The Daring Billionaire’s Wife by Lypstical

Dominic

Seeing Patrick again in less than twenty four hours after I shoved him to the ground only makes me want to do it again, but I can't as this is a more public space compared to our meeting place yesterday.

Since it's early in the morning, the outdoor restaurant barely has any customers. I'm sitting with him in the corner, hating the fact that I had to show up here just to hear what he had to say, but it seems to take a while. "Are you going to talk or not?" I glare at him. "If you keep wasting my time, I'll just have to leave."

He scoffs, taking a sip from his coffee. "There's no way you're going to do that when you're curious about why I wanted you to meet me."

Even though he still tries to act as cocky as he did yesterday, I can sense that something is off about him from his subtle movements of unease.

"Get straight to the point because I need to make arrangements for my father-in-law's treatment."

"Really?" He leans forward in curiosity. "What kind of treatment?"

"That's none of your business."

Shaking his head at my hostility, he says, "Whatever is going on right now, he has nothing to do with this. I'll always be grateful to him because he's the reason I have a job today. He gave me a chance and his well-being means a lot to me. That's why I only want what's best for him. So, tell me about the treatment."

"I'm not doing this with you. Just tell me why you wanted us to meet. If you want to know about the treatment, ask him instead."

He nods in understanding, raising his hands in defeat. "Fine, I guess I'll get straight to the point. I can get Shane off your back." My eyes widen in shock. "What?"

"Yes. I know what's going on with him and that you're late with the payment. I know how to get him off your back for good." "How the fuck do you seem to know everything?" I ruffle my hair with a deep exhale.

"I know about Shane because I'm the one who told him your secret."

"What? It was you?" I pause and glare at him as it takes everything in me not to reach my hand across the table and grab him by the collar.

"Look, I had no choice. He found out that I knew your secret by accident. He and I go way back when he bullied me and it's never really stopped. That's why he took advantage of the situation and decided to make money off of you, but I can help put an end to that." "I can't believe I'm even considering this, but why now?" I ask.

"I've always been powerless but with someone like you, one of the most influential billionaires in the world, this will be one of the easiest things to do."

I lean back in my seat and cross my arms, suspiciously narrowing my eyes as I say, "In exchange for what?"

He smiles a little and intertwines his fingers. "I want to be with Vanessa."

My heart suddenly starts racing, rage consuming me as I process his condition. "You must be out of your fucking mind with what you just said."

"I mean it."

I clench my fists under the table. "What makes you think I'm going to let that happen?"

"Come on. You know the answer to that. There's nothing to your relationship with her apart from it being an agreement between you two. The same way you were openly seeing someone else and she was okay with it, is the same way you're going to be okay with her dating me." I poke my cheek, looking around as I try so hard not to break his jaw with my fist.

"So, what's it going to be?" He confidently raises his chin. "I know how desperate you are to get rid of Shane. That's why I'll give you what you want and you give me what I want. It's just like I said, there's nothing special between you and Vanessa."

"Hold it right there. There's

something I need to clarify." I take a deep breath and lean forward, ready to speak from my heart. "You keep saying that everything between Vanessa and I is just for the public, but you're wrong. I admit that in the beginning, she was just someone I used to achieve my goal. I never even looked at her as my wife, but things changed when I got to learn more about who she truly was. From there, I don't know when exactly it was, but I began to question the way I felt and-"

"You're just saying this because you don't want me to-"

"Shut the fuck up and listen to me," I firmly cut him off. "It wasn't so easy because my heart was broken, but Vanessa was always there and the little things about her began to fascinate me. I still didn't want to accept it at the time so I made myself believe it was nothing. I've been questioning what I feel for a long time, which is why I couldn't respond to you yesterday but last night, just like most nights, I was on top of her."

He squeezes the empty cup of coffee in his hand and I can tell I just struck a nerve. "Why are you telling me that part?" He sneers.

"Because it's important. I was on top of Vanessa, just like I have been so many times. Using only my fingers on one hand, I can actually count the number of nights that I haven't been on top of her in this month. In the past, only described that as fucking her but lately, I've been making love to her and that's a huge difference. It doesn't even sound right to say that

I fucked her last night."

Clenching his fist on the table, he bitterly says, "So what?"

"I couldn't give you an answer yesterday because I didn't know how to put it in words, but now I do. I like Vanessa, so you're wrong to think that everything between us is fake."

It takes him a moment to process everything and he pokes his cheek, then shakes his head firmly.

"Do you really think I'm stupid?" He sneers again. "You're obviously putting on an act."

"This piece of shit." I whisper to myself as I rub my forehead. "Didn't you hear a word I said? It's not an act. I know how I feel about Vanessa."

"You can't possibly expect me to believe that when you couldn't say it yesterday."

"Like I said, I just didn't know how to put it in words."

He sighs. "And does she know about this?"

"No." I shut my eyes for a second.

"Fine, let's say whatever you've just said is true. It doesn't change anything because I still want to be with her. You claim that this isn't an act, but that's just on your part."

"Listen here." I tilt my head, trying so hard not to slam the table in frustration. "I won't allow you to go out with my wife."

He scoffs. "How about you let her decide?"

"No. I don't want to stress her out with shit like this."

"You don't need to give me that lame excuse because I know you feel threatened by me. For the longest time, Vanessa was deeply in love with me. I'm certain she still is and has just been putting on an act. That's why she doesn't like you back, so let her decide if she wants to be with me."

"You're shameless."

"Oh, really? But wait, how is this any different from what you put her through? Just let her decide. For now, I'll help you get rid of Shane and then afterwards, you're going to witness her real feelings for me."