In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

The rays of the sun filtering through the glass wall of my very own studio filled the room with golden light. It had been a few days since Aaron and I returned back to New York after our honeymoon was cut short due to some issues in his company. It was nothing major—though it had appeared to be that way at first. The issue took barely a couple of days for Aaron to fix it.
Though it had caused our personal time with each other to be cut short, I knew how important the company's work was, not only for him but also for all the employees working there. Those two days, and a few others after returning from the Bahamas, I stayed at his penthouse while he worked round the clock to manage the issues that his absence had created.
The day he returned to the penthouse, Aaron asked me to go shopping with him. I accepted it immediately, eager to steal any time I could out of his busy schedule. It was only after we had reached the first site that I came to understand that he hadn't meant 'shopping' in the traditional sense. He had taken me out to shop for houses.
After showing me a few of the properties, all with brilliant architectures and designs—with the first look I knew his company made them—he took me to the mansion that was going to be our future home.
'It's too large for just the two of us, Aaron,' I had said, overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the estate.
'We'll have kids, Caroline,' was his argument.
I had only started forming a playful debate in my head about how no amount of kids, extended family, friends or relatives, living in the mansion together at the same time could make this place seem smaller. But all those arguments died in my throat the moment I took my first step inside.
After spending days in his penthouse, I had started getting used to the dull, colorless, luxurious-but-too-formal interior.
The mansion was nothing like his penthouse. Oh, it still had all the luxuries, but it was filled with vivid colors and brightly lit rooms and passages. It was only later did Aaron inform me that he had gotten the property built specifically for me. His proof of that claim was a studio for my paintings with a view of the garden outside.
I had already forgotten about my liking for a cozy house the moment he had confessed he had gotten it built for me. But the studio had done it. There was no more doubt about which property was going to be our home.
So here I was, sitting inside my very own studio admiring my own paintings that I had painted ever since that day on the beach. The studio was filled with several other paintings that we had bought while visiting exhibitions on the main island. The one that mattered the most was the one that Aaron bought for me at the charity auction all those months ago.
I smiled remembering how excited I was to bid that one, but Aaron had decided to not play fair and buy it himself instead. The painting was long forgotten since, as that night had turned to be one of the worst ones for me. Now looking back at it with a clarity that only the future could have given me, it warmed my heart knowing the night when I thought I had lost him and the painting both, he was only buying it as a present to give it to me later.
My phone rang, breaking my thoughts of the dreadful past that had transformed into an endearing present and a promising future. I checked the caller ID and smiled wide at the face that appeared on my screen.
"Do you know who I am? Do you still remember me?" Nadia asked. Her eyes were narrowed to almost slits.
"Nadia Hayden? Is that you?" I guessed, then acted surprised.
"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed, matching the drama in my tone. "The new life has yet to overwrite your memories."
"I'll never forget you," I laughed.
"And yet I did not get a single call from you."
"I called yesterday. You didn't answer." It was my turn to narrow my eyes and stare at her accusingly.
Nadia's eyes widened as she remembered about my call that she had refused to answer. "Mr Johnson is strictly against phones during work hours."
"And where are you now?" I asked. This was her work hour.
"At work. But he isn't," Nadia turned her phone to give me a look of her cubicle. "Mr Johnson had gone crazy ever since he sold the New York office. He had turned into a dictator. Most of the time the words coming out of his mouth make zero sense. Sometimes I feel like cracking his bald head open and checking if his brain is alright or not."
When the screen returned to her face, the natural shine in her crystal blue eyes was replaced by dull exhaustion. Before I could inquire further, everything went blurry on my phone. I could hear some voices in the background, but none of it was comprehensible.
"Nadia?" I asked as I heard a snap. The screen had gone black.
"Shhh," I heard her voice.
A few seconds later, she reappeared on the screen. Though instead of sitting upright in her chair, she was leaning on the desk, using the monitor to shield herself.
"Johnson is back," she whispered. I had expected a short goodbye and a disconnected call from her side, but Nadia being Nadia adjusted her phone on the cubicle wall and rested her chin on the desk.
"How's married life, Caro?" She whispered.
"Are you not scared of being fired?" I whispered back.
She shrugged. "I finished a project yesterday that was due next week. I deserve to be a little reckless after that." Nadia's voice did not go up, but it was clear that the girl had no fear of being caught or getting fired.
"Why don't you call me after you get off work?" I suggested. If she did not care about the repercussions of her actions, someone had to.
"Don't worry, Caro. I'm fine."
But the very next moment, I saw a man—possibly a colleague—standing behind her. He was glaring at the back of Nadia's head. She might have noticed my eyes moving behind her because Nadia raised her head and turned around in her chair to greet him.
"Mr Johnson called you in his office," he said with a straight face. Throwing a glance at me through the screen—it looked more like a glare—he walked away.
Not so fine after all.
If being caught on a video call during work hours or being rudely called to her boss' office affected her, I would not know. Nadia simply sighed and shook her head.
