Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

"Xavier, tell me what have you been hiding from me?" I asked, the urgency in my voice was obvious as I tugged at his arm and kept my gaze steady on him.

"The reason I agreed to marry you even though you were pregnant with your ex-husband’s child..." he began in a low voice, his eyes still closed as his cheeks still red, with a dazed look that was stretched across his face. I could still smell the alcohol in his breath as he spoke. Anticipation and fear was written all over my face as I waited for his answer. "I... I wanted revenge."

As the last word left the tip of his tongue, I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach within a split second. "You... what?" I asked, stammering as I struggled to get the words out of my throat. "Revenge?" I repeated with a frown etched between my brow and confusion swirling in the depths of my dark eyes.

My mind continued to buzz with thoughts and I could barely comprehend what he was saying. Revenge? What the hell was he talking about? My heart was still pounding loudly in my chest as I looked at him.

"I wanted... to get back at you for leaving me with another man, for cheating on me. The plan was to break your heart like you broke mine 3 years ago..." he continued to mutter under his breath, unaware of the damage his words have already caused.

It felt like the word had stopped spinning all at once.

This sudden drunken revelation wasn’t what I was expecting to hear on the night of my birthday. Shock and disbelief were swimming in my dark eyes as I looked at him like he was nothing more than a stranger. Everything I knew about him, were they all fake? Was every nice thing he did for me, all part of this sick revenge plan too?

I released my grip on his arm and I let out a breath, staring into space as my mind struggled to accept the truth. My lips were pressed into a thin line as thoughts flooded my mind and silence enveloped me entirely for a moment.

"This was... all for revenge?" I asked, my voice came out soft and weak as he only tossed and turned in his bed, squeezing his eyes shut. "Answer me, Xavier Wilder!" I yelled his name out loud this time, my yells echoing in the bedroom. I was way sober than before and surely my loud booming voice was enough to snap him out of his drunken state.

He sat up immediately and looked at me with wide eyes, as if he had forgotten everything he had just said to me. He watched me with a puzzled expression as we locked eyes.

"You married me for revenge? Did you?!" I repeated this time, my voice cracking towards the end of the sentence as hot tears began to sting my eyes, tears filling the brim of my eyes, threatening to fall at any second.

It seemed that realisation had finally dawned upon him and he realised what he had done, but it was too late for anything now.

"Shit," he cussed under his breath, horror in his wide eyes. "Aurelia, I..."

I moved away, recoiling from his touch as he tried to reach out to hold onto my hand. "Don’t touch me," I warned through gritted teeth, my voice laced with a hint of anger and betrayal. I looked up to meet his gaze, emotions running wild in both of our eyes. "Just answer my question, Xavier Wilder. Did you or did you not marry me for revenge?"

His eyes were filled with regret. "I’m sorry, I truly am. I was just –"

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Just tell me, yes or no. Did you?" I asked as I kept my gaze on him, tears still glistening in my eyes as I looked at him. I knew the answer, but somehow deep in the hollow of my heart, I wished the answer was different. I was hoping that he would tell me it was all a lie and he didn’t know what he was saying. But alas, that was far from the truth. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

He looked at me for a brief moment, I could see the emotions in his eyes and the flustered look that settled on his face before he lowered his head. "Yes," he replied.

I let out a breath and a single teardrop fell down my cheek. "So, it was true," I muttered more to myself and I thought my world was falling apart. All the memories we shared, from the day in the hospital to the times he protected me and showed me love, all those memories came flooding my mind all at once. And my heart felt exceptionally heavy today.

"So all the nice things you did for me... were they also part of the plan? Was anything even genuine at all?!" I screamed, my high-pitched voice pierced through the tension that was lingering in the air between us as my voice shook with a mixture of rage and sadness.

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I’m sorry, Aurelia," he apologised over and over. "I thought you cheated on me. But after I found out you lost your memory in that car accident...and when you told me the truth, I knew I fucked up. But my feelings for you, all the nice things I did for you, everything was all real. Believe me, Aurelia," he pleaded, his voice laced with a hint of desperation as he held me even tighter than before.

I shoved at him, pushing against his chest as I tried to break free from his embrace. "I don’t want to hear it," I said, my voice cold and icy. "Let go of me!" I demanded angrily but he continued to hold me tight, refusing to let me go despite my protests and struggles.

"I didn’t want to hide the truth from you but I didn’t know how to tell you. It was my fault, I fucked up, I really fucked up this time."

Silence stretched between us for a moment as I looked up to meet his eyes. "You are right, you really fucked up this time, Xavier," I said with a serious expression that hung on my face.

"Please, what can I do for you to forgive me?"

I sucked in a deep breath. "Just let go of me... and don’t stop me from leaving."

He finally released his hold on me, looking at me with a defeated look etched onto his face as he was left speechless. I quickly grabbed my bag and shoved everything I needed into it in a hurry as he watched.

Just as I was about to leave, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist, holding me back.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp and I whipped my head around to glare at him. "What do you want?" I snapped at him with frustration, my tone carrying a sharp edge to it as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You can stay here," he said. "It’s late now and it’s dangerous for you. I will leave."

I watched as he took his things and left that night.

The door closed shut and I was left in this huge void of silence that washed over me. I dropped my bag onto the ground and collapsed onto the bed, staring into the emptiness.

I could barely sleep that night. I only let myself bury my face in my hands as I cried the whole night.

***

The next morning, I still managed to drag myself to the office, despite the little sleep I had and my puffy red eyes . I was in the pantry making myself some coffee and just as I turned around to leave, Xavier walked in.

His steps halted when our eyes met from a distance but I only looked at him with a cold expression that was etched onto my face. I simply couldn’t forget the words that he said last night, they were still there replaying in the back of my mind like a broken record player that I couldn’t seem to fix.

The atmosphere became tense the next moment.

Our eye contact didn’t last for more than a second when I averted my eyes, looking away and walking past him silently as I headed back for my office. There was nothing much for us to talk about, he betrayed my trust and he lied to me.

I closed the door shut behind me but it didn’t take long before there was a knock on the door.

"Come on in."

The door was pushed open and the receptionist was standing next to a man who was dressed in an all black attire. "Good morning, Mrs Wilder, Mr Weston is here to see you."

We locked eyes and he let a smile fall on his lips.

"Hi, Aurelia, it’s nice to finally meet you."