The Billionaire Who Ruined Me: Our Fatal Arrangement

Chapter Four

Marcus didn’t even bother talking while he’s driving. He stops the car in front of my building and waits outside, while I go inside.. He didn’t switch off the engine, he just kept it running, like he knows I won’t waste time inside.

If we look at it, he’s probably right. Not like I have something important I need to pick from the house.

I climb the stairs to the third floor. The hallway smells like someone's cooking onions. It could be Mrs. Patel from 3B.

I’ve walked this room times without number, even the carpet is already thin and torn.

I won't walk it again after today.

The apartment looks smaller when I open the door. It looks darker and all smelling like concrete. Like it knows I'm leaving.

I don't have much to pack. Most of what we own isn't worth taking. The furniture came with the place. Most of the dishes are mismatched. The TV is so old it still has a VCR attached.

I pull out the two suitcases under my bed. Start with Vee's room.

His clothes didn’t even cover half of the suitcase. Most of them are too small and faded. I pack them anyway. His stuffed bear. The photo of Mom from before she got sick. His favorite book about dinosaurs.

My room takes even less time. A few pairs of jeans, some shirts. My one good dress that I wore to job interviews. Underwear. Toiletries.

That's it. My whole life in just two suitcases.

The text from Edward said don't overpack. Everything will be provided.

“Everything will be provided”.

Like I'm moving into a hotel. Not a home.

I'm zipping up the second suitcase when I hear the door.

"Aria?"

Vee.

I didn't hear him come in. He must have walked from the hospital. It's only four blocks.

He's standing at the door of my room. Staring at the suitcases.

"What's happening?" His voice is small and scared. "Why are you packing?"

I sit on the edge of my bed. Pat the space next to me. He doesn't move.

"Come here, baby."

"Why are you packing?" he asks again.

"We're moving. To a new place."

"Why?"

"Because I got a new job. Better pay. Better benefits. And it comes with housing." The lies taste like metal. "We'll be closer to Mom's hospital."

"What kind of job?"

"Assistant work. For a company downtown." I keep using one lie to cover the other. "It's a really good opportunity."

"When?"

"Today. Right now actually." I try to smile. "There's a car waiting downstairs. We need to pack your stuff."

He finally moves and comes into the room. Sits on the bed next to me. But not close. There's space between us.

"What about school?"

"You'll go to a new school. A better one. With new books and new computers and…."

"I don't want a new school." His voice cracks. "I like my school."

My chest tightens. "I know. But this is good for us. For Mom. The apartment is bigger. You'll have your own room. A real room, not just…"

"I like my room."

"Vee…."

"I don't want to move." He's crying now. Not loud. Just tears running down his face. "I don't want things to change." He folded his arms against his chest, just the typical little children behavior.

I pull him close. He resists for a second. Then collapses against me.

"I know," I whisper into his hair. "I know, baby. But sometimes we don't get to choose."

"Is it because of money?"

My throat closes up.

"It's going to be okay," I say instead of answering. "I promise. You'll see. The new place is really nice. And Mom will be so close. We can visit her every day."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He pulls back. Wipes his face with his sleeve. "Can I bring Bear?"

"Of course."

"And my dinosaur book?"

"Everything. We'll bring everything, baby."

Twenty minutes later we're done. And just like that our lives, packed into a suitcase.

Marcus helps us carry everything down. The car is bigger than I expected. With a sleek, black, tinted windows.

Vee stops on the sidewalk. Looks back at our building.

"Say goodbye," I tell him quietly.

He doesn't say anything. He just gets into the car.

I look back too. Third floor. Second window from the left. That was ours. That was home.

Not anymore.

Marcus opens my door. I slide in next to Vee.

The leather is soft. The car smells new. There's a bottle of water in the cup holder. Not just any bottled water, expensive ones. The kind that comes in glass bottles.

Vee reaches for it. I shake my head.

"Don't touch anything."

"Why not?"

"Just don't."

Marcus gets in the driver's seat. And just like that, he starts driving.

The city looks different from inside this car. Cleaner somehow. Like we're watching it through a filter.

Vee presses his face to the window. Watching everything pass by.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"Downtown."

"Where downtown?"

"Blackwood Tower."

He looks at me. "The really tall one?"

"Yeah."

"We're going to live there?"

"In the penthouse. At the top."

His eyes get wide. "At the top? Like where rich people live?"

"Yeah."

"But we're not rich."

I smiled internally, wiping the half dried tears off my cheek as I put my hand on his shoulder.

"No," I say quietly. "We're not."

"Then why…."

"Because my new job comes with housing. That's all. It's temporary."

“For how long?”, “A year.”

“And then what?”

I pull him close. “Then we figure it out. Like we always do”

He goes quiet. Watch the buildings get taller. Fancier. The people on the sidewalk look different here. Better clothes, phones, and everything.

"Aria?" His voice is barely a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Are you scared?"

I want to lie. I honestly want to tell him everything's fine. That I've got this under control.

But I'm so tired of lying.

"Yeah," I whisper back. "A little bit."

