some shame!” I made disgusted face. He would never think before uttering any nonsense. My i***t brother only laughed loudly.

“Leave it Chris. I think I should really file for a divorce. Anyway, Crystal prepare yourself for what I’m going to tell you now,” Sarah said and she grabbed my hands in gentle hold.

“What?” I asked in expectant look.

“I’m pregnant. And you’re going to be an aunt in about eight months.” I was stunned after hearing this.

OMG! A baby.

“Congratulations. I can’t express the the flow of happiness inside me. Oh my God! I’m so happy. I’ll be an aunt.” I hugged her again and we swayed in excitement.

“Thank you, doll.”

Then I punched my brother on his bicep before giving him a hug too.

We sat on the couch and discussed about the baby for sometime. Sarah told me that I was the first person whom they had told about the baby, and they were going to tell this amazing news to rest of the family tomorrow.

It was long day, and Sarah was feeling little tired, so excused herself. But before she could leave, I asked, “Sarah you mind if I get mad at your husband?”

She scoffed playfully. “Please, be madder at him. And give him a hard time because he drives me nuts.”

“I thought you love me?” Chris looked at his wife with a shocked face— he was acting.

“I still love you. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take your sister’s side.” She leaned down and kissed him briefly and left.

Then Chris looked at me. “If you hadn’t been here, this kiss was going to turn…”

“Okay, shut up! I understand. Gross! Focus on my problem.”

“Gross? Have you any idea that how many of my dates you have sabotaged? I’ll make you pay one day.”

I smiled at the memories of me ruining his dates when he was in high school. In my defense, I had no idea that I was ruining them. I was child back then. Since Chris and I had ten years of age difference, I’d always look up to him. Also, I never knew he was on date. I’d call him if he didn’t came home after school— I was being a concerned sister. Thats all!

But, I did save him from bad dates as well which he’d never admit. Nice girls would run away from him because of his big mouth, and wrong girls would attract towards him. And I was the anchor that kept him from falling into bad relationships.

But yeah! I did knock some senses into him and then he got married to Sarah.

“Why long face?” he asked with a genuine concern. The playfulness had vanished — for how long, I had no idea.

“Why grandma and grand pa did this to me?”

“Hey! You don’t have to feel burdened by this.”

“But I am stressed.”

“What’s going through your head?” he asked but the bell rang.

“Who the hell is here, now?”

“Hey! I ordered the food. Go and pay.” I gave him a wide smile.

“You’d bankrupt me one day.” Chris stood up to get the food.

Once we settled again with the food, he asked the same question.

“This is very tough, Chris. I’m not ready to get married, just yet. I thought I’d get married in mid thirties, not early twenties. And I don’t even know who this man is.”

“He is an asshole,” Chris said with a shrug and I sucked in a breath.

Asshole!

Is his reputation that bad? And my family wants me to get married to this bad person?!

“Are you serious?” I asked, and Chris stopped chewing his pizza.

He blinked few times and then his shoulders sagged. “For me, every man who will marry you, will be an asshole regardless their personality.”

I glared at him.

“I don’t even know him. Do you?” I asked.

“Yeah! I know him. We’ve met on many events. You were also present in one or two events but then after ten minutes you leave the party and hide somewhere.”

I hate parties.

“So you mean, after marrying this person, I have to attend these boring events where people only talk about how expensive their clothes are?”

“I think so.”

“No…. No… no! I’ll die of boredom. I even didn’t want to go to my prom, you dragged me to that even when I all I wanted was to watch the new season of that crime show.”

“Really? You’re are too weird. Parties bore you, but you are happy to be inside your room with an Internet connection and a laptop.?”

“Yeah! And you know that I’m an extreme introvert. By the way, what his personality is like?” I asked while eying two variants of pizza — unable to decide which I’d eat first.

“Shitty.”

“Chris, be serious.”

“I’m serious.”

