The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 92 Ninety Two

Isabelle swallowed nervously and took a step back. "I...we-"

"We?" he interrupted, his gaze hardening. "Are you two a couple now?"

"Let me explain," she told him, lifting a hand to slow him down. "I left the apartment that night. I didn't know there was a storm coming, and that the bus services had been suspended. He saw me at the bus stop."

When she stopped, he arched an eyebrow and asked, "And?"

"He took me to his house-"

"His house?" he cut her off once again. He paced, his jaw tense. "I knew it. That shameless jerk..." He suddenly changed direction and headed for the door. "I'll finish what he started right now."

Isabelle rushed after him and grabbed his arm before he got to the door. "I'm not done yet."

"Do I need to hear anything else? If you've been living with that man-"

"I only stayed for one night," she told him hurriedly. "I didn't have time to look for somewhere to move into because of the storm. I stayed just that night, in his guest room. The next day, I got a room in Hillside. That's where I've been staying."

"His guest room, uh. Did he make any move on you?"

"No. He was just being kind."

Jacob scoffed. "You are too trusting, Isabelle. If to this day you think his intentions towards you are," he made finger-quotes, "friendly', you are more naive than I thought."

Him calling her naive ticked her off, and she crossed her arms across her chest. "Yes, I'm truly naive," she said sarcastically, "that's why I believed all those lies you made about being a nobody after what you pulled at that Larson store, and all those gifts you got for my family. What kind of jewellery designer cannot tell fake from real?"

"I meant you are...so innocent," he tried to rectify.

She huffed. "I'm well aware that Seth has feelings for me. And I let him know that nothing can happen between us. If I wanted to be with him, I would have done that a long time ago."

"Why the hell are you leaving with him, then?"

"If you would let me finish my explanation, you would know."

He laughed, and she stared at him with zero amusement. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he said, smothering his laughs with his hand. "I never thought I would miss being scolded by you."

She pressed her lips together tightly to keep her own smile from breaking. It was as if finally, her brain was catching up to the fact that all was not lost.

Jacob didn't hate her for lying about her identity, and he also hadn't been with Naomi. It was tough being pissed at him when a warmth she hadn't felt since that morning before everything went to shit spread inside her.

"Please go ahead," he said, walking back towards the desk in the room and leaning against the edge. He crossed his legs at the ankles and waited. As she took a look at him, she realised that he did look like he belonged here. Her brain was still to catch up with that part of the news, though.

"I was going to resign from the company, and I gave my notice-"

"You what? Jason didn't...sorry. Go on." Jacob was slowly realising that Jason had kept an entire world of information about what she had been up to from him. He was so going to have it with him later.

"I changed my mind, and withdrew it. And then Naomi sent me that picture, and Seth told me that he was getting transferred to the new office as COO. I'd told him of my plans to move, and he said he would help me get a transfer."

"And you agreed."

"Yes."

"Because you thought I was with Naomi?"

"Yes."

"But you were going to resign and leave before that. Were you that eager to run away from me?"

"I thought you hated me. And... after Ruth passed away..." Her gaze fell to the ground. "I didn't...I just...I just wanted a new start. The Cruzes hate me now, and the one person I considered my family is gone. I didn't have a reason to stay."

Jacob sighed, hearing the sadness in her voice. "Why did you withdraw your notice, then?"

"I..." she licked her lips nervously.

"You what, Isabelle?"

"I'm pregnant."

The room fell into silence. Isabelle kept her eyes glued to the floor, her fingers fidgeting with her purse. Her heart thundered away in her chest. Why wasn't he saying anything?

There was sound, as he straightened from his perch on the desk and came towards her. "You are pregnant?" he asked, his voice full of wonder.

She swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I...I found out about three days ago."

"And you were going to leave without telling me?"

"No. I mean...I came to tell you at the apartment. But I saw you weren't there, and then Naomi sent me that message. I thought it would be better to leave silently."

Jacob sighed, and then reached to lift her face with his thumb under her chin. "That mind of yours drives me crazy, Isabelle. You have to promise me to not do that again. If you want to know what I would do, ask me. Don't make your own conclusions."

"Even if I had wanted to after what Naomi did, how could I have reached you? Your phone was off, and nobody told me about your accident."

"I'm sorry about that."

"You said you were in a coma. So it was serious. What if...what if...was your secret so important that you had to keep me in the dark about that?"

"I wouldn't have had a problem if Jason had told you the truth while I was in the hospital. I didn't expect he would be terrified of my threats even when I couldn't move a finger."

"Threats?"

"I had instructed him to not reveal my identity to you."

"Oh."

"So," he asked, "is it a boy or a girl?"

She smiled. "You do know they can't tell that this early, right?"

"They can't?"

She laughed because he sounded truly unaware. "No, they can't."

Her heart thundered in her chest as his dark eyes met hers.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Do you still need time? That night, you said you needed time."

"I needed time so I could tell you

about my true identity," she told him.

"I wanted you to know the truth first.

And then if you still wanted to become a real couple, we could..." she trailed off with a shrug

"That was it?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"So you are saying that you have feelings for me too."

"I'm in love with you," she told him, curling her fingers around his. "When I...when I thought that you were done with me...that you hated me..."

"I could never hate you, Isabelle. I tried to. But at every turn, you were there, with your beautiful smile and innocent heart and a sincerity that made me feel like a scumbag for even trying." sŵnovel.net

"That was because you thought I was Naomi."

"Still, it took me too damn long to see you for who you really are. If I hadn't been blinded from the start, I would have fallen for you right from the beginning." "That's all in the past now," she said, "let's forget about it."

He smiled. "I want to marry you again."

She blinked. "What?"

"A real wedding, not one where we are simply fulfilling a business agreement. A wedding where we are not getting married to strangers, but to each other."

She chuckled happily. "I think you are a bigger romantic than I am, Jacob."

"Did you already forget that I filled the entire house with roses for you?"

She laughed. "How can I? My back still aches when I remember spending the entire night collecting them."

"You are quite hard to please, woman."

"I think a single rose would have worked better," she told him.

"I know that now." He rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs. "So, is that a yes?"

"Yes, I'll marry you again, Jacob."

He lowered his head and kissed her until they both ran out of breath. "Big or small?" he asked when they pulled back.

"What?" she asked, her dazed eyes stuck on his lips.

"The wedding."

"Small. I don't exactly have a family to invite. But if you-"

"Small it is. Where?"

"Huh?"

"We can have a beach wedding in the Maldives, or on top of the tallest building in the world, or—”

She shook her head. "I don't care, Jacob. As long as you are the groom."

"And you say I'm the romantic?"

She laughed and kissed him. "I love you, Jacob."

"I love you too, Isabelle."

They kissed until they stumbled onto the couch, dying to connect their bodies like their hearts were. Forever.