Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

Never in a million years I would have expected to hear that from Paula. I knew she never liked me and I never thought there would be a day where things would change.

But somehow I found myself standing before her as she spilled the words "I’m sorry".

My mind was still registering the words that left her mouth. I was looking right into her eyes, shock and surprise swirling in the depths of my eyes as I was rendered speechless. I opened my mouth, wanting to say something but I only ended up stuttering.

"I... I don’t know what to say..." I muttered softly under my breath as I averted my eyes and lowered my head to stare at my wringing hands.

"You don’t have to say anything," she quickly said. The sudden warmth and gentleness in her tone felt so foreign to me. "I don’t ask for your forgiveness now, but I hope you can forgive me one day."

Silence lapsed between all of us.

She continued, letting the words leave the tip of her tongue as she let out a breath. "I know I have done you wrong on multiple occasions. Xavier had been trying to tell me and talk to me about it but I always had the wrong impression of you. It’s not an excuse, I shouldn’t have blamed you for what happened." She placed her hand on her chest and her brows were furrowed together. "I do apologise for everything I have said and done."

"Paula..." Her name left my lips and I felt someone held onto my hand. I whipped my head around and my eyes flickered down to glance at Xavier’s fingers interlacing with mine as the corners of his lips twitched upwards into a slight reassuring smile but I was still in a daze. "I..." My voice trailed off and she cut me off before I could complete my sentence.

"You don’t have to say anything, I don’t need an answer now," she said and her gaze shifted to be fixated on her son this time. "And I’m sorry for always making things hard for you and Aurelia all these while."

His gaze was fixed on his mother and his tone remained cold and icy with a serious expression that masked his features. "It’s not me you should be apologising to, it’s Aurelia."

"You are right," she nodded and turned to face me once again. "I’m sorry for not believing you, I really am."

"I appreciate it, Paula. But I’m going to need some time to..."

"That’s okay, take your time," she urged as a slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "I hope that one day we can hang out, just the two of us. I know I haven’t been the best mother-in-law but I hope to make it up to you someday."

I smiled at her. "Yeah, one day."

Silence enveloped us at that moment when Xavier’s deep voice sliced through the air and reached my ears.

"I’m going to need to talk to Aurelia, if y’all don’t mind."

I turned to look at him with a blank look plastered across my face.

"Right, of course, please go ahead."

Serena leaned in closer towards me, murmuring next to my ear. "Text or call me if you need anything, I will be waiting here for you."

***

We were by the corner of the park, away from everyone else that was just sitting around, chatting and laughing with their family or friends. He was still in his wheelchair, his legs would hurt if he exerted too much force on it, while I stood next to him, maintaining some distance between us.

Silence settled among us as tension lingered in the air between us.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, my tone carrying a slight edge to it as I barely spared him a glance.

I was glad to know that he is doing well but at the same time, the anger was still simmering inside of me from what happened just yesterday. I wanted to forgive him but something was holding me back and I couldn’t do it just yet, no matter how much I wanted to or tried to.

"About yesterday," he answered almost immediately, unfazed by the crudeness in my words.

His words sent a flood of memories that came rushing into my head. I instantly snapped my head back around to meet his eyes.

"Yesterday?" I repeated bitterly, the word leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I couldn’t hold it back any longer and eventually snapped at him. "What about yesterday, huh? Do you mean the moment you shouted at me and told me to leave when I wanted to check in on you after the accident? Or do you mean the moment when you agreed and said that you didn’t want me here?" I questioned, my sharp words piercing through the tension in the air and my voice was laced with a hint of hurt.

He moved towards me, guilt evident in his eyes.

"Aurelia..." My name left his parted lips in a soft voice as he tried to reach out to hold my hands. But I only pulled back, not wanting him to touch me at that point in time. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you," he apologised.

"Well, but you did!" I burst out, my heart pounding loudly against my chest as I looked into his dark brown eyes that were running wild with emotions.

I took in a deep breath as hot tears started to sting my eyes, forming at the brim of my eyes and threatening to spill out at any second. I bit onto my trembling lip as I looked at him again and we locked eyes.

"You told me to leave, Xavier. You told me that you didn’t want me around!" My voice came out much louder than I had expected. "How was I supposed to feel, Xavier? You hurt me..." My voice broke.

"Aurelia, I –"

I reached up to wipe the tears that were streaming down my face. "A sorry isn’t going to magically fix things anymore," I began, my voice trembling slightly as I spoke. "I want to be alone for a while. I can’t... do this..."

He reached out and grabbed onto my hands, holding me tightly, not letting me go despite my protests.

"You don’t have to accept my apology now but don’t leave me, Aurelia. Please..." He pleaded. "I need you."

His words tugged at my heartstrings but I still tried to pull my hands away, unable to forget the words that he said, the words still haunting me, replying at the back of my mind constantly on repeat. He held on even tighter than before as he squeezed my hands in his.

There was a lump stuck in my throat as a sour feeling shot right up my nose once again. "I’m not leaving you, Xavier. I just... I need time to think... and process everything," I explained as I choked on my words and the tears glistened in my eyes under the sunlight.

"Please just let me explain. I was just –"

"I don’t want to hear it, Xavier," I interrupted, cutting him off as I finally pulled my hands out of his grasp. "I’m tired."

There was a brief pause before he continued. A soft sigh emerged from his parted lips and a defeated look was plastered across his face.

"Aurelia, just hear me out–"

"No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to do this right now, do you understand, Xavier? I just wanted to see that you are doing okay. And I’m glad you are, I’m happy to see you but that’s all I wanted. Okay?"

I spun on my heels to leave and I only took a couple of steps before I felt him wrapped his arms around my waist, his chest colliding with my back.

He had stood up from his wheelchair and rushed towards me, not caring about the pain that was in right now.

"Aurelia, I’m sorry that I hurt you, I truly am," he said breathily as he kept his arms around my torso, refusing to let me go.

I reached up to hold onto his arm and my breath hitched in my throat. "Xavier..." I murmured his name as tears started to flow down my face. "You... You are not supposed to stand on your feet," I commented, my voice laced with hints of concern and worry despite my anger towards him.

But he ignored my words. "I understand you need time to think and process. I’m sorry for what I said, I know I can’t take back those words. Take all the time you need," he urged despite the hurt that was evident in his voice."And when you are ready, please come back to me, Aurelia."

I inhaled deeply as another teardrop fell down my cheek and I gave him a slight nod. "I will."

He released his arms and spun me around. "Promise me, Aurelia, promise me that you will come back to me." I glanced down to see that he had stuck out his pinky finger at me, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

A bittersweet smile graced my lips as his eyes held mine captive. I wrapped my pinky around his and let the next few words leave the tip of my tongue.

"I promise you, Xavier. I promise."