A CONTRACT MARRIAGE WITH MY BILLIONAIRE

Nine: Slowly falling.

The whole dinning went silent for a minute. Before Lawrence mom broke it with a loud laughter. " Come on Valyrie, don't be so ridiculous. How can your brother fake his own marriage?"

"Then let them speak for themselves," she said staring at us, confrontly.

"We don't need to prove or say anything to you," Lawrence said in a very cold tone than I've never heard before.

Smiling devilishly to her brother, Valyrie leaned back to her chair, taking a sip from her glass as she stared intently at me.

My whole body stiffened at that her gaze, it felt like she was seeing through my silence, and I didn't like that at all. So I said. "All that matters is that we are very much in love with each other, and I've never been more happy like I am now with your brother." I tried putting up a genuine smile. " I hope that clears any doubt you have, Valyrie," I said mentioning her name for the first time.

As I said this, I saw a smile curled through my mom's face, which has been in trance with my brother since.

"Let's raise a toast to more love and happiness between the couple in our midst then," Lucas said, smiling, raising his glass up.

"Cheers," Lawrence mom said, raising hers as well.

Raising my glass as well my mom and brother along with Lawrence, Valyrie and her uncle raised theirs last, still giving me and Lawrence their evil eyes look.

That night after my mom and brother had said their goodbyes to me and left, along with the others, as I laid again with Lawrence in his room, my heart and body felt unsettled.

"I don't think I can do this thing anymore," I blurted out to Lawrence hearing.

"What did you just say?" he asked facing me from where he laid. Sitting upright on the bed, I replied. "People are getting suspicious of us by the day no matter how we try to make it real. And your sister looks like she can see through our pretence."

"You can't bail out just because you are having cold feet. You signed a contract, that's why it isn't for free," he spoke firmly, like we were having the conversation in his office and not his bedroom. " As for Valyrie, I will handle her myself. You don't need to worry about her, just stick to the contract, and within a year we will be done."

Well that within a year is beginning to feel like forever, I said to myself. But even though I thought I would have a sleepless night thinking, after he spoke, I drifted off swiftly which I rarely did evertime when I sleep alone. I didn't know why, but somehow, having his presence around me made me felt a certain way, like peace was waived all around me.

The following morning, after Lawrence had left early as usual, when I woke up after getting my daily bath and dressing up, I tried investigating on Valyrie and this family and household I was in.

I needed to know certain things not just in Valyrie but on Lawrence as well. Yes he was a multi billionaire, but asides that I knew close to nothing about him. Maybe I was doing it for the sake of the contract as he said last night, maybe I wasn't as even though I hated to admit it, but despite his cold nature I was seeing myself drawn to him.

I decided to start with social media, especially on Valyrie, which I used my phone to browse and search about her.

She was indeed Lawrence sister, Valyrie Delgado. Delgado was their father's name as well as the name of the multi company Lawrence ran as CEO. Their names roped the business tycoon company charts of Europe, it was no company. And neither was Valyrie as I had suspected.

Asides being in the business with Lawrence, she was a striking and trending model for top beauty brands. She was the face of most famous beauty brands. Her porcelain pale skin added to the credit, I thought. She was no doubt beautiful, she had all the features that it takes to be a model, that was for sure after not only seeing her photos online but in reai life too. But asides the beauty, something tells me her dark aura gave her all the more power and edge. She started modelling at a teen age, precisely nineteen.

After having enough dose of her, I tried searching for her uncle, who I remembered Lawrence called Antonio.

But the man unlike his niece, seemed not to exist in media. Even his years old account I managed to stumble on was private and he hadn't he has been in that account for long, as the picture on display there looked like his younger youth self.

Getting exhausted from searching and going into other things, soon as the day started to get to the evening, I sighed. This was why I wasn't a phone or media person, you intend to get lost by the hours because of it.Having enough, I dropped the phone in my room and proceeded to the garden where Hilda told me Lawrence mom was.

"Having a lovely day my dear?" she asked as she sighted me, approaching.

" Indeed I am. The weather looks amazing," I said, consciously inhaling the nice air as I watched her attending to the delicate flowers.

"The sun is quite up and shiny," she remarked.

"Won't your leg hurt too much from bending?" I asked with concern, as I noticed she had been in that position since.

" No my dear, but even though they would I will take pain killers. They always do the trick."

