Chapter 24: Chapter 24

“Oh God, what have I done?” He grabbed his head in his hands as he slumped on the couch in his room. It had been more than a year since he last came to live in his condo. The management took care of the maintenance, thankfully. So there was no dust lying around.

It had two huge rooms with attached bathrooms and a spacious living room. The kitchen was above an average size and the large windows overlooked the skyscrapers of LA. It also had a vast private balcony--patio where different plants and pots made it peaceful to sit and enjoy the view. The city lights in the night provided a magnificent view.

He always wanted to live alone, but his grandpa made emotionally blackmailed him into saying that he had a few days of his life left being old and all, so he should live with him instead.

He had went there the last time because of the same reason: a fight with his grandfather. And he had lived for a week before his grandpa called him again.

This time, it was different. He had basically thrown away all the things and left. He had not even brought his cards with him except the one card. His father had been accumulating funds for him ever since he was a child. He got the access when he turned eighteen. Since his grandpa took care of everything, the need for using that money did not arise. It was probably time he used the money instead.

He did not think twice before saying confidently that he was leaving his house. What would happen now? He did not regret his decision about telling him off. All the things were the things he had always wanted to tell him. He had been suffocating Thomas. He was tired of being a puppet and always doing what he wanted.

What he was worried about was what would happen now that he had left him. What about Olivia?

‘I should back off from the contract if there is no marriage taking place.’ He thought.

There was no need to marry now that he had given up everything, even his billionaire heir title since he was marrying because of his grandpa. Besides, he did not have the funds now to give them to Olivia.

There was no need for any of that. As much as the thought relieved him, it did not feel right. Olivia probably saw a glitter of hope and was ready to go to such extent as to agreeing to marry a complete stranger because she needed money for her mother.

And if he told her that they could not go with the contract, what would be her reaction? Would it be fair to back off when he had been the one to make her suffer just to get his desired ‘acceptance’ to his offer?

It was already around noon when he thought about calling her to meet him. But not for the purpose he had told her the previous night, but for the purpose of telling her about everything that had happened and the fact that they could no longer go along the contract.

As soon as he grabbed his phone, he saw that he had already received a message from her.

“Just wanted to know if the plan is still on!” It read.

She must have been wondering about why he had not contacted her yet about the meeting with his grandpa. He had clearly told her how urgent and important the meeting was.

He sighed thinking what to say to her. It would be rude to tell her about it on the call.

“The meeting is cancelled. But I have an important matter to discuss. Can we meet right now?” He left the message. Within a minute, he received her reply.

“Um, give me twenty minutes.” She had rolled her eyes at his urgency. He was always in hurry. A girl had to at least, shower and change if not put on some make-up.

“Okay, I will pick you up within twenty.” She sent a thumbs-up after reading his text.

She was confused why the meeting was cancelled all of a sudden. And why did he tell her to meet again?

‘It must be another demand he was going to put forward. She had to come out of the phase of being surprised. He would put something suddenly in front of her expecting her not to react or question him. Either he did not know her very well or he thought of himself as the high and mighty who had a final say in everything. She was not going to give him the satisfaction. She had her own values, ideas, opinions, priorities. She would make him understand that she was also a human.

She flipped her hair smugly and went to take a quick shower. She got dressed in a blue button down shirt and white pants. Her mind was still stuck on the surprise she had got early in the morning.

She was so surprised to find a man outside her door in the morning with at least six big boxes in his hands. The boxes were packed in cute red package with little hearts drawn all over. He had told her that Mr. Thomas Walker had sent him. She had reluctantly let him in and was surprised to find different dresses, skirts, shirts, shoes, heels, and bags. Just from the looks of them, she knew they were either designer or branded. They all looked so…expensive.

She was confused and a bit frustrated that why he would sent all of those items. She wanted to call and talk to him when she received a call from Camila. She had saved her number as instructed by Thomas the other day.

“Hello.” She greeted holding the phone in one hand while her other hand was massaging her temple. She was getting a headache just looking at the boxes that had occupied her entire room. Thank God, her mother was asleep. She usually woke up early in the morning. She was glad she chose to sleep a little longer that day. Otherwise, seeing at the boxes and all… She did not know how she would react.

“Good morning, ma’am—I mean Olivia. Did you receive the package?” She asked in her chirpy tone.

“Yeah. What is this all, Camila?” She asked her since she understood that Camila must know what was happening.

“Mr. Thomas told me yesterday to pick out a lot of dresses and shoes etc. for you. When you two left for your date, I did all the shopping besides the few ones we had bought before we left for salon.” She threw herself on her bed and grabbed her head. Was he crazy? Why would he do all of that?

Yes, she did not have the outfits according to his standard, and he must feel embarrassed to be seen with a girl with such dressing. But they were not even married, why would he be such a jerk? She was even reluctant when she was shopping with Camila the previous day, but those were not even 1/10th of what he had sent her.

And how did she manage to do all the shopping on her own?

“Thank you Camila. And sorry for the inconvenience. I don’t know why he made you do such effort, but I really appreciate it.” She said as she did not want to tell her anything. It was Thomas’s fault, so she had to talk to him. She just did what she was directed to do.

“The pleasure is all mine. He love you a lot. And I drew the heart for you on his behalf.” She giggled and ended the call. She shook her head with a smile. She was a hopeless romantic! She thought as she looked at the cute heart drawn with black marker.

She could not believe she made her smile when all she wanted was to call Thomas and lash out on him.

She was about to dial his number when she hear her mom’s whispering from the other room.

She threw her phone on bed and rushed towards Amelia’s room.

“Mom, what happened? Are you okay?” Olivia asked worriedly. She put her hand on her forehead and felt a slight temperature.

Amelia glanced at her with hooded eyes, “I am okay. I just feel a little ache all over my body.” She responded as she did not want to worry Olivia.

That explains why she was sleeping late.

“I am calling Elvis.” She grabbed her phone and called their neighbor doctor who often came as the hospital he worked at was a few minutes away.

“Don’t worry. I am okay.” Amelia said and whimpered again. Olivia shook her head as she waited for him to arrive. He arrived and wrote some medicines which she fetched quickly.

The whole morning was spent taking care of her mother, so the boxes and the clothing items etc. all left her mind. She remembered about the meeting only after she fed her mom.

She had not received any texts or calls from Thomas which was strange considering it was the meeting day. When he said it was cancelled, she was glad as much as she was confused.

It was good that he was telling to meet. She had to ask about why he sent her that many things when they were not even married yet. Even if they were married, she would not accept such things. She was used to living a simple life.

She knew she was getting into a contracted marriage with a billionaire, so there was not going to be anything simple in her life. But she still wanted to keep it intact.

She was out of the shower and drying her hair when she got a text.

“I am here.” She could not believe that it was exactly twenty minutes after their text. He was something!

Letting her hair to dry on its own, she quickly grabbed her purse and phone, and went to her mom’s room to check on her. She was sleeping peacefully, so she locked the door thinking she would not let the meeting exceed an hour. She had to be back soon as her mom was alone. She could not ask Mary again. It did not feel right to bother her again.

She took the elevator and was beside his car—the black SUV. It was not the only car he owned though. He changed his cars more than she changed her clothes. To think that they did not have that many meetings…

She knocked at the window as he probably had not noticed her. Otherwise, he would have come out of his car by now or at least acknowledged her presence.

He lowered the window staring at her with some undetected expression. She was also lost at the way he looked different than usual. He seemed a bit tired? She had no idea, but what she knew was that he looked different.