In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

****Caroline's POV****
"How's this one?" Nadia asked, twirling around to let me have a clear look at her gown.
I shook my head with disapproval. "I still think the first one was the best."
"It was indeed, Ms Hayden," I heard the store staff helping Nadia with her dress give her honest opinion.
Nadia looked at me, her crystal blue eyes staring at me through the laptop screen. "Really?" She asked. I nodded.
"Try that one once again," I advised.
"Alright," Nadia said as she headed back to the changing area.
Once she was out of view, I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. I had been staring at the laptop screen for almost two hours now and my eyes had started to burn with all the glare.
Aaron and I came back from Milan a few days ago. The whole week—even after being stuck in a hotel suite in Italy—Italy—had been walking in paradise. Aaron was the absolute best person to be around. This one week had given me a taste of what the rest of my life was going to be, and I could not wait for it to start sooner.
Though, the day we came back was the last time I saw him. If the media situation in Milan was bad, the one here in New York was an absolute nightmare. The paparazzi had been waiting for us outside the airport. It was only with the help of security that we were able to get past them.
Later that evening, our engagement was announced to the public. The confirmation—as if the ring wasn't enough for them to believe—had taken the newspapers and news channels by storm. That was what had led me to be locked inside my own house.
It was almost impossible to step out of the house without a camera flashing directly on my face. Aaron's publicist had advised both of us to not go out in public until it was an unavoidable situation, and I had taken the task to heart.
So, here I was now, helping my best friend shop for her maid of honor dress on a video call.
"Ta-da!" Nadia came back on the screen. "I can't take my eyes off this beautiful piece of fabric," she said as she turned to the mirror to admire herself.
It was a simple chiffon floor-length gown. The sophisticated, warm shade of blue highlighted the color of her eyes. It was different from the gown that I had asked her to try again, but this one looked better and more beautiful on her in every way. Nadia hadn't liked that one much anyway.
"It's beautiful!" I told her, matching the excitement in her voice.
She ended the call as she still had a lot of other things to buy for my wedding. After finding out that I was going to be stuck inside my house, she had voluntarily taken up the responsibility for buying everything that would be needed for me.
I buried my face in the pillow and closed my eyes again. It was three o'clock in the evening and I was lying on my bed, tired of doing nothing at all. My days have never been less productive. It was as much about being stuck inside the house as it was about being stuck inside a room. Considering how fond of me the people with whom I shared this house were, I had pledged not to step out the threshold of my doors until either it was to welcome Nadia into the house or I was dying of hunger.
On Aaron's advice I was avoiding any news about us like a plague. But Lahaina had made sure to share all the horrible things that the newspapers had to say about me. Though being the daughter of the famous businessman James Marshall, I was still a nobody, was what one of the articles had said. There had been a lot of articles devoted to me, but surprisingly, they had failed to find any details of the past or the present. I wondered why that was.
I raised my head and rolled on the bed to grab my phone from the bedside table. With the media outbreak, Aaron's work had increased exponentially. Despite all of it, he would still call me at least twice a day—first thing in the morning and last thing before going to bed. Today, the morning call was missing. I had called him in return only to be directed to his voicemail.
I put my phone to my ear and waited for the ringing sound to be replaced by Aaron's raspy voice. It wasn't and I was again asked to leave a message by the mechanical voice. He was busy, I knew it. I should not keep pestering him with my calls in the middle of the day, I knew that as well. But a week in Milan had made me realize about his eating habit—or rather the lack of. I sent a text to remind him to take a break and eat something, hoping he would read it at the right time.
With that I put my phone away and dozed off.
At nearly six in the evening, I was woken up by the doorbell. Already guessing it was Nadia who had told me she was going to stop by to show me her purchases, I ran out of my room to answer the door. I had asked her no to barge in like all the other times. Ever since Aaron and I have been engaged the air around the house has gotten too hostile. I've gotten used to their hurtful remarks, so the silent glares I received now were welcomed with open arms. I knew ignoring it was the best option, but Nadia had never been one to let go of such things. It was for not wanting a verbal war that I had asked her to ring the bell and let me come and escort her to my room.
"I'm so tired!" she exclaimed as soon as I answered the door.
I took the shopping bags from her hands and gave her a way to get inside. "Go ahead, I'll bring you something to drink."
Nadia took the bags back from me, intending to carry them to my room while I went to the kitchen to get her a drink. We both stopped midway, noticing Lahaina coming out of the kitchen. She did nothing. She said nothing. But her glare gave away her feelings for me.
I turned to Nadia to ask her to go ahead, only to find that she was glaring back at my step-sister with the same intensity. "Punch her in the face if she opens her mouth," Nadia whispered to me, keeping her eyes on Lahaina.
I nodded and waited till Nadia went up the stairs.
Ignoring Lahaina, I went around her inside the kitchen. She followed me in. "Did you see the newspaper this morning?" she asked, her voice venomous.
I kept silent as I poured orange juice in a glass. Lahaina looked irritated with the lack of the response. "People are calling you a gold-digger. You should read it. The comments are hilarious."
I took the glass and nodded with a smile. "I will," I assured her, then walked out. My father and Lahaina were the last people who could make me feel bad about people calling me a gold-digger. After years of living with them, I knew that term too well to mistake it with myself.
Back in my room, Nadia showed me all the stuff she had bought for herself and for me. While we were going through all the stuff, she asked me about my wedding gown.
"Aaron said he knew a designer and would take me to her," I told her.
"When? Barely 2 weeks are left until your wedding day."
