The Billionaire's Offer

Chapter 3 : Love and Reality

Ella's POV

“Babe, what’s wrong?”

I shrugged and gazed aimlessly at Kim’s playground. Letting out a soft sigh, I finally responded to Justin over the phone.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Don’t tell me so. I can feel it. Something is wrong. Tell me, my love. Don’t hide anything from me.”

“If you insist J. I’m just tired of my job. I’m tired of being insulted and looked down upon. I’m tired of being treated like a fool who doesn’t know what she’s doing.” My voice trembled as I spoke. I paused for a second before continuing my anguish.

“Dad has been fired. Mum’s health is unstable. Louisa and Annabel will soon be graduating from high school. Our rent is one month due already. Sch-school is more demanding and tuition has been increased. My head is overheating J. I couldn’t sleep last night because of…J, why aren’t you here? I miss you so much.” My voice was breaking with unshed tears dripping from my eyes.

“Hey…you know I’m right here for you, even though I’m miles away. Once my internship is over, I'm flying over to see you. Baby, what happened to your dad? Lost his job again, what happened?”

I took a deep breath before responding to my boyfriend. “Yeah, all thanks to his anger. It gets the best of him most times. And now that he’s home, he transfers it to us, especially mum. The two of them got into a heated argument last night. It was so crazy. I feel like disappearing from everything.”

“Huh? Disappear and leave me?”

I chuckled. “Never honey. If I’m disappearing, it will be with you, anytime and always,” I said, my voice thick with affection. Talking about ‘us’ made me feel happy and at that moment, I could forget anything going on in my life. No matter how messy.

“Uhhmm, interesting. So if you are disappearing with me, where are we disappearing to?” He paused for a second. “And what will we be doing?” I could catch hints of naughtiness but I loved it anyway.

“Uhmm…” I began, rolling my eyes to think for a moment. “Within Earth, Paris. Outside Earth, Mars. And what we will be doing…a lot of things.”

“Like?”

“You sure wanna hear all the details, don’t you?”

“Why not?”

“Well, I would snuggle in with you, kiss you, cuddle you. We could make love all day.” I said, biting my lower lip, and keeping my eyes on Kim who was lost in the world of her dolls.

“Just the way you like it…” Justin wasn’t going to let this slip. His words sounded so smooth in my ears, calming my hot nerves.

“Just the way you do it to me, baby,” I mumbled softly, twirling my hair and beaming with desire for Justin.

Justin laughed heartily. I knew what he would say next but I didn’t let him.

“So when am I seeing you? I’ve missed you so bad.”

“Very soon, my princess. And you know what I’ll do once I’m back?”

“What?” I asked excitedly, wondering what he was about to say.

“I’m taking you away from that job. You deserve so much more than that.”

“I can’t wait, my love. I can’t wait. I’ll miss only Kim if I leave here. She’s such a beautiful, lively girl.”

“Don’t worry, when we get married, we’ll have more beautiful children than her. I hope your dad won’t punch me in the face when I tell him of my intention to marry you.”

“J…” I called out with great emphasis.

He chuckled again but this time, it was brief. “I was just joking, my princess. You know I’ll do anything for you. Even if your dad punches me, I’ll take it for you.”

I rolled my eyes, pouting my mouth. “Drop the punches, please. Why will he even want to do that?”

“You know, the usual…his anger. I hope he gets it under control. Have you tried talking to him about it?”

“Talking to my dad about his anger? I can’t. He can be so adamant at times. It was this same issue that led to the argument between him and my mum. Any little thing now, he flares up. Things are so tight for us. If I had my apartment, I feel it would have been better to an extent. You’re not around. So if I’m not home, I’ll be at my boss' mansion. I’m just living in between drama upon drama. It's draining, both mentally and physically.”

“Uhhmm, it will soon be a thing of the past. But babe, take things easy on yourself. Don’t overload yourself with everything going on in your family. You’ll break down. I can’t allow that to happen. Okay?” Justin’s voice was soft and gentle. Just what I needed to hear.

“But J—” I trailed off, thanks to Justin who cut me off.

“There’s no but, my princess. God forbid, but if anything happens, life will continue. Take things easy on yourself, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll try,” I replied rather weakly. What he said was true, but it was easier to say than to do. I could have heated my defense against J, but it was better I let it slip.

We had spent twenty minutes over the phone. I looked over at Kim who was happily dismembering her doll. I had to attend to her before she injured herself or something happened. Plus, God knows who could walk in here. It's better to be safe than being yelled at. At worst, sacked.

“Did someone walk in?”

“Nope…wait, why do you ask?”

“You went mute for almost a minute.”

“Nah. My eyes strayed over at Kim. I feel a hundred times better now that I have spoken to you. But we’ll have to talk later. Your baby has to attend to the baby over here.”.

“Well understood, my princess.”

“I love you, J,” I said gracefully.

“I love you too, my princess.” Justin blew kisses over the phone which made me laugh before ending the call.

I still wore a smile as I tucked my phone in my jeans pocket. Things were tough now but I felt proud and happy that I have Justin in my life. He is my world, for real.

“And what are you doing, young lady?” I mumbled as I walked towards Kim. As I bent down to carry her up, I noticed she still was holding her ripped doll head but lost her grip when I tickled her playfully.

She giggled loudly. Gosh, her laughter was so soothing and pleasing to hear. I bent down to pick up her doll that fell off. It was no wonder her dad had a weak spot for her. I had never seen him looking coldly while he was with her. I wondered what happened to Kim’s mom and if he treated her the same way he treated Kim.

That will be every woman’s dream. My dream exactly. I’m glad Justin was so caring and romantic with me. But, I could not understand why I had this crazy idea that Mr. Andrew was more caring and loving…maybe jealous too of Kim’s mother.

In any case, the thought disappeared as quickly as it came when I heard footsteps approaching. It sounded familiar. Wasn’t that Mr. Andrew’s mother? I was crystal sure she was the one. I panicked for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Should I remain here and pretend like I didn’t hear her? Should I go and greet her? What will she tell me this time? Oh God, my day was going so well till now. Why didn’t she come with her son? At least, he could shield me from her piercing words.

He did so last time and would probably do so again, only if he was around. Still lost and confused about what to do, the door swung open. I could tell the person behind the door was angry.

“Ella!”

I froze, my hands firmly wrapped around Kim, who was oblivious to what was happening. My legs seemed to betray him, as my stance became so fragile. I wasn’t doing anything bad but why was I shaking under the cold glare of the profile standing across me?