Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

I snapped my head around and so did my mother and Blake. My eyes immediately landed on Xavier who was standing not too far away with a dark look swirling in the depths of his eyes and a frown etched between his brows. His features hardened when he saw them and realised what was going on.

He marched over towards us, closing the distance between us in a few large strides as his lips were pressed into a thin line. His eyes darted between the both of them.

"What do you think you are doing here, showing up at my place again?!" His deep voice boomed loudly as he glared at them with a fiery blaze in his dark eyes.

"Xavier..." his name left my parted lips in a soft whisper and he reached out to wrap his fingers around my arm and pulled me close to him.

I could hear my mother scoff loudly and Blake who was standing beside her rolled his eyes dramatically as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Why couldn’t we be here?" My mother snapped back at him, her tone carrying a slight edge to it. "Couldn’t I come and see my daughter?"

A low chuckle left Xavier’s lips upon hearing the words that left my mother’s mouth.

He arched a brow at her. "I know you aren’t here to just see her because you missed her or anything. You are only here to bother her with the littlest things and you are harassing her," he spat the words out like they were poison in his mouth.

She laughed. "How could I be harassing my own daughter? I was just asking her nicely to apologise for her mistake. What’s so wrong about that?"

Blake chimed in too this time, a smirk playing on his lips. "Exactly. How could you accuse her own mother of harassing her?" He snarled with a disdainful scorn as his icy blue eyes filled with contempt and arrogance. "Mrs Holt only wants what’s best for her daughter."

My mother nodded firmly in agreement, a satisfied look was now plastered across her face. "See, Blake understands me better than my own daughter," she commented, her voice dripping with malice as her eyes flickered over to glare at me for a brief moment.

A cold chuckle escaped my lips.

"Does he now?" I questioned, my voice laced with sarcasm as we locked eyes. "If you think so then why don’t you make him your son instead since you like him so much?" I retorted, my eyes gleaming with defiance as I kept my gaze steady.

I watched as anger flashed past her eyes and she gritted her teeth.

"You!" She snarled as she stepped forward but I didn’t budge, not moving a single inch from where I was standing. "You know what? You are right. If I could, I would gladly do it, instead of having an embarrassment of a daughter like you who is only up to nothing good!" Her sharp voice pierced through the tension that was lingering in the air between us.

Blake inched closer towards my mother and he slung his arm around her shoulders as a smirk morphed itself onto his lips. "Don’t worry Mrs Holt, I won’t embarrass you and I will take care of you," he announced, his voice filled with confidence and I couldn’t help but to let out another cold chuckle.

From the corners of my eyes, I saw Xavier’s face darkened visibly as he clenched his free hand tightly beside him. "Aurelia is not an embarrassment!"

I turned to look up at him. "It’s fine, if she thinks I am then there’s nothing much I can do. I can live with that." Then I whipped my head back around to stare into her eyes.

"Since I’m nothing but an embarrassment to you... then don’t ever look for me again. You want nothing to do with me, don’t you? Then can you promise to never bother me ever again?" I asked, my voice cold and a distant look was stretched across my face.

She looked at me, anger evident on her face but she only let out a breath. She leaned back, straightening her posture as she cleared her throat audibly.

"Sure," she said. There was a brief pause before she continued. "But you would still need to apologise to Blake for what you did to him. If you do then maybe I won’t ever bother you again," she insisted, her voice remained firm and unwavering as a look of certainty was etched onto her face.

Xavier’s grip around my arm tightened as he gritted his teeth. "I told you she would not be apologising. That bastard should be the one apologising to her! Did you not know that he—"

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "She knows," I said, an emotionless look plastered across my face.

"She just didn’t care because I don’t look injured enough for her."

She scoffed loudly once again. "It’s not that I don’t care."

"How could you say that she doesn’t care about you?" Blake interjected. "She’s your mother, of course she cares."

"I just think you need to apologise to Blake after everything he has done for you," my mother continued.

"What has he done for me? He did nothing for me, mum," I stated crudely. "I don’t understand why you are so insistent in me apologising to someone like him."

Blake’s face darkened in an instant. "Watch your mouth, Aurelia," he hissed. "What do you mean that I did nothing for you and what do you mean by someone like me?"

I exhaled deeply, forcing my lips to curl upwards into a slight smile. "I think you know exactly what I mean. Please leave before we call the guards," I said, my voice heavy with a threat, my face boring a serious expression.

Blake scoffed loudly. "Stop threatening us with the guards."

"I can do whatever I want," I retorted, not backing down. I opened my mouth, wanting to yell when my mother stopped me.

"Okay fine!" She spat, the words that left her lips were thick with a layer of venom. "Don’t call the guards. We will leave."

Silence lapsed between us for a moment before she spoke again.

A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips before she threatened me again.

"But this would mean that this is not over. I will come back to find you again."

***

Before I knew it, the day had come.

It was finally the day of the long-awaited prestigious art exhibition for new and upcoming artists. Ever since Xavier went to look for Henry that day, Henry had given me my spot at the exhibition as promised.

After all, he couldn’t risk having that picture of us in the restaurant published. It will certainly ruin his reputation and career all at once.

So there I was, standing in the middle of the vast exhibition hall, admiring my painting that was hung onto the wall, along with the rest of the other canvas. Chatter and buzz filled the air as the place was crowded and packed with people walking around.

A sense of satisfaction washed over me and I was proud of myself for coming this far. I was filled with excitement and joy just seeing my art displayed here for everyone to see. It finally felt like I was one step closer to achieving my dream, my dream of having my art in an international exhibition and for someone to buy my pieces.

Xavier leaned in towards me as he murmured beside my ear, his soft voice breaking me out of my little reverie.

"It’s beautiful... your art," he praised and there was a brief pause before he continued. "And the artist too," he commented with a playful smile etched onto his face.

A soft chuckle left my parted lips upon hearing the words that left his lips. I kept my gaze fixated on my painting. "Of course," I replied. The corners of my lips curled upwards into a slight smile. "I can’t believe this is real."

I turned to look at him and our eyes met. "This isn’t a dream, right?"

I watched as he reached down to pinch my arm and pain shot through my body in an instant as I jumped in shock.

"Owww!" I yelped. I turned to glare at him, narrowing my eyes into thin slits. "What was that for?"

He laughed. "Well, you felt the pain, so no, it’s not a dream."

"Tsk," I scoffed and punched him in his arm playfully, eliciting another laugh from him. Silence enveloped us for a moment before I spoke up again. "But thank you though. I thought for sure Henry wouldn’t have given me the spot after what I did."

"That’s nothing a little threat can’t do," he commented as a smirk appeared on his lips and I couldn’t help but let out a snicker.

"That’s true," I agreed.

It was at this moment when a familiar voice sliced through the air and reached my ears.

"Oh hey, Aurelia," the voice greeted. "It’s nice seeing you here."