BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Valerie’s POV

Moodiness and lack of appetite are now Ryan’s favorite pastime.

He barely spoke a word to me last night after we left the police station without seeing the Commissioner who had already left before we got there.

We couldn’t see the suspects either and we had to sleep in a hotel nearby.

I was able to catch some sleep but Ryan could barely sleep a wink. I feel his pain and I hope he gets over this soonest.

He almost left me still sleeping in our hotel room this morning so he could come to the police station without me. The running sound of the shower woke me up and I jumped down from the bed.

I ended up not taking a shower because he was in a rush to come here.

Now that we are here, we are still yet to see Mr. Lewis and I wonder what exactly is going on. I had to excuse myself to come to get us some coffee as breakfast before he comes.

As soon as I pay the cafe man, I hold the two cups of coffee in my hand and turn round to take the door out when I bump into a hard wall, making me jerk back and grip the cups harder so they won’t spill.

Shit! I mutter under my breath as I lift my head to curse at the man but the sight before me makes my jaws drop open.

“Valerie?” Fred’s smiling face appears as he calls out my name loudly as though we are still friends.

“Fred”, I only say his name out of surprise. He is the least person I expect to see here and I am not really pleased to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you that”, he is beaming brightly in his colorful office wear.

Does he work here now? I realize I must be keeping Ryan waiting so I take a step forward to go out.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” he blocks my way again, grinning like an idiot, reminding me of how much of a fool he is.

What do you think I am here for? I’m here with my husband, of course, I retort sharply in my head as I raise the cups of coffee high and move past him.

“Hey”, he comes to my front to block me from going again but I keep moving. “Did she call you too?”

I stop dead in my tracks before twirling around to face him. “Who?” I squint my brows in curiosity.

“Oh, you aren’t here for her? I thought you were. I was wondering why she had to call me to come all the way here if you were here for her. Never mind.” he waves me away with his hand and I throw him a cold glare for not satisfying my curiosity.

“Who the hell are you talking about?!” I almost yell at him in frustration. If he is talking about someone we both know then it has to be someone important to me but I can’t think of one single person who knows me and Fred together or would call Fred here instead of me.

“Brenda, of course. Your friend. She is in the police station and she called me all the way here to come to bill her out. I thought you were also here for her. If you aren’t, then why are you here?” he stands with a frustrated look on his face and arms akimbo.

My jaws drop open.

Brenda?

That’s right. I should have known right away that it was her. She is the only one who knows me with Fred. She would never call me because she still feels guilty for what she did to me with Fred.

Crazy bitch.

I glare at him harshly before turning back on my heels to go my way. I don’t fucking care why she is here and whether she gets out or not.

She deserves whatever comes her way. And calling Fred was the right thing to do. Maybe they are partners in crime.

Fortunately, Fred does not call me back or follow me. I get to the station and enter to go to the waiting room where Ryan has his head bowed in anxiety.

I really do not know if he is anxious about seeing his so-called Father and sister or about seeing the new suspect they caught.

When we saw that note, the first person that came to my mind who could be a female and could have done that was Anita. But it seems Ryan is right this time and I am wrong because it is apparent, we have three suspects, not two which means the third suspect must be the one responsible for his Mother’s death.

“Baby”, I drop the coffee and raise his head with my two hands, then peck his forehead. He watches me with a faraway look so I lift the cups, stretching one to him. “Take.”

He does not argue with me as he did at the hotel this morning when I asked him to let us get breakfast downstairs before heading out.

He couldn’t wait to get here and now that we are here, we have to wait for the Commissioner. I wonder why he isn’t allowing the other men to let us see them.

Must we wait for him?

Before I can plop to the chair opposite Ryan, someone enters and it turns out to be Mr. Lewis.

“Mr. Lewis”, I call out happily to alert the gloomy-looking husband of mine. Just like I imagined, he shoots to his feet and spins around to see the old man enter with a smile.

He shakes hands with Ryan, then comes over to hug me.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting. This is a special case so I didn’t want anyone getting involved in your case other than me. I hope you don’t mind?”

Ryan shakes his head with a sad smile. He looks like a child right now and I feel like rubbing my hands on his head to console him.

“Let’s go”, I hear him say and I quickly drop my coffee to follow them out, even though my stomach is already rumbling. Ryan didn’t have dinner last night so I couldn’t either, but this morning, I am very hungry.

I will get back to the coffee when we are back from satisfying our curiosity about who the third suspect is.

Is it Celina or someone else? If it is someone else, who can it be? Celina and Anita are the only females I know who have a relationship with Ryan, except of course the dead Mrs. Lorenzo.

