The Ugly Billionaire

Episode 4

ZOEY

The next day, I woke up early to cook breakfast for Rayden and me. I showered before cooking. When I was in the living room, I didn't see Rayden. Perhaps he entered his room when he woke up at dawn.

I went to the kitchen and looked for something to cook. I saw some hotdogs in the fridge. I took that and fried six pieces. There was still some broth left, so I heated it up so that when Rayden woke up, he would have some soup to eat. Maybe he has a hangover. It would be good that there’s soup ready for him.

I also cook rice in the rice cooker because he might want to eat rice.

A few minutes later, the food was served on the table. Rayden's went to the kitchen at the right time.

"What did you cook?" he asked me seriously. He was freshly bathed, and I could smell his natural perfume.

"I cooked hotdogs and eggs. Then I also heated up the leftover soup last night," I said to him.

"Can you finish eating all those foods?" he asked seriously, referring to the hotdogs.

"We’ll both eat those hotdogs and eggs. Do you have a hangover? There was some soup left this morning. You might want to take a sip. I'll get some for you," I offered him.

"I only eat a sandwich in the morning, so eat what you’ve cooked," he told me grumpily, and he took some bread and poached a piece of egg.

He made his own tea and made a sandwich.

"I'm sorry. Maybe you want to eat rice," I still offered to him.

"I said, I don't eat rice in the morning, so eat what you have prepared so you don't look like a bone. You're so thin, you look like a stick. Eat what you cooked so you'll gain a little weight," he said, insulting me even more.

"I won't be able to finish everything. Why don’t you try eating half of them?"

"Finish them all by yourself, Zoey. Don't waste your money on food! Many young people are hungry. You cooked them, so eat them all," he said, sitting down at the table and drinking his tea.

"I thought you were going to eat. If you don't want to eat them now, then I will just save them for later," I told him, and I just took some rice that I could eat.

"It's up to you!" he said, shrugging before taking a bite of his sandwich.

While I was eating, he looked at me as if mocking me.

"Have you been happy in your life, Zoey? After you depended on a man and cheated on him?" he asked me and showed me that he was really pondering about it.

"Fooled and made to hope? I think you're making fun of me, Rayden Zayn. It's not my habit to cheat people, so I have no idea what you're talking about," I said to him, quite confused.

"Really, huh? You can really sleep at night after cheating on someone? You can even eat well without thinking of that person!" he spoke to me emphatically.

"What kind of bullshit are you talking about, Rayden? I didn't cheat on anyone, and my conscience is clear! If you want to say something, say it right away, and don't accuse me of anything!" I said to him angrily.

"If you're not guilty, then don't be angry. Just be thankful because I made a promise to that person you cheated and hurt! Because if I didn’t, you might have been buried in the ground for a long time!" he said to me and stood up with his food.

I just looked at him coming out of the kitchen, wondering about his outburst. I don't know what he is talking about. Maybe this ugly man is insane. I shrugged and just ate instead of thinking about what he said.

After I finished eating, I put away the leftovers. While I was washing in the sink, Rayden dropped the cup of tea on my side.

"Make it fast because we're going somewhere!" he commanded me.

"And where are we going?" I asked him.

"No more questions, Zoey! Hurry up, and I don't want to wait too long!"

After he said that, he turned back again. I quickly finished washing the cup and left the kitchen. I'm wearing leggings and a blouse, so I think it’s okay for me to go out like this. I just reached for my jacket as I caught up with him in the living room. He was wearing a jacket, too. "Come on!" he called me, and we went out of his condo unit.

"Where are we going, Rayden?" I asked him again.

"I'm just going to show you around. Is that bad?" he mockingly answered me.

I just smirked and frowned. We boarded the elevator and went down to the ground floor. I just followed behind him. I can’t help but notice that Rayden's body is really in good shape. When his back is turned, you won't think that he’s ugly. Just don't look at his face, because instead of your pants falling off, you might suddenly recoil when you see his ugly face. Probably his face got burned, or maybe he had an accident. That’s why he has those ugly scars.

When we arrived at the parking area, he got on his motorcycle.

"Put this helmet on and ride behind me," he said, handing the helmet to me.

"I don't want to ride a motorcycle." I refused because I was afraid.

"Ride, Zoey. Don't be afraid because I'm good at driving a motorcycle," he convinced me. Even though I was afraid to ride, I wanted to test myself.

I got on and put the helmet on my head.

"Hug me, or you might fall," he told me.

I hugged him, and he started his motorcycle. I hugged his stomach tightly because of the speed of his motorcycle. It felt like we were floating at superspeed. I just closed my eyes and waited for us to crash or whatever might happen to us. There was an emotion that grasped my heart that I couldn’t name because of the speed of Rayden's driving. I’ve felt fear and a certain kind of sadness that I don't fully understand.

"Rayden! Can you slow the motorcycle down?!" I shouted to him.

But he seemed deaf, and he accelerated the speed of the motorcycle even more. I hugged his waist even tighter.

Until he stopped, and when I opened my eyes, we were in a private cemetery.

''Get down,'' he ordered me. I went down, but my whole body was trembling because of the extreme fear I felt earlier. But I was also happy because I was able to ride in such a fast car.