He takes my hand. Squeezes it.

"It's okay," he says. "I'm scared too."

The parking garage under Blackwood Tower is nicer than our entire apartment building.

Marcus pulls into a spot marked RESERVED. He gets out and opens the doors.

A different elevator than the one in the lobby. This one requires a key card. Marcus swipes it. I’ve only seen people use this kind of thing on TV. The doors open.

"Penthouse," he says. First word he's spoken since we left.

The elevator is all mirrors and chrome. Soft classical music plays. I don't know the name of the song.

Vee stares at his reflection. He looks so amused and giggles. Touches the mirrored wall.

"Don't touch," I say automatically.

He pulls his hand back.

The elevator climbs. I watch the numbers. Twenty. Thirty. Forty. My ears pop.

Fifty. Fifty-one. Fifty-two.

The doors finally open. Not into a hallway but into the apartment itself.

"Oh my god," Vee breathes.

The penthouse is... I don't even have words.

Floor-to-ceiling windows showing the entire city. White marble floors. Furniture that looks like art. A kitchen with appliances I don't recognize. Everything is white.

Everywhere feels so cold.

A woman appears. I didn't even see where she came from. She's older. Fifties maybe. Wearing a black suit that probably costs more than I used to make in a month. Her hair is pulled back really tight. She's holding a tablet.

"Miss Chen. Vincent." She nods at us. "I'm Ms. Hale, Mr. Blackwood's chief of staff. Welcome."

"Thank you," I manage.

"Your rooms are this way." She doesn't wait for us to respond. She just starts walking.

The only thing we could do is to follow her. Our footsteps echo on the marble.

She shows us down a hallway. Stops at the first door.

"Vincent, this is your room."

Vee looks at me, as though waiting for the go ahead. I nod and he pushes the door open.

His mouth falls open.

The room is bigger than our entire old apartment. King-size bed. Desk. Bookshelves full of new books. A TV mounted on the wall. A window overlooking the city.

Everything is new. Perfect and untouched.

"I can't…." Vee starts.

"It's yours," Ms. Hale says. "Mr. Blackwood had it prepared for you."

Vee walks in slowly. Like he's afraid to break something just by being here.

I stay in the doorway. Watching him touch the desk. The books. The bed.

He looks so small in all that space.

"Your room is across the hall," Ms. Hale says to me.

I follow her. She opens the door.

My room is similar to Vee’s room. Same size. Same perfect furniture. Same view.

And not to forget, “same cage”.

"The stylist will arrive tomorrow at nine a.m.," Ms. Hale says. "Mr. Blackwood wants you prepared for your first public appearance tomorrow afternoon."

"Public appearance?"

"The engagement announcement. Press conference at two p.m." She says it like I should know this already. "Mr. Blackwood will brief you tonight at dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Seven p.m. sharp. The dining room is down the hall to your left." She pauses at the door. "Dress code is business casual. Do you have appropriate attire?"

I look down at my jeans. My old sweater.

"No."

"I'll have something sent to your room." She checks her tablet. "Anything else?"

About a million things. I thought to myself.

But I just shake my head.

"Very well. If you need anything, there's an intercom system in each room. Just press the button and someone will assist you." She's almost out the door when she stops. "Oh. And Miss Chen? Mr. Blackwood's private quarters are at the other end of the penthouse. That area is off-limits unless explicitly….I mean explicitly invited."

She turns and leaves.

I stand in the middle of my new room. I scuff…. More like my new prison.

Everything I need is here. Bed. Closet. Bathroom that's bigger than my old bedroom. Everything.

Except freedom.

I go to the window. Fifty-two floors up. The city spreads out below me. Tiny cars. Tiny people. Tiny lives that aren't mine anymore.

A knock on my door.

"Come in."

Vee pushes it open. He's holding his stuffed bear.

"Aria?" His voice shakes. "Can I sleep in here tonight?"

He's eight. He hasn't asked to sleep in my room in years.

I swallow hard. "Of course."

He climbs onto my bed. Curls up with Bear. Looks so small in all that white.

I sit next to him. Run my fingers through his hair.

"This place is really big," he whispers.

"Yeah."

"I don't like it."

"I know baby…I know."

"Can we go back to our old apartment?"

"No, baby. This is home now."

"It doesn't feel like home."

My vision blurs. I blink fast.

"It will," I lie. "Give it time."

He's quiet for a long time. Then:

"Aria?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything really going to be okay?"

I look around the room. At the expensive furniture. The perfect view. The gilded cage.

Then I look at Vee. His scared eyes. His small body trying to be brave.

"Yeah," I whisper. "Everything's going to be okay."

Lies.

But what else can I say?

The truth? That I sold myself to a f*****g stranger? That we're living in his penthouse because I signed a stupid contract that turned me into property? That none of this is real except the debt I owe?

I can't tell him that….I just can’t.

So I did what I think is best. I lie.

And we sit there in that massive room. In that perfect prison. Two people who don't belong.

Pretending everything's okay.

When nothing is.