Semua Bab The Billionaire's Second Option : Bab 11 - Bab 20

Raphael’s POV I stood in the hallway, my mind raced. Henrietta had never spoken to me like this in all the time we knew each other and I couldn’t figure out why for the life of me, she was doing that now. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Kristine. Her name flashed on the screen and instead of the warmth I should have felt, I felt awkward. It felt like she just came back and turned my life upside down. I could leave the house now, say I needed air so I could go and meet Kristine and shut her up before she could keep calling my phone. I knocked on the door. I knew she could hear me. “You were right,” I said suddenly. I didn’t hear any movement inside. “I’ll stop seeing her.” I heard the door click open. “What?” She blinked at me, definitely caught off guard by my statement. “I’ll end whatever it is she’s trying to start up again” I said, clearing my throat. “You said it yourself. This isn’t about feelings, this marriage is a contract but I crossed a line and y

Henrietta’s POV I felt like the room was spinning or maybe it was just my head. I didn’t know which. Raphael stood in the middle of our living room, he still looked disheveled and scattered. She was seated on the armchair now with the baby in her arms, she held the girl tightly like if she let go, the baby would run away. I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene playing in front of me. I couldn’t process how any of this was happening under our roof. With my mind still turning, I looked at Raphael. “What happened?”He met my gaze, he looked tired, heavy and I wanted to believe that he was going to be honest with me. “I didn’t plan this,” he said. “I just ran into her by chance. She looked shaken and said she needed help getting a few baby things so I drove her to that big mall near Westfield, we were shopping and then I opted to take her to her house and when we got there, her house was on fire.” My stomach tightened. “There were already sirens everywhere and the entire place was i

Henrietta’s POV There was a time when I used to think silence was peaceful but now it just felt like pressure. Since Kristine moved into our home, the space had changed, even the air felt different and Raphael? His energy felt… new. With me, he’d been quiet, colder in some ways and distracted most times. But when it came to her, to his beloved Kristine, his guard dropped. I noticed how he lingered longer in conversation with her, how he listened attentively to her pointless conversation and how he laughed with her in a way that felt real and genuine. I hated myself for noticing, for drawing comparison between his acting with me and his actions with her. That wasn’t all, I hated how much it bothered me. I kept telling myself it shouldn’t matter. It was a contract for heaven’s sake, a deal and nothing more. I had signed up for this in complete awareness. I was supposed to play the wife, smile at events and stay out of his way otherwise. But my stupid heart didn’t read the fine p

Raphael’s POV The moment I entered the house, I could hear the baby crying. Katie’s cry sounded sharp and restless. She was agitated and maybe whatever was wrong with her was serious. I rushed towards the living room and found Kristine pacing the room, she was barefooted and her hair looked a mess. Her one hand bounced the baby gently while the other one had a damp cloth that she used to wipe at her face. Her eyes snapped up when she saw me. “I googled some stuff, I don’t know which one to do, her fever dropped a bit though,” she said quickly, in one breath. “She's still fussing a lot and crying and I think we need to take her to the hospital as fast as possible.” I moved closer to her, I had no idea what to do, I had only been a father for less than a week. “Let me feel her.” She shifted the head of the baby towards me, her skin was still warm but it didn’t seem like a fever but I didn’t know the temperature that could be called a fever for kids. “Let’s get to the car,” I sai

Henrietta’s POV It was not even sunrise when Raphael called out from his bathroom. “Henrietta! Henrietta!!” I was awake and shuffling around his room to keep up the appearance that we spent nights together. I guessed he wasn’t going to tell Kristine about our contract, at least not now. “Henrietta, could you help me pick out something? I’m running late!” I paused midway from typing some message on my phone to Annabelle about Kristine. “Sure,” I said, rising to my feet. I still finished typing my message before walking over to his closet, this kind of requests from Raphael used to make me feel useful. As though I was involved in his life truly, not contract wise, I helped him get ready sometimes and I felt powerful when I chose what the world would see him in on a particular day. Now that Kristine was here, it just felt more like a task on a checklist I wasn’t supposed to care so much about. But I still cared. I cared that he wanted me to pick the outfit. I opened his closet