My shoulders sagged. “And I don’t understand that why my family wants to throw me into a deep sea.”

“What sea?” he had baffled look on his face.

“This is some very deep thought, you won’t understand.” I glared at him.

“Haaa! Okay Crystal, listen. I can’t tell you so much about his personality, but I can tell you that he is a fair man. He is not that type of person who takes unfair advantage of others. Yes, he is sharp minded businessman with manipulating skill, but not in wrong way. Well, he is a good friend of mine and if he had been a shady person, I would have known. Also, he wouldn’t be my friend.”

“This is so lame explanation. Tell me, does he have anger?”

“Errr… little bit or ten times more than little bit,” he said with scrunched up nose.

“What! And he will get angry on me if I said no to him for anything, right? How will I deal with this type of man. Will he get angry if I behaved like my usual quiet self. What if I didn’t feel like going to any business dinner?”

“Usual quiet self? Baby, you talk so much.”

“Only with my family, big brother. He will be angry on me when he finds out that how childish my personality is. He’ll label me, right? But I’m mature when it comes to serious stuff. I don’t cause drama or trouble. I understand the situation, but he’ll not observe that.” My brain was in haywire.

No. No. Not an angry husband!

“Crystal, your brain is again jumping to all sorts of conclusions, now.”

“And every reasoning of mine is logical. He could make my life miserable, you know.”

“This is stupid. This will never happen.”

“How could you be so sure?”

“My little bear, you will be in New York. And it’s not like you’ll vanish from the face of the earth. He’d not get away by hurting you. I’m just a one call away. I’ll hunt him down and punch his ugly face if he lays a finger on you.”

Chris’ words didn’t calm me at all.

“Chris I’ll be stuck if he doesn’t understand me. I don’t do well with the changes. You know, how hard it was for me when you moved out because of your college.

“You were a eight year old baby then.”

“I’m still like the same. I know I’m too sensitive, and an angry husband…! No.” I had helpless expression. I gulped down my coke. Only food could give me comfort in this mess. “And, I just turned twenty two. Who marries at this age?!”

“So many people.”

“It was a rhetorical question, Chris.” Chris groaned.

“And being married doesn’t mean I’ll flip a switch on and becomes a perfect wife. I don’t want to be a wife. I want to live my life as a single lady. Why God? Why?”

“Now you’re being a drama queen.”

“Of course, I’m being a drama queen because my life has become one big drama now.”

He chuckled at my helplessness.

Idiot!

“He’ll not understand me.”

“Why do you think so?” he asked while gulping down a bit bite of pineapple pie.

“Because you are my brother and yet you don’t even understand me. Remember the day we were in a restaurant having our lunch. I scrunched up my nose and you thought that I was thinking what s**t you were eating.”

“Oh! That day! Hmmm.. But now you are torturing me with these illogical statements.”

“No, this is real. What if I did something like that in front of him? He will get angry.”

“Crystal… now, I really pity that man. You’ll torture him.” Chris laughed and his playfulness was back!

“See, this is what I’m talking about. You tolerate me because I’m your sister. Why will he tolerate this side of me?”

“Everything aside, tell me, why we are referring him in pronouns only? He has a name, you know?”

“Don’t you dare to say his name! I don’t want to know anything about the man who has turned my life upside down. I don’t want to feel personal by knowing him.” I was hell bent on pushing this man away  from my life.

“Chris?”

“Hmmm…??” he was busy eating his pineapple pie.

“What if he becomes too clingy?”

“Now, what your brain is conjuring up?” he sighed deeply.

“I love being alone. What if he didn’t give me space and time to adjust to the new things? What if I ignored him and zone out like I usually do? What will he think? Can’t he find any other wife. I’m sure women out there would be dying to get married to a hot shot CEO.” I scoffed and Chris chuckled.

“Aww! My little monkey, he is not going to eat you. And even if he does, I’ll throw him to the lions. I promise.” He grabbed my face and squeezed it, and swatted his hands away.

