Billionaire Toxic Love

CHAPTER 5

“We can talk this out please” begged Richard.

“It doesn't have to end like this”.

“Why,” interjected Claire sternly.

“Because I love you” replied Richard hastily, still pleading for mercy by his body tongue.

“You do?”

“Yes, I do. Claire, I love you from the bottom of my heart”, Richard announced aloud, now suppressing all his ego. “ I have loved you since, but I was thinking you'd see me as weak if I confessed my feelings to you straight away, so I tried acting all distant to suppress the feeling”.

“But my feelings for you can't be suppressed, Claire”, announced continuously by Richard.

Claire walked towards Richard with the knife in her hands and, instead of stabbing him…

Claire kissed him!

“What just happened here?” thought Richard. “Why am I not dead yet but rather just kissed by the love of my life?”

“It was all a prank. I wanted to see your last reactions and see if you cared about me” said Claire.

“And mostly I wanted to laugh my ass out at this scene” She then began laughing at how scared a whole billionaire's face was because of death.

“Please don't kill me, Claire please” laughed out Claire as she teased Richard Reins. “Richard, you needed to see your face when you were begging me to spare your life, I almost broke character” continued Claire, as she didn't stop laughing.

Richard joined her in laughing because he too knew the whole scene was funny.

The laughter had not died down and Richard brought up a major topic.

“Claire, will you marry me?” said Richard as he knelt and prostrated in the proposing posture.

“You sure know how to ask questions in a pleasant and tense-free environment to get the answer you're looking for Richard”.

“I'll take that as a compliment then” replied Richard, still eagerly waiting for the answer to his initial question.

“I'll have to think about it Richard, getting married to you just doesn't sit right with me”.

“I don't think I have reached that level of emotional intimacy to get married to you Richard” replied Claire, who seemed to be thinking and talking at the same time to ensure she chose the right words to say.

“I promise I'll only be of good behavior to you and respect your boundaries. Without you in my life Claire, my life has no meaning”.

“We can build the emotional intimacy you're craving as we continue to grow in our marriage”.

“I promise you won't regret it”, Richard kept persuading Claire with his eyes looking like if Claire refused him, he'd die that instant.

“Who proposes marriage after just knowing the person for two weeks? It's obsessive and abnormal” thought Claire. “Weirdly, I still like it though.”

“YES! Okay Richard, Yes I will marry you” said Claire, after being sweetly persuaded by the charming Richard.

“Hurrayy” screamed Richard as he jumped up for joy. His face beamed with excitement. His eyes were wide and happy like a child's eye.

Richard hugged her and hurriedly left the room.

“This is unlike my status. How would I propose without a diamond ring and a lot of fancy cheerleaders spicing the moment”.

“Let me go and get the most expensive diamond ring I can get my hands on and arrange for some top professionals and specialists in the entertainment section to make an unforgettable proposal” thought Richard in his mind as he walked out of his mansion to enter his 2024 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. There are only two of those in the world. The other one belonged to the president of the USA.

Richard was extremely rich. His type of money was an old money inheritance plus the massive wealth he attained on his own. He owned more than half the real estate in entire New York. He was close friends with the president of the USA. His connections in this world were top-tier.

So Richard was surprised that, with the type of man he is, he proposed to his supposed wife in a room that wasn't even fancy enough compared to his bedroom. And to top it all, he proposed WITHOUT a ring!.

Ah, why did he rush out of the room like someone was chasing him? He's always composed and never rushed to anything, he knows how to manage time” thought Claire, when Richard left the room in such a hurry after asking her to marry him.

“Did I do something embarrassing in front of him? Did he regret what he told me?” thoughts kept creeping all through Claire's head as she resumed tidying the house.

“It has been two hours since Richard left and still he hasn't come back”.

“I am beginning to get worried. If he didn't mean what he said, he should just tell me. I won't blame him”.

“After all, we aren't in the same class, so what right do I have to be his wife?” Claire said aloud to herself while dusting the books on the shelf in the library room.

Claire began talking to herself out loud like there was an imaginary person in the same room as her.

“Come to think of this, I don't think I love Richard”.

“Yes, he met the required standard of my dream husband materially and financially, but he didn't meet my emotional requirement. We are opposite”.

“How are we going to cope and tolerate each other as husband and wife”.

“Well, I guess this is life. You can't always have all you want in life. Life isn't a bed of roses”.

She kept on talking to herself like someone possessed and conversing with some imaginary being.

“I just have to compromise. With him as my husband, money will never be a problem to me till I die; and isn't that what brought me here in the first place? Funny, I won't even have to work for money again”.

“The hospital stated that my mom is responding positively to treatment, so I guess Martha and I might still have the opportunity to go have fun and explore the Maldives island in South Asia. Which has been our dream”.

“It's all becoming a reality!” said Claire as she heaved a sigh of relief and stared up at the top-notch chandelier hanging down the ceiling of the library room.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The platinum-plated landline kept ringing downstairs in the corridor beside the guest room.

“Wow, so this phone does ring” Claire said as she hurried down the stairs to answer the phone. “I wonder who is calling. Am I even meant to pick up this call?”

She did give much thought to that and with that she answered the phone call.

“Hello,” Claire said as she picked up the phone.

“Am I speaking to Claire?” Asked the voice over the call, with seriousness in the tone.

“Yes you are” replied Claire immediately, now curious as to what this call was about and why the voice asked if she was Claire.

“Hurry now to The Plaza Hotel, New York. Something terrible has happened, and you are needed here this moment” commanded the voice over the call.

“There is a sleek black limo waiting for you in front of the gate. It will lead you to The Plaza Hotel. Hurry now, you have thirty minutes to get here else you have yourself to blame”.