He Thought I Was Poor,But I Am a Billionaire

Chapter 3

Jayden's words drew an immediate wave of amused glances and teasing remarks from the colleagues around the table.

Someone said, "Captain Gibson's so devoted. Even after all these years apart, he can still pick up right where they left off, like no time's passed at all."

Riley gave a soft laugh and patted Jayden's shoulder gently, saying, "Be good now. I'll take you home once the party's over."

Mabel quietly turned her gaze away, and to her own surprise, she realized she didn't feel a single trace of hurt anymore, not even the faintest ache. She simply turned to the colleague beside her and said, "I'm going to head back first. I'm not feeling all that great." And with that, she got up and walked out alone.

*****

Once Mabel was home, she went through her usual nightly routine, washed up, and settled onto the living room sofa, and it was then that her phone buzzed with a message from Herman.

Herman: I've ordered a ring from Harry Winston. Go take a look when you have a chance and see if you like it. I'm sorry the wedding's so rushed. If there's any other style you prefer, just go ahead and get it.

Mabel: Okay.

She'd barely set her phone down when she heard the front door open, and when she turned to look, she saw Riley helping Jayden through the door, while he kept mumbling under his breath, "Don't leave me, babe."

"I'm not going anywhere. Just be good for me," Riley murmured in a voice thick with affection, not sparing Mabel so much as a glance as she guided him to the sofa and gently slipped his coat off.

Mabel rose from where she was sitting and started making her way upstairs, but Riley called out to her before she could take more than a few steps. "You must be Mabel, Jayden's secret girlfriend of seven years."

Mabel hadn't expected Jayden to have told Riley about her, the one he'd kept hidden for all that time, and she turned back to face Riley. "Yes. What about it?"

Riley gave her a soft, serene smile and said, "Don't look so tense. I don't mean you any harm. I was just thinking that your seven years with Jayden don't really seem to add up to as much as this one single day we've had back together."

Mabel's brow furrowed just slightly, though her voice stayed calm and measured as she said, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you here to mark your territory?"

Riley hesitated for a fraction of a second, clearly thrown off balance, but she quickly recovered and arranged her features into a gracious, practiced smile. "I'm just giving you a little advice, as someone who's been in your shoes before—a first love is always special, and no matter who comes along afterward, that first one will always hold a special place that no one else can ever really fill. Thank you for staying by Jayden's side all these seven years. I won't be staying over tonight, so I'll leave him in your care."

She eased Jayden down onto the sofa, turned on her heel, and walked out of the house.

Mabel didn't let Riley's words get under her skin. She simply called the butler, Carl Turner, to take care of Jayden and went upstairs to shower and turn in for the night.

Before going to bed, Mabel glanced at her phone to check the time. September 14th. Just ten more days, and she'd be leaving the city she'd lived in for eight years.

*****

The next morning, when Mabel came down for breakfast, she found Jayden already sitting at the table, his eyes fixed on his phone, which was playing a video one of their colleagues had taken the night before—the one where he was holding Riley in his arms and calling her babe.

The instant he caught sight of Mabel, he tucked the phone away and said, in a tone that was meant to sound offhand, "I'm off today. Weren't you saying you wanted to get out and see a bit of the city? I could take you if you feel like it."

It was nothing more than one of Jayden's usual peace offerings—the kind he'd always dangle in front of her whenever he'd done something wrong, a few days of extra attention to ease his own conscience and make himself feel like he'd made things right.

Mabel sat down at the table and gave a quiet nod, saying, "Sure," because as it turned out, she did have a reason to go out that day anyway—she needed to stop by the jeweler's to see the ring Herman had ordered for her.

*****

After breakfast, the driver took them straight to the Harry Winston store, but the instant Jayden realized they were pulling up to the boutique that people called the "King of Diamonds," his face went cold, and he stayed put in the car with no intention of getting out.

Mabel caught the shift in his mood but simply chose to ignore it, stepping out of the car by herself and walking into the store.

The moment she walked through the door, a sales associate greeted her and said, "Ms. Sanchez, the ring Mr. Nash had made for you is in the VIP room. Please follow me."

The associate laid out the piece Herman had commissioned. The Winston Pink Legacy, one of a kind, nothing else like it in the world. An extraordinary 18.96-carat fancy vivid pink diamond flanked by two shield-cut side stones, set in a band of 18-karat rose gold and platinum that caught the light and threw it back with every small movement. Beside it sat the matching wedding band, same design, just as brilliant, just as flawless.

Mabel had just slipped the ring onto her finger to see how it looked when Jayden walked in through the door, and she held her hand up in front of him and asked, "What do you think? Does it suit me?"

The natural pink diamond seemed to glow under the store's soft lighting, sending out sparks of light that made it unmistakably clear how valuable it truly was.

Jayden's eyes went cold, and the disgust written all over his face was impossible to miss. "It's not pretty, and it doesn't suit you," he said flatly.

An awkward tension settled over the VIP room.

He didn't stop there. He pushed on. "How many times do I have to tell you, Mabel? I don't want to get married right now. So stop with this whole pressure-tactic routine you're pulling."

And with that, he turned and walked out, tossing a curt, "Go ahead and look around by yourself," over his shoulder without so much as a backward glance.

"Who was that man, Ms. Sanchez?" the sales associate cautiously asked after he left.

Mabel said, "Don't worry about him. Just an ex," before she took a photo of the ring on her finger and sent it off to Herman.

He wrote back within moments.

Herman: It looks gorgeous on you and suits you perfectly. You deserve nothing less than the very best.

She sent a quick thank-you and then picked out a matching pair of ribbon-style wedding bands to give him in return.

Later, as she stepped out of the store, she pulled up her phone and typed out a tweet—one she set to private, visible to no one but herself.

Mabel: Seven years with Jayden, and he never once wanted to marry me. What he never figured out was that I never planned on marrying him either!