"These people just can't live without me," she said. "I'll call when I get back to my apartment, okay? I miss you a lot here. Visit me sometime. Love you!"
Nadia cheerfully waved at me and I did the same, though I was still worried about her boss summoning her. "Love you too!" I said, then ended the call.
As I kept my phone on the table with a smile on my face after the long awaited phone call with my best friend and decided to go out in the garden for a walk, I noticed a very dumbfounded Aaron standing near the door.
I raised my eyebrows waiting for him to say something. It was worrying to see him so surprised. This was the same man who had managed a company crisis without breaking a sweat.
Aaron walked towards me with slow steps, his eyes glued to my face. Though I could sense a cloud of variness surrounding him, I could not for the life of me figure out what was bothering him. His silence was only making my patience worse.
Then finally, he spoke. "Who the hell were you saying 'love you' to?"
I blinked at him as I processed his statement combined with the shock on his face. He had misunderstood the situation. The relief that flooded my mind at that realization was so powerful that I could not help but burst out laughing at his misinterpretation.
Aaron was pinned at his spot as he stared at me with no expression on his face. It was ridiculous to think there would be anyone in my life other than him whom I loved so dearly that my heart felt it would explode every time he looked at me. I believe he knew the same because there was not a hint of anger or hurt in his eyes—just plain and simple confusion. And surprise.
I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes as I fell back on the couch, my stomach aching with uncontrollable laughter.
"That was Nadia," I managed to say between fits of laughter.
Aaron closed his eyes for a while and shook his head. When he came to sit on the couch next to me, I shifted in my seat to face him. My laughter had subsided but my smile was toothy and wide.
"It wasn't funny," he commented.
"It was." It was incredibly funny to me. "Jealous?" I teased, hitting his arm playfully by my elbow.
"Yes. Very." Aaron said, looking me straight in the eye.
I had expected him to be embarrassed by my teasing, but it was me who was now at the loss of words. He, on the other hand, was looking at me with such an intensity that I had to look away to get my heartbeat within control.
"Well," I said, staring at my fingers. "You don't have to be jealous of Nadia."
"I know," Aaron entwined his fingers with mine, pulling me closer. I rested my head on his shoulder as he played with my fingers, my hands looked tiny in his hold.
"It's good to know your friend is still bringing chaos in people's lives," Aaron said. I raised my head to look at him with a frown.
"What did she do to you?"
"Not me."
"Dylan?" I asked. For some reason his name came to my mind almost immediately.
Aaron nodded. "Not many people get to insult VanAssche and live to tell the tale."
I frowned deeper. "She may not like him, but Dylan is nice."
Aaron scoffed, then looked at me. "Then you don't know your cousin very well. You believe everyone is nice. I mean, you believe I'm nice."
"You are nice!" I said, offended that he would think otherwise. "Why would you think you're not nice?"
His laugh was hearty and I snuggled closer to him. "I can be nice for you Caroline. But that's where I draw the line. You should know that."
I shook my head. "The people who claim to not be nice are the ones that are the nicest."
"I cannot name one other person who would agree with you on that about me," Aaron said with startling confidence.
It made me wonder why people would say all those things about me. Even before meeting him, I had heard a lot of rumors about him. There were tons of claims of him being arrogant, terrifying, intimidating, and whatnot. I had heard the same about Dylan. Though I could say with experience that both of them were two of the sweetest people in my life.
"I'm not someone who forgives people easily, Caroline. Especially not the ones who crash into my car and throw money at my handsome face instead of apologizing," Aaron mocked me. I sighed. If I had a candy for every time he brought up that incident to tease me, I was going to have a whole candy store by the coming year.
"Then why did you let me go that easily?" I asked with genuine curiosity.
Aaron shifted to kiss the top of my head. "Maybe because somewhere deep down I already knew I was going to keep you forever."
He did not wait to watch my reaction and kissed me instead. His hands let go of my fingers and came up to cup my face, the other moving around my waist to pull me on his lap. His lips were loving and soft over mine and I wrapped my hands around his neck, reciprocating it all.
The short moment was soon disturbed by the ringing of my cell phone. My mind still muddled with the kiss to think straight, I moved out of Aaron's arm to answer it without noticing the name that had appeared on the screen.
"Caro! How have you been?" My father's joyous voice hitting my ear was enough to pull me back to reality, putting all my senses on high alert. Why was he so happy? Why was he calling me now? He never cared about my well-being before. Why now?
"I'm fine, dad." He never wished for my happiness ever and it felt like a sin to share that I was living my best life now. "How are you?"
Aaron tensed beside me as he watched me talk over the phone. I gave him a reassuring smile, but it made no difference. He stared at me with anger in his eyes, which I knew him enough to recognise wasn't directed at me.
"I guess I'm fine as well, Caro. Everything has been so different ever since you went away. I think I just miss my daughter," said my father with such concern that I had to repeat his words and tone multiple times in my head to accept it as real.
He misses me?