"I'll talk to him about it," I said. He must have forgotten about it with all the work load, and I needed to ask him if he would still be able to manage. If not, I would have to find a way to sneak out of my house and under the paparazzi's nose to get to a bridal store.
"You better," Nadia gave me a hug. I walked to the front door with her as a precautionary symbol of peace between my best friend and my step family.
After a late dinner, as I had waited for everyone to have theirs so I could have the dinner room to myself and eat my food in peace, I went back to bed. There was nothing else that I could do. These few days of ultimate boredom had made me realize how much I missed painting. I've spent hours comparing my current state of doing nothing at all, to one where I had paints and a canvas. I didn't even know if the skills that I had developed when my mom was still there to teach me, would come back to me like a forgotten memory or a vivid dream.
I stared at the ceiling lost in thoughts. A forgotten dream was what it was.
I had not realized I had gone back to the land of sleep, until my phone rang. The clock was the first thing I looked at. It was fifteen past midnight. The phone was the second. My sleep vanished the instant I saw the caller ID. It was Aaron!
"Hey!" I exclaimed excitedly.
"You're still up," he chuckled.
Since it was not a question, but a statement I raised my eyes. "How did you know?"
"Your room's lights are on. Look out of your window," he said.
I jumped out of my bed, literally jumped out of my bed to go to my window. Pulling the curtains away, I opened the window to look outside.
Aaron's car was parked outside and a figure was leaning onto it, his head raised as he waved at me. The streets were empty. He was standing away from the street lights, almost hiding in the shadows. But I could imagine him smiling as he looked up at me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling ear to ear.
"Come to me. I have to show you something." He didn't have to say more as I was halfway across the room already by the time he finished his sentence. I stopped briefly only to check my appearance in the mirror before running down the stairs. My hurried footsteps might have already woken everyone up inside the house, but out of habit, I opened the door slowly and silently.
Once out, I ran to Aaron and threw myself in his arms. His arms went around me, holding me tight. It had been only four days away from him but it felt like centuries. "I missed you," I whispered to him.
He broke the hug and crashed his lips over mine, showing me how much he missed me by that kiss.
"You look exceptionally gorgeous tonight," Aaron said, pulling his face back to admire me.
I looked down at my clothes then remembered my reflection in the mirror before I had run out of my house. My hair was in a messy bun above my head and I was wearing the simplest of clothes. There was nothing remotely beautiful about my appearance at the moment, let alone gorgeous.
"I look terrible," I said. He was definitely just pulling my leg.
"Not to me," he said with utmost sincerity.
Aaron took my hand and guided me toward his car. Opening the door, he gestured for me to get in.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see, Caroline. Get in."
"Give me a minute. I need to change," I told him, once again concerned about my appearance.
Aaron shook his head. His hands moved in my hair, pulling the strands free from the bun. My hair fell around my face and cascaded down to my shoulders. "Perfect," he said, nudging me inside the car. It was hard to argue with him when he was being so charming, so I simply got in.
"For how long will this media thing go on?" I asked as Aaron drove through the empty streets.
"I believe they're going to stretch it till our wedding, after which they will find someone else's life to destroy." Aaron's words and voice were humorous, but I could sense the underlying irritation about the whole media thing.
He stopped the car outside a boutique. It was one in the morning, half of the world had gone to bed, the dark, empty streets had become ghosts' playground for the next few hours, but the boutique was open.
"Why is it still open?" I asked as we stepped out of the car.
"Because we won't be able to visit it during the day," he said simply. Aaron took my hand and guided me inside. "Remember I told you about Casey, my designer friend? I asked her to stay a little longer tonight."
"You never asked, my boy. You ordered." A woman in her late forties came to greet us. She gave Aaron a hug then turned to look at me with a smile. "You're prettier than he described you," she said, engulfing me in a hug.
After the introductions and pleasantries, Casey finally took me to a different room to show my wedding dress. Aaron was prohibited from coming inside. 'You don't get to see your bride in her wedding gown before the wedding, boy' Casey had warned him. He didn't argue.
I audibly gasped when she showed me the gown. It wasn't the traditional white wedding gown, but a cream coloured dress with a tint of peach on the skirt. Lace flowers with a shade darker than the rest of the dress covered the bodice and the upper skirt. The trail behind it was the biggest I've ever seen. It was breathtaking.
"I'm hoping you like it. I'm open to any changes you need though," Casey said.
"It's beyond beautiful," I told her.
"No changes?" Casey asked, beaming with happiness and pride.
"Not at all." Any changes, even the smallest one, would only spoil the perfection the dress was.
"Then let's do the fittings," Casey said, taking the dress of the mannequin and helping me with it.
After an hour, when the fitting was done, I walked outside to Aaron. Casey had also helped me with the accessories to go along with the dress. I was grateful to all the effort she had put into the dress for me, but she had shrugged it away. She told me she was a friend of Aaron's mother and had always considered him as her own son.
"It's lovely!" I told Aaron as we walked back to the car.
The next few days were just as chaotic as the previous days were calm. With all the wedding preparations, selecting flowers, cake tasting, choosing decor and everything, there was hardly any time to breathe. Since the media situation was still going on strong, all of this had to be done at my place. Aaron had sent the people and was managing the rest of the preparations.
Lahaina and Juliea and avoided every such incident, they were hardly at home these days. To my utter surprise, dad was thrilled with everything going on. Though he did not make many efforts to talk to me, he was leaving no stone unturned to impress Aaron, showing him how much it all mattered to him. I wished it was real, but I knew him too well to not see how hard he was trying to fake his excitement.
None of it seemed to matter to me, because I was too busy making preparations and counting down the date to the big day—my wedding day.