Billionaire’s Unlikely Bride - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

The next day at the office, I was going over some paperwork when Julie came in. She looked gloomy, her usual calm demeanor was replaced with a tense expression.
"Julie, where have you been?" I was surprised by her sudden appearance. "And why didn't you take any of my calls."
She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "I've been busy," she said curtly.
I raised an eyebrow, sensing there was something wrong. "What's wrong, Julie?" I asked but got no response. "Talk to me, is it Kyle? Did you guys break up? I swear if he---"
"Mason, why did you marry Raven?" Her question caught me off guard. I had expected her to be the one person who would understand the necessity of the arrangement, knowing this was her idea. Why did she seem upset?
Her question caught me off guard. I had expected her to be the one person who would understand the necessity of the arrangement, but now she seemed upset.
"What do you mean by that? I thought you'd be happy about it," I said, trying to gauge her reaction. "You suggested I find a substitute bride, remember?"
"Well you should have found someone else, okay?" She scoffed
"Why are you upset, don't tell me you don't like her as well?" Sometimes Julie makes it hard for me to understand her.
She shook her head, looking frustrated. "It's not that I don't like her, Mason. Who wouldn't like Raven?"
"So what's the problem, Julie?" I frowned, not understanding where she was coming from. It was my turn to be frustrated.
Julie's expression softened slightly, but she still seemed troubled. "Mason, Raven, and I used to be friends. But I... I did something and because of that, we haven't spoken to each other in a long time."
I studied her for a moment, trying to figure out what was bothering her, but she didn't offer any reasonable information. "What did you do, Julie?"
"I can't tell you, just don't ask me any more questions, please." She pleaded.
"Fine," I said finally. "Come over to the penthouse later, let's have dinner. Then the both of you can sort things out."
"No," Julie yelled. "Look, I came to tell you the contract is ready; I'll ask someone to deliver it tomorrow."
"Invite your lawyer and bring the contract. We’ll go over it again, and make a few changes."
"What changes?"
"Candice and I will no longer be getting married," I informed her.
"Wait, what? Why?" She exclaimed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about that but why the sudden change?"
I took out my phone and showed her pictures of Candice and Justin together.
"Oh my God, that's Justin. Mason, I'm so sorry." She said; she looked genuinely concerned, but that's the last thing I need: pity.
"I'm fine. All I want is for you to be at my penthouse tomorrow, with your lawyer. I can't just divorce Raven now and risk losing the company to Justin."
"That means you and Raven are gonna stay married for a while longer?" Julie asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Yes, so Julie, whatever differences the both of you have, put it aside for now," I said firmly.
Julie hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. But only because you got your heart broken. Even though you don't admit it, I know you're hurt. Just don't be reckless this time."
I nodded thoughtfully. I may be 7 years older than Julie, but sometimes I tend to forget our age difference.
"So you're not gonna tell me what happened between you two?" I asked, unable to ignore it any longer.
She avoided my gaze, picking up her nails. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"It's obvious that whatever it is you did is eating you up. I can't just ignore it." I said honestly.
"Fine," she let out a long sigh. "But promise you won't judge me."
"You know I would never do that."
"I used to be best friends with Raven, her only friend to be precise. But I also had a crush on her, and my feelings for her kept growing. So one day, I acted on them, and the look on her face was heartbreaking. So I just stayed away from her, and we haven't spoken to each other since then." She explained, nervously.
I wasn't expecting that from her at all. "What do you mean by, you acted on them?" I pressed, leaning forward.
"We were at a party one night, and I kissed her." She said, staring at the floor.
"I think the both of you need to talk about what happened. Maybe she was just shocked and you misunderstood." I tried to reason with her, but a part of me was scared of the outcome. What if Raven likes Julie as well? Is that why she's in such a hurry to end things with me? I brushed off these stupid thoughts.
Julie finally looked up, her eyes filled with a mixture of worry and something else. Fear, maybe? But before she could say anything, my phone buzzed. I picked it up and saw my father’s name flashing on the screen.
"Come home now, you have a lot of explaining to do, young man!" My father’s voice boomed over the phone. He hung up before I could respond.
I turned my attention back to Julie, who was watching me closely.
"Is everything okay?" She asked, her voice soft.
"I have no idea. Dad wants me to go over now." I said, confusion etched my face.
"That's strange, he just sent me a text as well." She muttered, showing me her phone.
I have a feeling something’s wrong.