Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

Silence fell upon us and practically everyone’s eyes were now glued on us. Dusting off her dress with a tiny frown etched onto her face, I watched as the pieces of food chunks fell onto the ground with a soft thud.

For a split second, I caught her gaze flickering over to glance at Blake as though she was begging for him to do something about it. They locked eyes from a distance, but Blake’s gaze didn’t linger for more than a second as he only averted his eyes, letting his eyes wander around and he pretended as though nothing happened. Afterall, he couldn’t risk anyone else finding out about his relationship with Stella, jeopardising his role as the movie’s director.

I watched with satisfaction as a defeated look appeared on her face momentarily before it quickly faded and her lips curved upwards into a nonchalant smile. She let a soft chuckle escape her parted lips as she punched me playfully in my arm.

"You sure know how to crack a joke, Aurelia," she said in between laughs.

I turned to match her gaze, a smile lingering on my lips. "You would know."

Before Stella or anyone could even say another word, Xavier’s voice sliced through the air and reached my ears. I felt him wrap his arm around my shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping into my skin.

"Come on, let’s go get you changed out of this," he said as he kept his arm around me and guided me towards the dressing room. Once we were far enough, he leaned in closer to murmur next to my ear, a proud smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You did that on purpose, didn’t you?" He asked, his voice laced with a hint of amusement.

A smirk morphed itself onto my lips as I let the next few words leave my lips.

"Damn right I did."

A low chuckle left his parted lips. "That’s my girl."

***

My eyes were fixed on my computer screen as the continuous buzzing of my phone echoed in my ears. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Already overwhelmed with work, I let out a frustrated sigh.

"What the hell..." I muttered softly under my breath, my voice laced with a hint of annoyance.

Without even sparing my phone another glance, I reached out to grab my phone and chucked it in my drawer beside me instead, hoping that it could drown out the constant buzzing.

I didn’t know if I was overthinking it or being hyper-sensitive, yet somehow, I could still hear the buzzing through the drawers. I let out a breath, rolling my eyes in a dramatic manner. This time, I finally glance down to look at the screen of my phone constantly lighting up with multiple notifications.

Upon closer look, I realised they were all missed calls and texts from ’my mother’, Jennifer, spamming me and asking me to come meet her because she would like to talk to me.

The phone rang once again and I answered it immediately.

"What do you want?" I asked curtly, spitting the words out like they were poison in my mouth.

I could hear her exhale deeply on the other end of the line and the background was noisy, I was certain she was outside somewhere. "What do I want?" She repeated, tossing the words right back at me and I could already picture the look on her face. "I told you, we need to talk."

"And I told you, there’s nothing for us to talk about," I replied crudely, my voice remained cold and icy as tension stretched between us.

I was about to hang up on the phone when her voice reached my ears once again.

"I’m standing at your office lobby," she declared smugly. "If you don’t come down right now, I am going to cause a scene right here, right now," she snarled, the words that left her lips were heavy with a threat.

Before I could even say another word, the phone went silent and I was only greeted by a single beep that signalled the end of the call.

A huge sigh escaped my lips as I leaned back into my chair and my mind buzzed with thoughts. A notification popped up onto my screen once again and I glanced over to see that it was a message from Jennifer.

"I’m serious," it reads. "I will give you 5 minutes," another message popped up.

I did not want another incident to happen again. My brows were knitted together, forming a frown as I pushed the door open and walked straight out of the office and made my way down.

I could spot her from a mile away. We locked eyes from a distance and I could see the corners of her lips curled upwards into a slight smirk as smugness radiated from every inch of her skin. I made my way across the office lobby, closing the distance between us in a few large strides before I stopped right in front of her.

"What is it that you are dying to talk about?" I asked crudely as I kept my gaze steady.

"You are here," was all she said as the smirk that was plastered across her face widened slightly. Without a single warning, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around my arm as she pulled me away from the crowd.

A frown immediately crept onto my face, resting between my brows as I glared at her with narrowed eyes. "What are you –" I yanked my arm out of her tight grasp.

"We need to go somewhere quieter, without anyone."

We ended up standing in a nearby alleyway from the office building, near the dumpsters that were overflowing with trash that filled them to the brim. The air smelt rancid and stale but this seemed to be the only place where nobody else would be, for obvious reasons.

I watched as her eyes darted around anxiously, making sure that no one else was around before she eventually turned to face me.

"Tell me," she began, as the air continued to crackle with unspoken tension. "What do you know? What are your plans, huh?" She snarled, her dark green eyes swirling with disdain and contempt as her grating voice was dripping with accusation.

I let out a loud scoff.

"What do you mean? What are you even talking about?"I questioned, my voice laced with a hint of annoyance. "Why don’t you just get straight to the point?" I asked bluntly as I snapped at her with a frustrated look plastered across my face.

A cold chuckle erupted from her throat as she met my eyes. For a second, it felt as though I was looking right into Evelyn’s eyes. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t see it the last time, was I blind or have I been subconsciously ignoring it the entire time?

"I know you know about Evelyn and I," she revealed, her voice breaking me out of my little reverie as her demeanour remained calm.

Another chuckle left my parted lips. "That you are her mother and that Natalie is my real mother?" I said with a raised brow. "Yeah, I know, what about it? I bet she wanted nothing to do with you, am I right?" I questioned before she even had to say a word.

My words were harsh, piercing through her chest and stabbing at her heart. I watched as her eyes widened with anger as rage spread inside of her body like a wildfire she couldn’t seem to tame. And at that moment, I knew my words rang true, just as I had expected.

She stepped closer towards me, closing the gap between us as I didn’t budge from where I was standing. She leaned in closer towards me, our faces now merely inches apart and her voice dropped to a hush whisper.

"You don’t know what you are talking about," she said through gritted teeth as her voice shook with anger.

I stepped forward this time, forcing her to take a step back.

"Oh but I do," I taunted as a slight smirk cut across my face. "Evelyn is afraid that I would take her spot as the Lloyd family’s only daughter, so she is desperately trying to salvage the situation and stop everyone else from finding out the truth. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? To threaten me not to tell anyone else?"

"You –" The words barely left the tip of her tongue when I interrupted.

"She is used to the life of wealth and high society, of course she wouldn’t want anything to do with someone like you. You can’t give her the lavish life she wants, can you?"

Her face darkened visibly. "You cannot speak to me like this."

"Why not? Are you going to say that because you are my mother so I cannot talk to you like that?" I questioned sarcastically. "Guess what? You are not my mother, Jennifer."

"You!" She shrieked, anger pulsing through every single vein inside of her body as she raised her hand but I quickly wrapped my fingers around her wrist, holding her in a tight grasp as we locked eyes.

"You shouldn’t be worried about me, Jennifer. Maybe worry about yourself, your own biological daughter doesn’t even want you after everything you have done for her and all the times you have defended her." I tightened my grip on her wrist. "It hurts, doesn’t it?"