A Year With The Billionaire
Chapter 45

Isabella's POV

Jayden has been extremely cold towards me ever since the day I asked him about Helena.

Well, I never knew it was a big deal to ask about her but the moment I saw his expression, I knew it was more than a big deal and my curiosity to know who she was intensified.

I do not know why. I just want to know why Jayden looked like someone who could kill when I mentioned her name.

Obviously, she isn't just anybody. I thought she was one of the exes he would like to talk about. I was very much interested in knowing about his love life and why he doesn't believe in love anymore. I was so sure he used to believe in love and he was in love with someone. Probably her.

Helena. Helena.

I always think about her anytime Jayden comes home with this same cold expression and anytime he ignores me as if I am not in the same room as him.

I ought to ignore him too. But I can't. I should probably start now. At least it will ease everything. This is our third week already and we still have a long way to go.

If I begin to ignore him, then what are we going to make of this marriage?

Nothing!

Well, this marriage isn't for anything tangible. For me, it's just the money.

It will be so hard for me to pretend as if we are fine outside when we aren't. Pretending is not an easy task.

Sometimes, I want to hate Jayden for putting me in his situation. This is a very difficult situation and it's all because I need money. He should at least make it worthwhile by being kind to me just like he was that night.

The night we went out on a date with Alex and how he got ice cream cones for me and even apologized to me for his harsh behavior.

Can he always be like that?

I wish he could because that night, I saw a different Jayden. The one who could love. The one who was kind and affectionate. The one who was caring.

Not this cold man who just walked into our matrimonial room like a warrior going out to a battlefield.

The distant look is still on his face and to be honest, I am bothered because he looks sick.

Sometimes, whenever I wake up to take a piss in the middle of the night, I see him awake, probably in bed with his head on the headboard or the sofa, staring into space.

The first night I saw him sitting that way, I was damn scared. He was pale all over like someone who was talking into the night with a ghost.

But then I assumed he was brainstorming or working. Even though he wasn't with his laptop.

I tried to go back to sleep all to no avail. I was awake till dawn when he left for work.

How then can I hate a man like this for what he did? He looks broken and beyond repair. How can I stop being curious when everything is in line with each other?

I can't put a stop to my curiosity because Jayden was fine before I asked the question of who Helena is but ever since that day, he has changed into someone I don't know.

I am sure that question is the reason for all these strange behaviors and I got to work the very next day by going into his old office to search for more answers. I went through most of the books on the first shelf, opening the pages of each book to see more notes. Love notes. Break up notes.

Motivational notes.

Or something. Something tangible that will solve this puzzle before me but I saw nothing.

There is nothing in there anymore. There are a lot of shelves and I have gone through two of them in the last few days.

Sometimes, I feel like giving up but I can't. No one can answer all the questions I have except Jayden and the slips of paper. Jayden will never solve this puzzle for me and I am left with replaceing more notes, just like the one I saw the other day.

I am not friends with his Mother so I can not ask her and I doubt if Caroline knows anything about this since she doesn't reside in New York.

There is no one else I can ask so I am left with relying solely on the inanimate object- the slips of paper that I might replace in between the pages of any of the books I replace on his bookshelves in his old office.

As much as I think of it, it seems Jayden has a past he is trying so hard to bury. First, it was his refusal to get married, then his dislike for children, and now this? Everything is connected.

Helena is connected to his desire to remain single and she also connects to his dislike for babies.

Did she commit an abortion for him? Where is she? Where can I replace her? Are they still in love?

If only I can replace answers to all of these, then I will make sure to replace Helena and make sure they come back together.

Jayden might never be able to love any other woman but if he was truly in love with Helena in the past, I am so sure he is still in love with her.

"Get me my food from downstairs", I hear a voice that I haven't heard in days. I jerk my head up in a hurry and scramble out of bed. Jayden just spoke to me!

I haven't heard his voice in days. That husky deep voice.

He doesn't look at me because his back is to me as he tries to take his office clothes off.

Usually, when he comes back from work, he goes straight to the closet. Even if I greet him, he won't answer but today that

I decide not to greet him or acknowledge his presence, he is asking me to get his dinner from downstairs.