He just called me his 'daughter'?
"You miss me?" I asked, not because I needed a confirmation but because I needed to say it out loud. It sounded just as ridiculous as it did inside my head.
"I know you won't believe me, for I've been a horrible father to you. But I really do miss you, Caroline. It was only a few days ago when my health started to get worse did all the past regrets come rushing to me. I want to fix everything while I still can. At Least try to fix everything," he said. I had noticed the slight change in his voice the moment I answered the call, but it was only after he mentioned it that I related it to him being sick.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
"It's just old age, Caro. I believe I will get better, but those regrets are eating me alive. I want to let go of them. I want to see you and apologize for everything I ever did to you. And the things that I did not do for you," said my father with a crack in his voice as he tried to hold back the tears.
"Not just you, Caro. There are many people that I've hurt. I know Aaron doesn't like me much and I hope someday I will be able to ask him for forgiveness as well. I want to make amends and I can only think of you to make that start from. You don't have to forgive me, Caro but please give me a chance. Come visit your old man." He was pleading by the end of it.
"I- I need time to think about it," I told him.
"I may not have the time, Caro. Please come visit me. I swear I will redeem myself. Come visit me tomorrow and then maybe someday, you can bring Aaron with you. I will love us to be a real family."
"I'll have to ask him about it."
"He is never going to allow you to visit me," he said with a painful sigh. "He hates me just too much to allow you to visit me. Please don't tell him, Caroline. Please give me a chance. Maybe then someday he will be ready to give me a chance too."
I sat in silence as I tried to make sense of the whole conversation. This was so unlike everything I knew about my father. Begging for forgiveness? Trying to make amends? Accepting his mistakes?
What the hell was happening to him? Was he really that sick?
"Okay. I will," I said even before I could wrap my mind around the changes. All I needed was the phone call to end and have space to think it through.
He expressed his gratitude at that and ended the call.
Barely a second later I pulled the phone away from my ear, Aaron turned to me furiously. "What the hell did he want from you now?" he demanded.
He is never going to allow you to visit me. Please don't tell him. My father's words echoed in my head. He was right. Aaron was going to be against it. But what he did not know was that unlike him, I was allowed to make my own decisions around Aaron. I was allowed to put forward my views to him and argue with him without the fear of being smacked in return.
I shifted closer to Aaron to grab his hands like he had done moments ago and shared the entire conversation with him.
"You're not going to visit him, Caroline." Aaron said with finality.
"I think I should go. Not because I am worried about his health but because I want to know what he wishes to say." Though there was part of me—a minor part that still cared about the blood bond I shared with him—that did care about his health. I did not want his apology. I wasn't the one who he needed to start his apology streak with. My mother deserved it the most. Nor was I looking to forgive him. That too was not something I could do. Yes, I could forgive him for all the things he did to me and move on with my life. But no, I could never forgive him for how miserable he made my mother's life. No amount of regret, apology or trials for amends would fix what he had done to her.
But I needed to go see him. I needed to hear what he wanted to say. And I needed him to know that it was going to be the last time he would ever see or hear from me.
I hated myself for thinking along those lines. I hated myself for not giving him a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance. I did not have to forgive him, but did I have to cut him out of my life? I hated that I could be so bitter about my own father.
"Anything James loves or cares about is money. You really think he will start to care about others now? People do not change that easily. I know that man. There is a reason why I don't like him." Aaron asked. His voice was calm as he tried to convince me, but the anger was there—just around the horizon.
"I know. You don't like him because he runs after money and I didn't like money because he loved money more than me. It's you who made me realize that it wasn't the lifeless coins that were to blame, it was the man. I'm not going there to make amends. I just want to know why he misses me now. I just need closure," I saw Aaron open his mouth to say something and shook my head. "I promise I will be fine."
"You're never fine around him. I've seen it, Caroline. Whatever it is. You're not fine," Aaron got up from the couch and ran his fingers through his slick hair.
"That's why I need to go. I want to tell him that I'm doing fine now," I said.
Aaron gave out a defeated sigh. He wasn't looking at me, which was a first, since he would always look me in the eye while we were talking or otherwise. I felt a pang of guilt for being the reason for that.
"I came here to ask you about the file I was reading last night in the bedroom. It's not there," said Aaron as he started to walk out of the studio.
"I put it back in your office," I told him.
My studio wasn't the only working area inside the mansion. Aaron had a home office on the other side. Though he still did most of the work from his regular office building, he had shifted some of it here. Since he had to take several business trips round the year, and it wasn't possible for me to accompany him in every single one of those, working from the home office gave us more time to be together.
As I watched him walk out of the studio, I thought of going after him. I didn't want Aaron to be angry with me. I didn't want him to think that I did not value his opinions. But I knew, talking further on the topic would only create a greater rift between us.
I didn't want him to think I was going against him. I didn't want to fight with him. I didn't want to argue with him. So, I kept my mouth shut and watched him leave.
If only I knew, silences created more problems in relationships than fights ever could.