"Let me help you," I offered, bending down as well.

"You don't have to, but why not," she said smiling at me as we were now the same level on the ground with each other.

" You know if I didn't run a charity home I would have been a gardener," she smiling to the beautiful flowers she was applying chemicals on. "Flowers are one of a kind," I said, quoting my father. " Both their scents and looks can light up your heart and mood."

"That's so true. Did you read that somewhere?" she asked, clearly stunned by those words.

"No," I responded, not seeing the need to lie. " I got to hear that from my late father. He was once a gardener before he passed away."

Seeing the sadness in my eyes as I remembered him, she held my hand. " So sorry to hear that. He must have been a great dad. How did he die?"

"A ghastly car accident," I replied, swallowing hard, as it was painful to remember such part of my life that I have tried to bury so deep within me. "Oh, I can't even imagine. You must miss him dearly."

"Some days like now when I talk about him I do," I said, trying not to cry. " But other days, I tend to even forget he ever existed which I know is awful that I do."

"No need to feel so bad about that," she consoled holding my cheek. "Losing someone so close and dear to us can be like that. Not having them in our lives anymore, especially when we thought they were immortal, could affect us by going days without remembering them like they never existed. Cause if they did, they wouldn't be immortal and if they were immortal they wouldn't have existed at all."

As she spoke, I saw her own pain in her eyes. So I asked, "What about Lawrence father? I don't want to think of the worst, but no one seems to mention him that much. Lawrence have never discussed about him to me before.

"Well that's because we all don't want to especially Lawrence. He and his late father were close, you know, as a great father and son should," she said avoiding eye contact for the next question as she went back attending to the flower.

But getting the message that he was dead and not asking further, I expressed my own apology. " I never knew, please accept my sympathies."

"No, it's fine. in fact it's good that you tried to find out," she smiled, appreciating my concern.

"How did he died though?" I asked curious.Pausing from what she was applying to the flower, as well as taking a deep heavy breath, she replied. " Food poisoning." Hearing this, I was shocked by it. I didn't expect it at all. I thought it would have been an illness or accident like my father, but it was good poisoning. Who could have done it? I wondered, and as I was about to voice the thought out, Lawrence mom screamed. She had just cut herself with the small garden knife she had reached out for without me knowing, as I was so cut in surprise by what I heard to have noticed that she was done applying chemicals to the flowers.

"Mom!" not my voice but Lawrence voice rang out as he stepped into the garden, seeing his mom and possibly hearing her scream. He behaved in a way I have never ever thought he could. Flinging his suit in his hand to the flowers near by as he approached his mom. Although the knife was small but it really cut deep as blood gushed out. Without being told and not knowing if there was any in the house, I rushed to get a first aid kit from Hilda, and luckily I got one. After settling down on a bench which the garden had, he took the kit from me and tend to his mom. I've never saw his cold nature watered down like it now, he attended to her wound with such care in his and carefulness in how he applied the treatment. And as I watched, standing, looking at mother and son, I saw a part of Lawrence that I never knew existed —the caring Lawrence. He looked and seemed he had once been a medical doctor or student with the way went for and applied all the treatment. And for a moment as I watched him attending to his mom, I wished I was the one that got cut.But the reality jolted me back from my silly wish. I wasn't his mother. He could only treat and care for someone so close to him like his mother, and I didn't fall in any of those category.

Later that evening after ensuring his mom was alright and had taken some tabs, we both had dinner and again I retired to his room along with him. For some reason after watching him and after behaving in such caring way in front me, we didn't speak to each other all through, until I laid on the bed to sleep.

"Move a little," his voice came in front of me as my eyes were closed. Opening them I asked. "Why? What do you wanna do?"

"I want to sleep," he simply replied.

"But you normally do that on the couch there," I reminded, gesturing my head a little to where the couch was.

"That place has been giving me some body aches," he expressed plainly."Okay I will take the couch then," I tried standing up. "You don't have to," he said we can share the bed. We aren't teenagers, we'll make a demarcation of you want."

Seeing sense in what he said, we actually did as he said.After demarcating the bed with some small pillows on the bed, we slept along side each other on the bed for the first time.

Although our bodies didn't meet nor touch but, I could feel his warmth beside me, his cologne has never felt so close, and somehow, I enjoyed having this moment.

Was I slowly falling for this man?