Why isn't he going downstairs to eat?

I take the exit quickly and rush downstairs. I shouldn't be bothered about this, the most important thing now is that he spoke to me and that is a good sign.

Maybe he has finally forgiven me. He has forgiven my ignorance. If only I knew there was more to the story of Helena, the girl who wrote that slip to him, I wouldn't have asked about her. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened. Dinner has been set for him. He normally comes downstairs to eat unless on occasions when he doesn't feel like eating and he goes to bed without dinner.

Going to the main dish, I grab it and place it on the tray. The maids have all retired for the night and I hope the food hasn't gone cold yet.

It is late already but I can't sleep because he hasn't gotten home.

I ate my food two hours ago and was sure the maid microwaved it before serving it and going to bed.

They all retire around 10 pm but if Jayden isn't back before then, she serves the food and goes to bed.

I take the staircase up again, quickening my steps. He must be really hungry.

He didn't eat anything last night and I know he usually takes coffee every morning. I used to make his black coffee when I was his Assistant.

He doesn't take lunch either. Except when he is out on a lunch date with a business partner.

I get to the door and knock, just in case he is undressing.

"Come in", he echoes loudly and I enter with the tray. He is done undressing and changing into his pajamas.

Did he take a shower? I wonder within myself. I didn't take long downstairs and I'm wondering how fast it was for him to take a shower and get changed before I am back. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. Maybe he didn't take a shower then, I conclude.

I place the tray on the table in front of the sofa where he is sitting, going through his phone.

'You should eat before it gets cold, I want to say this to him but I no longer want to overstep the boundary but not without replaceing my answers.

About our conversation, I won't say more than I ought to say anymore.

When I turn to go back to bed and probably watch a movie on Netflix till I fall asleep, his voice stops me. "Water?"

I turn back abruptly. There is no water.

Without a word, I rush to the small refrigerator close to the door leading to his old office. Thankfully, a bottle of water is left in the refrigerator.

Making a mental note to tell the maids to refill the refrigerator with more bottles of water and my favorite wine, I grab the bottle and close the refrigerator.

There is a tray of glass cups on the top of the refrigerator so I pick up one of them as I open the bottle of water to pour it into the glass cup.

When the glass cup is filled, I drop it on the top of the refrigerator and close the bottle of water before placing both on another tray and walking towards Jayden who is already eating. Slowly.

He doesn't look well at all and I am bothered about it. I don't know who to talk to. If only we were on good terms, I would have suggested that he visits a doctor.

Maybe he is stressing himself too much and he needs a break from work. That should be it.

Jayden is hardworking. He is a workaholic. And one thing I liked about him when I was his Assistant was how he always made me leave work at the right closing time no matter how much work we have at hand.

He would rather spend the night in the office than let me stay another hour instead of closing at the time we agreed on as my closing time.

When I am close enough, he raises his head and beckons to me to come closer instead of dropping the tray down on the coffee table which isn't too far from him.

I guess he beckoned to me because he needs to take the water so I drop the tray and pick up the glass cup of water instead before approaching him.

"Here", I only say as I stretch it to him. He does not raise his head but his eyes brighten up as he continues to stare at his phone.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I try to take a step closer so I can see what it is that made his eyes look so alive.

Is it Helena? Is it the picture of Helena?

If I catch a glimpse of her, then it will be very much easier to replace her.

Unfortunately, my legs hit something and I replace myself hauling forward into the arms of Jayden and the water spilling all over us.

I grab the glass cup with both hands so it won't fall to the ground and break into tiny pieces without bothering about how the contents wet my body.

Jayden's hand grabs me. He might probably think I was about to fall on the floor and he is doing this to stop me from falling.

The water wet his face but he doesn't look bothered initially as we lock eyes until I try to release myself from his hold and he pushes me away, the coldness back in his eyes.

"What the hell is this?" He shouts as I try to regain my balance and adjust my crunched-up sleep top.

I look up to see his icy glare piercing deep into me and his index finger pointing to the meal in front of him.

The rice is watery.

I gasp loudly.