“You’re terrible at motivating others.” I scoffed.

“You don’t want to get married?”

“No.”

“Okay. I’ll help you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. That’s what brothers do! But I’m gonna need creative excuses to keep your husband at bay.”

“I’ll give you the creative excuses. And… I don’t have a husband.” I glared at my brother.

“Crystal, do you want to go on a date with this man?”

“Chris! Which part of I don’t want to know this man, you didn’t understand? And you are the first brother who is suggesting his sister to go on a date.”

“I’m suggesting because I know you will not go. It’s so fun teasing you. By the way, give me an excuse.”

“Okay. Uummm.. You tell him… wait…”

“This is not going to work.”

“Give me some time to think.”

I thought about the excuses and after few minutes I got one.

“Okay tell him that you just have had a dental implant, and your dentist has refrained you from talking.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Genius. But there is one flaw. I have to speak these words—but how could I when my dentist has refrained me?”

“What are texts for?”

“Text? Hmmm.. Na… I’ll say those words. He should know I’m making excuses.” And… I rolled my eyes at my brother.

He looked behind me. “Why you brought your laptop here?”

“Oh! I forgot. I made a presentation that why I shouldn’t get married. Wait I show you!” I tried to get up from the couch but Chris pulled me back.

“Please, no. This was enough mental torture.” He groaned.

Of course. My logic is always a mental torture for everyone. And that man will also think the same.

“So you’ll talk to him?”

“No. I will mentally torture him.”

“What?”

“Leave that to me, my little monkey.” Chris pulled me to him and hugged me.

That night I stayed at Chris’ place.

****

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Present

Ethan and I had been sitting near the fireplace. We were on our honeymoon in Switzerland. My back was pressed to his hard chest. He was bare-chest, but I had his black t-shirt on which was ridiculously loose on my thin frame.

His hands roamed on my legs, sending shivers down my spine. His lips tailed soft kisses along my neck. We had just made love, and my body again started to respond to his skillful touches.

That conversation at Chris’ place played in my brain, and I laughed at how much baffled I was by the marriage talk.

“What is so funny, wifey?” Ethan asked, his hot breath fanning on my ear.

“Just remembering a day. I was so anxious when my parents told me that I had to marry you. I drove Chris nuts.”

“He deserves that. What’s about that day?” he pushed my hair aside and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“I was so mad at my family that I asked Chris that how could they throw me into a deep sea? I tried to explain it to Chris that why marriage was a bad idea for me but my i***t brother said that I was mentally torturing him. Like seriously? I even tried to give him examples like what would happen if…”

“Wait!” Ethan exclaimed and  made me look at him.

“What?”

“Deep sea? Eating in restaurant? Staying alone? You put all these ideas in his brain?”

“Err… not put. I just tried to make him understand… but… how do you know?”

“f**k! So my wife had been torturing me even way before our marriage.”

“Huh?”

“Baby… your big brother f*****g mentally tortured me with all those what if questions. But in reality it was you.”

Oh God!

I giggled at the expression on Ethan’s face. It was too comical.

Ethan wrapped his arms around me tightly, pulling me closer to him. His face so close to me, his lips brushed mine and my lips trembled in anticipation.

“You’re are very bad, wifey. I think I should punish you for putting me through that hell of a meeting,” his voice too low and husky. My breathing became faster. He soft touch of his lips put my body on fire.

“Punish?” I asked in equally low voice.

“Yes, punish. For being a troublemaker.” Without giving any warning, Ethan moved quickly, pushing me back. I laid on the soft rug underneath, and my husband on top of me. His hands roamed on my body. He kissed me little roughly and I moaned in response.

I groaned and arched my back, pressing my body into him when he s*****d my butt without breaking our kiss. Within seconds he removed my t-shirt and kissed me all over. I was a moaning mess under him.

It was an amazing night — so full of passion and love.