The Billionaire's Housewife

CHAPTER FIVE

The twins' birthday was in a few days and they needed to tie things up so that Ava could move in and get ready to throw them a party… like a real family.

"Life is a gamble, everything is a risk" Ava kept reassuring herself.

Ryan sent her a Million Dollars with the description "Thank you for your favourable considerations"

Ava couldn't believe her eyes, it was real, and he meant to keep up his part of the bargain.

She put their grandmother in a nursing home, moved into the Dean Mansion and redecorated her personal space.

They took a couple family pictures and redecorated the house to make it look like "a normal family", the kids were oblivious of what was happening but Lily seemed excited to have her around, Ray couldn't care less, he had quite the attitude. Ava had become a mother instantly and it was slowly starting to sink in.

On the children's birthday, Ryan kept smiling lovingly at her and publicly acknowledging her as his wife, she didn't know anyone there and she preferred it that way, there was no way she could explain to people she knew how she went from being unmarried to being a career step mother overnight.

Ryan's family members were particularly thrilled that he had finally gotten over his grief, "the children need this" his mother had said, they had just been upset that they weren't invited to the wedding, little did they know that there wasn't a wedding.

Ava was quite the mother on that day, handing out gift baskets and tending to the kids. She was the star of the event, telling and retelling a rehearsed story of how she and Ryan had met a while ago and she knew instantly that he was the one. The curious adults didn't seem to care less, to them, they were just another rich couple.

After everyone had gone and Ava had tucked the children in bed, she put on her coat and decided to take a walk around the property and try to get used to it. She walked around the maze and sat quietly by the fountain. She looked at the night view of the mansion and noticed that the light in one of the rooms on the ground floor was turned on, so she went back into the house to see what was going on.

"You should be in bed" Ryan's voice came, cutting through the silence as she approached the door.

Ava was startled, she wrapped her coat tightly around her.

"I wanted to see why the lights were on" she said softly

"Now you have!" Ryan said icyly taking a sip from the glass in his hand.

Ava turned to go, wishing she hadn't come

"I didn't mean it like that" Ryan sighed, "please come in" he added softly

Ava took a deep breath and turned around and went into the room, it was a cellar with a mini bar, she hadn't been to this part of the house so her eyes wandered around before settling on Ryan.

"You want one?" He asked

"Yes please" she said, taking off her coat to reveal a spaghetti strap dress, Ryan gulped, it suddenly felt hot even in that cold room. He fixed her a drink and they sat in silence for a while.

"What is the matter Ava?" Ryan asked looking at Ava's untouched glass

"Nothing" Ava said, swirling the golden liquid

"I am… intimidated by you" she added slowly

"You should be," Ryan said taking a sip from his glass, "But your being here is a sign that a part of you wants this, you came here on your own free will" he said staring right into her eyes.

Ava didn't have a hard time deciding as much as she would have wanted to. She was faced with the harsh realisation that she had nothing to live for aside her job and when she lost it, she had neither friends nor hobbies which left her not much options, her sister had told her to follow her heart, but her heart didn't really know what it wanted.

"Do you think this is best for them?"Ava asked, lifting her gaze to meet his.

"Who?My kids?" Ryan asked and Ava nodded.

"What's best for them is that they're raised by two people who'll love and care for them" he coldly

"Besides, we just moved down here this year, so it's kind of a fresh start for all of us" he added

Ava felt sorry for them, they were going to grow up being conned and their life was going to be a lie just because Daddy was overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of them alone and fake Mommy was… well, too broke and desperate.

"Why?" Ava asked

"Why what?" Ryan asked

"You said you didn't want something real, that you were not interested in me…Why not go for someone you are interested in?" Ava asked softly almost in a whisper.

No matter how much she had tried not to think of it, it bothered her. Why her?, why not someone he was romantically interested in.

Ryan looked at her in dismay, something about her appealed to him, was it her calmness or her guts, even though her pretty blue eyes were clearly avoiding him.

"I'm interested in you" he swallowed hard, "I already made it clear that I want you to be the mother of my children, what else do you want?" He asked

"What else did she really want" she had to ask herself, he was young, rich and handsome, she wouldn't mind giving him a shot but he seemed not to be interested.

"You're completely dismissing any chance…" she started softly, swallowing hard.

"It's for your own good Ava, I don't want to hurt you" Ryan said reaching out for the bottle to realise that it was almost empty, how much had he drunk?

"This is so messed up" Ava said chuckling softly and sniffling

Ryan turned to her, his eyes were mellowed and staring intently at her.

"What is messed up Ava?" Ryan asked calmly

"I think I am attracted to you" Ava said and before she could look up, he was already so close to her, she could feel his breath on her face, she closed her eyes slowly, inhaling deeply, the tinge of alcohol in his breath as their lips met.