Who can it be then?

I really do not see any reason why Celina would want his Mom dead. They like each other, don’t they? Mrs. Lorenzo obviously likes her but I don’t know how much Celina likes her too.

That woman is a lovable person and anyone who doesn’t like her is a dumbhead and an asshole.

“Who would you like to see first? Your…”

“The third suspect”, Ryan and I both say in chorus. He stares at me and I smile. The man nods and continues to walk on while we follow. When I am walking side by side with Ryan, I hold his left hand tightly.

Finally, we get to another visitor’s room and he instructs one of the officers to open the door. The door opens as Ryan lets out a deep sigh.

I do the same because I really do not know what we will get to see in there.

Mr. Lewis enters followed by the officer and Ryan. I am left outside and for no reason, I find my legs stuck, unable to move until I hear Ryan’s voice.

“You?!”

I hurry inside to meet the greatest shock of my life. Seated on the wooden chair is no one but my best friend, Brenda. The same one who cheated on me with my boyfriend months ago, who gave me the courage to become Ryan’s wife.

What the hell is happening here? I almost stumble backward in shock.

Brenda!

How does it even relate to her? How does she know about Mrs. Lorenzo?

When Fred told me she was here, I never thought I would get to see her or even get to know she is related to the same case why I am here.

Is there a mistake somewhere?

Brenda is a betrayal and a cheat but definitely not a killer.

I take two steps forward with trembling hands while Ryan turns back to face me squarely with the same look of confusion that I have on my expression.

“Valerie, I’m sorry….” she breaks down into tears as she holds onto the table in front of her.

“Bree…. Brenda?!” it comes out like a question because I seriously can not believe my eyes.

“I’m sorry…” she trails off again with regrets flashing across her expression.

“Please sit”, Mr. Lewis points to a chair for Ryan and me to sit in, jerking me back to life. Quickly, I rush forward and sit down. Ryan does the same.

Mr. Lewis drags out another chair and sits in while the officer stands beside him. “Are you ready to tell them what happened?”

Brenda nods eagerly, wiping her tears with the back of her hands. Her hair is disheveled and I wonder what exactly led her to this. This is definitely not the Brenda I know.

She tries to hold my hand which is placed on the table separating us as I lean forward in anxiety, but I move my hand away.

She sniffles, hurt flashing across her expression, her gaze not shifting from mine. “Do you remember how I told you I liked Fred before you two began to date?”Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

I blink.

How exactly is this related to this case? What the hell is she talking about?

She continues without my reaction. “I was the one who liked him first, Valerie but you two ended up dating. I forgot about my admiration for him because you were my best friend but when he began to make some moves, I decided to seduced him and have him to myself. When you caught us together, Fred began to despise me. I figured out it was because he was still in love with you and I was ready to do everything to make sure you never come back together.”

Really?

“When the news of your marriage got to me, I was happy. It felt like good riddance to rubbish. I thought he would get over you and realize I am the one he needs but he goes after other women. I began to hate you more for that.”

“Then I met with Celina and she asked me to help her with something. It turns out she knew about my love for Fred and she was ready to help me get him if I could also help her in return.”

Ryan shares a look with me. That kind of I-told-you look which gets my head spinning in intense confusion.

“She was in love with your husband and she wanted him for herself. She promised to help me get Fred if I help her get Ryan too. I asked how and she told me we have to get rid of his Mother because you two got married because of her.”

I let out a gasp.

This is real.

“Anita told her the marriage was because of his Mother and if we could get rid of her, Ryan will divorce you and she could have him to herself while she helps me get Fred because Fred was already showing interest in her and…”

“Wait, I don’t get it. Do you mean you know Celina all this while or what? I don’t understand?”

She nods.

“How? When? Where?” I spill out to her with more questions in my head.

How did all of this happen without my knowing? How come I never knew she was in love with Fred all along?

“Tell her who she is to you”, Mr. Lewis asks her harshly. She must have told him everything.

Who is she to Brenda? Brenda is not the kind of girl that Celina is. Brenda is not as sophisticated as Celina and I am so sure they are not friends, except of course Fred introduced them to each other.

“You have to help me, Valerie. I shouldn’t have killed that woman but Celina pushed me to it. She threatened to kill me if I didn’t stick to the initial plan. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Tell her who Celina is!” Mr. Lewis shouts at her as she rises abruptly, making her shiver in fear.

Ryan’s head drops and I see a tear roll down his eyes

She stammers and finally confesses. “Celina is my sister.”

“What?!” Ryan shoots his head up as we both exclaim loudly in disbelief.