The Daring Billionaire’s Wife by Lypstical

Dominic

The first thing I want to ask Patrick is how he knows my secret but that would only confirm that it's true, so instead, I pretend not to know what he's talking about as I turn around to face him.

"You sound ridiculous with that shit that just came out of your mouth," I say to him, stopping right in front of him and looking him straight in the eyes.

"You can try to play dumb all you want, but it won't work with me because I know the truth and I mean absolutely everything. That's why I confessed my feelings to Vanessa. I knew there was actually nothing between you two. I'm even aware that she's not the only one you're currently fucking."

Though I'm shocked by the sudden turn of events, part of me even wants to mention that I'm no longer seeing Carmella but once again, that'll only confirm the truth and for as long as I can, I choose to play dumb, which doesn't seem to make him stop.

"I see you won't say a word." He chuckles. "That's okay. For now, I just want you to know that I know. There's a lot we need to talk about, but you can now stop with this act you've been putting up when it comes to Vanessa and your love for her." "That's where you're wrong," I firmly reply.

"Am I?" He raises his eyebrows.

I clench my jaw, wondering what I should say in regard to how I feel about her, but I can only glance to the side and he shakes his head.

"That's what I thought," he says.

"Shut the fuck up!" I grab him by the collar, frustrated that I don't actually have an answer.

"No need to lose your cool." He glares at me, holding onto my wrists to push my hands away but my anger won't let me loosen my grip. "How the hell do you know about this?" I ask, only realizing it afterwards that I've acknowledged that what he said is the truth.

"You're not getting anything more out of me." He smirks, then turns serious. "I wanted to meet you just so you could stop with this act."

Suddenly, my phone rings, making me loosen my grip on his collar and push him away so I can use it as a distraction. As soon as I look at the caller ID, I shake my head in disbelief at Shane's name flashing on the screen. My day can't get any worse and it leaves me panicking.

Just as I decline his call, Patrick turns to leave and I rush to him, grabbing him by the collar again and pushing him to the ground. He's not even able to get up as I keep him still by pushing down on his shoulders.

"If you think you're going to make this work to your advantage then you're fucking wrong!" I grit my teeth, fearing that this will be a similar situation to what's going on with Shane.

He grunts, trying to get my hands off of him as he looks up with a chuckle. "I'm not going to ask you for anything, at least not for now. I still have other things to take care of before I tell you how I know all this, so you can tone it down for now and let me go." "Don't you dare bother Vanessa with this!" I warn him.

He scoffs. "How can I possibly do that when she's blocked me? But hey, she did all that just to keep up with this act of love for you. Still, I chose to play along. Don't worry, I know she's pregnant and won't stress her out with this."

I let him go and stand upright, trying so hard not to punch the air. The beads of sweat drop down the side of my forehead and it's only now that I realize how stressed I am about this.

Patrick has been unpredictable and this could go so many different ways that I don't know what to think.

Even as he nonchalantly walks away and acts like he didn't just tell me he knows my secret, my heart doesn't stop racing in panic. I don't know how long I have to wait before he can tell me how he knows, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm about to see a different side of him and I fucking hate it.

Shane keeps calling me and sending messages, but he's the last person I want to deal with right now, so I turn off my phone and head straight to my father-in-law's place.

Vanessa

While my father-in-law engages in conversation with my father, my mother-in-law has my full attention as she enthusiastically tells me what she's looking forward to on the day I'll be launching my haircare line.

Suddenly, she gasps with wide eyes and a smile while looking behind me and I immediately look back, surprised to see Dominic quickly approaching us.

He smiles as he greets everyone but I can still tell he's in a hurry. Not everyone seems to notice his damp white sleeve under his jacket and the last thing I want to do is ask him what's wrong, so I play along and smile with everyone else when he hugs me. It's only when I'm in his arms, that I whisper to him.

"What's going on? I wasn't expecting you here."

"We need to talk." His voice sounds urgent.

It doesn't take much to convince our parents that we need some privacy and Dominic holds my hand right away, leading me to the stairs. His palm is a little sweaty and with no one watching him except me he seems extremely troubled

"Can you tell me what's going on now?" I ask.

"We're not far enough yet!" His tone comes as a shock to me as he grits his teeth in irritation.

After closing the door to my bedroom, I sit down on the bed but to my surprise, he only takes off his jacket and paces right in front of me, his white shirt having several patches of sweat. "Well? Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"Patrick wanted to see me because he knows about my relationship with Carmella," he suddenly says to me.

My reaction comes with a delay as that was the last thing I would've expected to hear.

"What? How did he know?"

He shrugs. "I don't know that part."

"Did he mention Carmella's name?"

"No, he didn't have to. I believed him when he said he knows. That's also why he confessed his feelings to you that day. He knows that you were just pretending to be in love with me, as always." "Oh..." His words sting so much that I pull on the sheets and glance to the side.

"Now, what did you tell him?" he asks.

I narrow my eyes as I look back at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone had to have told him about it." He raises his voice a little.

"Wait, you really think I had something to do with this?"

"I wouldn't be asking you if it wasn't the case, so how the fuck does he know?" he yells.

Caught off guard by his yelling, I rise to my feet and shake my head. "I get that you're panicking and all but don't use that tone with me."

He sighs, his gaze and voice softening as he comes closer but I step to the side so I can get away from him.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he says, holding onto my wrist and standing right in front of me.

I sigh, nodding in understanding. I look down at his hand holding onto my wrist and all I can think about is a few seconds ago when he e mentioned how I've been pretending to love him just for the public. Does he not see the truth even a little bit? It hurts so much that I pull my wrist away before I speak. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Let's just calmly find a solution to this."

He shakes his head. "I don't have the patience for that."

"Did Patrick mention Carmella's name?"

"No and I chose not to mention it either."

"Then maybe he's just messing with you and doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I don't think so, because how would he know that you and I are involved in this?"

I nod in agreement. "You're right about that. Did he ask for money?"

"No, he didn't ask for anything else apart from giving him some time before telling me everything he left out. At first, I wanted to make myself believe he figured it out after reading the article that was published, but our names were never revealed. He couldn't have guessed that it was us. And the article was published quite some time after he confessed his feelings to you. I even believed him when he said he's known from the start."

"That's what I don't understand." I rub my temples, feeling more uneasy as I think about it. "How could he possibly have known?"