Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

My mind started to race with questions and thoughts as shock flashed past my eyes for a fleeting moment.

James and Natalie? How did they know we were here? It couldn’t just be a coincidence right?

"I’m sorry, Mr and Mrs Wilder, I tried to stop them but they wouldn’t listen," the waitress explained frantically as she tried to catch her breath, her flustered voice jolting me back to the present.

"It’s fine," Xavier quickly said with a small smile. "Thank you, you may leave now," he urged and the lady didn’t waste another second or bothered staying. I watched as she nodded before spinning on her heels and walking away hastily, probably happy to leave anyway.

He turned to look at the couple, his face darkened visibly as his jaws were clenched tightly and his expression remained cold.

"What do you want?" He asked curtly, not bothering to be polite out of courtesy.

James couldn’t help but to laugh, but it wasn’t because anything was funny.

"What do we want?" He repeated with disbelief written all over his face. His intense gaze glanced down to look at the bouquet of flowers sitting on the table among the plates of unfinished food before he looked back up to meet Xavier’s eyes. "A friend of mine saw you. What is my daughter’s boyfriend doing on a date with another woman?!" His voice boomed loudly as anger started to pulse through every single vein inside of his body.

"James, please calm down," Natalie urged in a soft voice as she tugged at her husband’s arm, only for her words to fall on deaf ears. James had always been stubborn, and this time wasn’t an exception. He shook her hand off within the next second.

"Explain yourself!" James demanded in a firm voice as his eyes widened with rage.

There was a brief pause as silence lapsed between the two of them and the air crackled with unspoken tension.

I stood up from my seat and stepped forward despite the fact that my heart was pounding loudly against my chest and nervousness gripped me at that moment.

"There’s nothing to explain, James," I retorted with what seemed like confidence. "Xavier is my husband now."

"Evelyn and I had broken up a long time ago," Xavier reminded, his deep voice coming from behind me, slicing through the thick tension that lingered in the air. "Did you forget that? Or are you just as delusional as your daughter?"

"You–!" James snarled, anger evident on his face and impulse clouded his judgement almost immediately.

As soon as those words left the tip of his tongue, my eyes shot wide open as I saw him clenched his fist, ready to swing down right onto Xavier’s face. A gasp escaped my lips and Natalie’s as we watched with horror swimming in our dark eyes. He raised his arm up high and before he could even lay his hand on him, Xavier had caught his fist in his hand almost effortlessly, without even flinching.

"What I said was just the truth. Like what Aurelia had said, I’m her husband now. You just have to accept it and ask your daughter to let it go." He paused for a moment as he looked down at my bandaged hand and another surge of anger coursed through his body. "She had done enough already," he spat through gritted teeth as his features hardened just at the thought of it.

A concerned look crossed Natalie’s face at this moment as she looked between the both of us. "What has Evelyn done?" She asked, clearly confused now. "What are you referring to?"

I naturally looked down at my injured hand while a cold chuckle left Xavier’s parted lips.

"You can ask her yourself, I think she knows it best," he mocked, his voice dripping with venom as his eyes were narrowed into thin slits, glaring at them. "You don’t believe what Aurelia has to say anyway, right?"

"Well... I –" Natalie was interrupted as James scoffed loudly, his cheeks still red from the anger burning within him.

"Of course! Why would I believe her? An outsider... over my own daughter?!" He sneered, his voice carrying a sharp edge to it as he eyed me with disdain. He shook his head with a disapproving expression that masked his features. "I don’t get what you see in her, how is she better than my Eve?"

He then turned his attention to me, contempt swirling in the depths of his eyes, his eyes burning daggers right through my skull. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You..." He snarled, taking a step forward. "You are just a shameless woman, leeching on another man’s wealth! But you will forever only be poor, living paycheck to paycheck while your mother works for us as a maid! You better be careful of this scheming woman, Xavier." He taunted.

"James!" Natalie gasped in surprise, shocked by the viciousness in his words.

My eyes remained fixed on him, unfazed by the insults he was hurling right at me.

"You can say all that you want. But at the end of the day, I’m the one married to Xavier, not your daughter."

"How dare you! I can guarantee that he won’t last any longer with you once he comes to his senses!"

"Enough!" Xavier’s loud voice pierced through the air this time. He reached out to wrap his fingers around my arm, pulling me back to his side swiftly. "What the hell is wrong with you? It’s long over between Evelyn and I. You are the one who needs to come to your senses! You and Evelyn!" He retorted in a sharp tone, his voice shaking his pure anger that was pumping through his body.

"Apologise to Aurelia," he demanded through gritted teeth this time.

"No. Why should I?" James snapped his head to glare at me with an intimidating look plastered across his face. "I’m not apologising to the woman who stole my daughter’s boyfriend so openly."

"How many times do I have to repeat myself? I didn’t!" I defended myself, but he didn’t care at all, only a smug look was etched onto his face as he glared at me with disgust, like I was a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"Of course, you would defend yourself," he sneered. "Who would openly admit that they stole someone else’s boyfriend?"

I just opened my mouth but was quickly interrupted by Xavier.

"Why should she admit something that clearly isn’t true?" He retorted. "Can’t you see that you are wrong? Just admit it and give her the apology she deserves!"

A loud scoff left James lips. "It’s not happening. Not in a million years!"

I watched with a defeated look as he turned around to leave with Natalie following quietly behind him when Xavier reached out to grab his arm, holding him back.

"Is it that hard to apologise?"

James immediately yanked his arm out of Xavier’s tight grasp before adjusting his shirt.

"I’m not apologising, like I said," he spat the words out like they were poison in his mouth. "You will pay for this, Xavier Wilder. If I were you, I would be extra careful," he warned, his voice heavy with a threat before he walked off.

***

"Aurelia?" I heard my name leave Xavier’s lips as his hoarse voice reached my ears. It sounded as though he had just woken up.

I whipped my head around in an instant and my eyes landed on a groggy looking Xavier who was standing before me with his messy dark hair and a blank look that stretched across his face.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" He questioned, his brows knitted together in confusion.

I stopped what I was doing and gently set the paint brush down, the frustrated look that was once on my face was replaced with a softened expression that masked my features.

"Nothing much, just painting."

He walked over, closing the distance between us in a few steps. His eyes darted around, looking at the painting supplies and the canvas which was a mess, to be honest.

"The doctor said you are not supposed to paint," he reminded sternly, a serious expression hung on his face. "You could have worsened your injury!" He exclaimed out loud, a hint of concern laced his voice.

"I...I need to practise!" I snapped. "You don’t know how much this competition means to me!" I yelled back, emotions running wild in my eyes. Before I knew it, hot tears stung my eyes and tears started rolling down my cheeks as I sobbed.

"Aurelia..." His features softened immediately. Without saying another word, he pulled me into a hug as he wrapped his arms around me, letting me bury my tear-stricken face in his chest. He continued to comfort me for a while until I finally lifted my head and his thumb reached up to wipe off the tears on my cheeks.

His lips curled upwards into a smile.

"Let me help you."

He took my left hand in his, holding me gently as he guided my hand to paint across the canvas.

In a blink of an eye, two weeks have passed and it was the day of the art competition.

I had just walked into the place when I came face to face with Evelyn.

"Why are you here?"