He also got off his motorcycle. ''What are we doing in this place, Rayden?'' I asked him as I looked around the place.

''I'll bury you here. Do you want that?'' he answered me sarcastically.

''I'm asking you properly, so I hope you know how to answer properly!'' I said to him, annoyed.

''I'm just going to visit someone,'' he finally answered with the truth, and he walked towards the flower shop on the side of the cemetery.

I just followed behind him and watched as he bought flowers. When he paid for them, he walked inside the cemetery, and I just followed him.

Maybe he will visit some relatives here. After a while, he stopped at a grave. He placed the flower he bought on the tombstone. I read what was written there. RAYNIER ZEUN HARRIS is written on the plaque.

"Who is he?" I asked Rayden.

''An important person in my life,'' he answered me formally.

''What killed him?'' I curiously asked him.

He looked at me with pain in his eyes. ''He died because of a frivolous woman. Do you really not know that name?'' he asked me meaningfully.

I shook my head, but in the corner of my heart, it felt like it was being stabbed. Even though I don't know the person buried in that grave, it's like there's a pain in the depths of my heart.

''Do you know that I also want the woman who caused his death to be buried here? But I'm not that bad to do that to her now, but I'll make sure her life becomes hell,'' he told me.

''What did that woman do to him?'' I asked.

But he answered me with an insulting look and a laugh. ''I don't know… Are you just numb, or are you pretending to be ignorant of your surroundings?'' he said. I frowned because I really didn’t understand what he meant.

''I don't understand you, Rayden. I think it's better that you take me home instead of talking about things that don’t make sense to me,'' I said to him.

''We're not going home. We'll go to the office, and I'll have you do something,'' he informed me.

''I don't know anything about office work,'' I told him. Panicking.

''Are you sure you don't know anything? I'll just make you clean something,'' he told me.

I sighed and didn't answer, so there wouldn't be an argument anymore.

''It's up to you,'' was my only response to him.

We left that tomb, but I didn't forget the name written there.

Rayden took me to the Zeun real estate office. We entered the office, and there were many piles of papers there. Rayden sat on the swivel chair and leaned back. He looked at me as if he were studying me thoroughly.

''Get to work, Zoey. Get some cloth, wipe the window, and clean this room,'' he ordered me.

''Is that all I'm going to do, sir? '' I asked him mockingly.

"You have a lot to do, so start cleaning," he said with no reaction on his face.

I took a deep breath and just took a wipe and spray from the back of the office.

Big houses were built in this place. The office is just in front of the security or main gate of the subdivision.

I feel like I've been to this place before, or maybe I just dreamed of this place.

I started wiping the glasses from the windows while my ugly husband was facing the computer and looking at the papers piled up on the table. That office has two windows. After I cleaned the windows, I took a vacuum and vacuumed the floor. While I was cleaning, I felt like this had happened to me before. There are things that seem familiar to me, but I don't know when they happened. I felt like I'd been to this place, and I felt like I'd been doing these things that I was doing now in this place.

While I was vacuuming, I looked at Rayden and found him staring at me. It's like he's reading my actions.

When our eyes met, he immediately took his back. I don't understand my feelings, but I felt familiar with this place and the cleaning I'm doing.

When I finished cleaning, my husband ordered me, ''Can you make me some tea?''

I didn't say anything but went to the pantry and made him some tea. Even when I was making his tea, what I was doing seemed familiar to me. It was just like a series of deja vus.

It felt like I did those things often. My body is familiar with all those activities and actions. When I finished making Rayden’s tea, I brought it to him and placed it next to him on the table.

''This is your tea,'' I told him.

He didn't pay attention to me and just continued typing on the computer.

I suddenly remembered the name Raynier since this real estate was named after the person who was in the tomb earlier.

"Rayden, who is Raynier Zeun Harris?" I asked him again.

He looked at me seriously. ''My grandfather, would you believe it?''

''I will believe what you say,'' I answered him.

''Tsss... You know, stop pretending. It doesn't suit you,'' he insulted me.

I didn't understand what he meant.

''What pretense are you talking about again? Do you want to point something out to me, Rayden?'' I asked him.

He looked at me painfully. ''A lot, Zoey! First, you don't deserve this family! Second, you are not to be trusted! Third, don't expect me to love you, because the day will come when I make you crawl on the ground!'' he said angrily to me again.

''If that's what you want, do it! I didn't do anything bad to you. I didn't force myself to marry you. And I never told you to trust me. But if you want to say that I am a gold digger and that I only want money from you, then you are wrong!'' I yelled at him.

'''What are you after then, Zoey? You're just like any other girl who's only after my money, so don't act clean because you're selfish!''

''Why are you judging me, Rayden? I can prove to you that money is not the only thing that matters to me. I can love you, Rayden, even if your face is like that. Even if you are as ugly as those monsters in movies, I can love you if your behavior is not ugly. I'm not looking at the face, Rayden, but the human heart, your heart,'' I cried to him.

He gave me a scornful look, as if I were a very low type of woman in his eyes. I don't know what wrong I did to him, and he was treating me like this. I'm ready to love him even if he's ugly, as long as he doesn't insult me or question my character.