The Billionaire's Plaything

Chapter Thirty Two: Fantasy Girl

ELENA☀️

“Are you sure you haven’t heard from him at all?” I asked Anna as she wolfed down my meal. Susan was nice enough to offer to make another one and even though I wasn’t hungry, I had to agree before she gave it away that I was pregnant to Anna.

Somehow, I wasn’t comfortable with anyone knowing yet. Perhaps I could tell Daniel but he had been so unreachable.

“You should know that Daniel would have made about ten calls with you before he deems me worthy of one.” She said jokingly as she took a sip of my milkshake.

It was making me nauseous anyway, it was good that she was enjoying it.

“I know, but just in case, it’s weird that I haven’t heard from him in months.” I said with a shrug and then went back through flipping channels.

“Times have been dangerous, I won’t be surprised if he’s trying not to get you dragged into murky waters.” She stated so casually that my heart lurched in my chest.

“What do you mean? Murky waters? Where are the dangerous times?” I asked without pause. I had prayed desperately that my suspicions were not right.

“Do you really not know? Or why do you think Daniel is in Italy all year long?” Anna said like I was being dumb for missing an obvious point.

“He and papa moved away but never really left the Cosa Nostra. At the moment, Daniel had gotten all the people that were against papa away and sort of headed the Cosa. You can’t tell him you heard this from me though.”

I nod perfunctorily while trying to process her words. Daniel was now an underboss? I couldn’t count the amount of times Daniel had promised me he would be safe and out of the matters of the underworld.

Was there anyone that was being honest around me?

Susan brought me another plate of food and I had a feeling she had noticed my reaction to the milkshake as she replaced it with fruit juice.

“Thank you Su.” She smiled and excused herself immediately. In no mood to eat, I curled up on the couch.

“Why exactly are you staying here? People are starting to say things about Carlo not being around. Is that true?” She asked the one question she was there for initially.

“Yeah, he traveled last week. I want to use this as a vacation rental, I’m just trying to take a break from that huge estate. It’s empty without Carlo there.” At least, I was being honest about the last part.

“Mom has been worried and she is probably more worried since you have not been picking up her calls.” Anna was the closest to my mom and I was not surprised to see the scolding look in my eyes as she said that.

“I’m just not ready to talk to her, you get to live how you want, you might want to see what it’s like living every day with mom’s instructions at the back of my mind all the time.”

“Tell her to give me some damn break.” I knew that anything I told Anna was always going to be communicated to mom later on and I didn’t mind her telling her this.

After seeing one movie with Anna, I sent her off with my excuse of wanting to get some sleep. I liked my sister but the bond I shared with Daniel was totally different from what I shared with Anna.

Even though I had no intention of sleeping at first, I fell asleep as soon as she left.

***

I woke up to my phone blaring loudly and sleep cleared from my eyes the moment I saw Carlo’s name on my phone screen.

I could feel tears stinging my eyes like I had just found a lost son.

“Carlo!” I cried out emotionally the moment I picked up the call.

“Where the fvck are you, Elena?” Carlo barked into the phone, his reaction was a sharp contrast from how I had called him, making me feel embarrassed.

“I’m at a vacation rental I just got. Are you back?”

“Yes, and I expect you back in this house any moment from now.”

The beeping of the call ending made me sigh as I sat up and brought my knees to my chest.

“That position is not good for the baby.” Susan said as she strode into the living room. She must have heard my voice and wondered what was happening.

“I wish the baby would just go sometimes.” I said with a sigh.

I felt selfish bringing a child into a marriage where I couldn’t even save myself, not to mention my child.

“Do you need someone to talk to?” Susan asked as she squatted beside me. Her light brown eyes were warm and receptive and, without a second thought, I wrapped my hands around her, bringing her into an embrace.

“I wish I could use some kind of telepathy to tell someone everything I’m feeling and going through, since I don’t dare talk about it.” I said with a sigh.

I wanted to be strong, wanted to tell the world I wasn’t happy, that, for once, I could have flaws and not be judged by them. But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t even trust myself to stop loving him, not to mention to leave him.

“Thank you Su, it’s just a moment of weakness and I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I assured her while leaving her embrace and sitting properly.

She looked at me for a while as if unsure if letting me go was the right choice and yet, when I flashed a bright smile at her, she smiled back and then stood up.

“There were days I wanted to be you. Days when I was out there and doing my best to get through school loans without using my body.” Susan said, surprising me.

“I would see a poster of you with that million dollar smile and wish I could be that happy. And somehow, I got through some days with news about you, especially when you started nirvana. I can remember how jealous I had felt.”

“Jealous that you seemed to have everything falling in place for you. And Elena, I’m not the only one. More than how attractive you are, I’m sure a lot of people understand that being under some spotlight since you were a child wasn’t easy and even when you had to see your dad in his own pool of blood, you could pull yourself up and build a brand that’s fighting with the top ones.”

I couldn’t believe someone was saying this to me. I didn’t think that this was what people saw.

“And so, when you are feeling low and mad at life, know that your smile reminds thousands of girls that they can have it all. The fantasy that life can fall in place for us all. But it doesn’t mean that anyone expects you to not be human at the end of the day.” Susan’s voice was filled with emotions as she pulled me in for another hug.

“The day I found out I was working for you, I felt like this was some shitty luck. That I would have to watch you cruise through life while working my ass off. But in reality, you are just the very bit of princess everyone sees you as.

And I hope that sometimes, on days like this, you see this yourself.”

She didn’t say anything else as she removed the hands she had wrapped around me tightly and then left the living room. But no matter what, her words helped me feel better, helped me feel like all that exposure was at least beneficial to someone.

Even if it was just one obsessed fan, it helped. Then that was fine already.

With my new determination and mood, I rushed into the bathroom to clean up.

A part of me was still dreading it as I dressed up very slowly, taking my time to see how I looked and well protected because of my baby.

I did some little make-up. I couldn’t let him think I was miserable without him here, because I wasn’t.

As I took in my reflection in the ceiling to floor mirror in my walk-in closet, I felt a lot more confident.

A part of me even felt like I could take on the world.

I left the house with only one thought in my mind.

Carlo was back. And I, Elena, was going to end this.

And even if it meant being a single mother for life, since I couldn’t trust myself to ever let another man in, then it was going to be just that.