Library

Home / Romance / Claimed by the billionaire at the altar / Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed by the billionaire at the altar: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

96 Kabanata

61

Zac and I were talking to a business partner when I spotted Mr Burke and Olivia from the corner of my eyes. I almost concluded they weren’t going to show up but they did. Mr Burke had a scowl etched on his face, he looked like he was about to strangle someone. Olivia looked upset but as usual she looked beautiful, she wore a red dress that accentuated her features. I wished her attitude matched her beauty, she would have been the perfect girl ever. I tapped Zac slightly and cocked my head in their direction. We excused ourselves from the man we were talking to and began walking towards Mr Burke and his daughter. Zac placed his hand on my waist. “They are very intimidating people, they’ll scare you but you don’t ah e anything to worry about,”I nodded. I didny feel scared at all. Maybe it was because I had quite an amount of alcohol in my system or maybe it was because I had on a beautiful dress and I felt like a sexy woman. “Zac,”Mr Burke's voice was gruff and harsh. The sc

62

“Are you drunk?” Zac asked as we entered his limousine I shook my head and held back my laugh. I’ve never been drunk before but for some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing even though there was nothing funny. “Oh my goodness, you’re drunk,” Zac gasped. “How many glasses of champagne did you have?”I shrugged, “I don’t know,”I may have had one, three or five glasses but who knew? It was the waiter’s fault for always having glasses of champagne on their tray. “I can’t believe this,” he shook his headI couldn’t tell if he was disappointed in me. I stared at him with wide eyes then he started laughing and I joined him. “Jane Ackerman, you’re quite the character, aren’t you?” He laughed again “I could listen you laugh all day,” I confessedI should have kept my mouth shut but I couldn’t control myself. When we walked around, hands in hands, it made me feel like we were an actual couple and for a moment, I wished that was the case. I liked the way he looked at me, the way he let me

63

The next morning, I woke up with the worst headache ever. I wanted to throw up, my tummy hurt, everything hurt. One thing was certain, I wasn’t going to drink alcohol ever again, that thing was terrible. I tried to get out of bed but I feared I was going to fall. The loud knock on my door sounded like it was going on in my head. “Come in,” I managed to say “Look who’s awake,” Zac said, staring at meThe details from the previous night were now a blur and I hoped they remained that way. From the way he looked at me, I could tell I had said something or maybe done something. I avoided his eyes, I didn’t want him to see me this way. “I brought you chicken noodle soup,” he said as he placed the soup on my table. “It’s going to help with the hangover, you have to drink lots of water too.” “Thank you,” I murmured. I wasn’t sure I could eat the soup, I feared I was going to throw it up. “I’m going to the office today, I have a few things to sort out,” “Oh,” I didn’t hide my disap

64

By afternoon, I had cleaned up and I felt better. As expected, Zac and I were trending. Mr Burke put out a statement saying that it was just a minor misunderstanding in the family. He wanted the public to see him as a good person. He also referred to himself as Zac’s foster father. Rosa Gonzales wasn’t having any of it. Papa and mama had called, expressing their displeasure. Papa warned me about confronting Mr Burke, he said he wasn’t a good man and he’d do anything he can to get back at me for offending him. The only person who hadn’t called was Nate. I was certain he had seen the news and his parents had a lot to say. I was more concerned about Mr Burke's reaction to finding out I was an Ackerman. How did he know my fathers name? Surely, they knew each other or something else was going on. Whatever it was, I was going to make sure I got to the bottom of it. Zac came back home an hour later. He brought Chinese food from the restaurant he took me to. It was just what I needed.

65

I had so many questions for Nate and at the top of my list was how he got into the house. Security was really tight, nate couldn’t just barge into the house whenever he wanted. Zac left us alone in the kitchen. If looks could kill, Nate would have probably killed Zac.My cheeks flushed red with guilt, embarrassment and the warmth of Zac’s touch. “What was the meaning of that?” Nate demanded again “It’s not what you think, Nate,” I said quickly. “I was just emotional about what is happening to my parents and Zac was offering me comfort, nothing more,”Nate hissed. “With the look in his eyes, I can tell it was more than comfort. You must be very careful with that man. You’re a virtuous woman, you should let him touch you like that,”Was I really a virtuous woman? Sometimes, when I think about Zac, I imagine a kind of sex that felt too sinful to think of. The kind where I was screaming and he was doing things to me that I’ve never done before. I’ve never thought of Nate that way. Sex

66

The next day, I decided to stay in while Zac went to work. The situation with Zac and Nate had put me in a tough position and I spent the night, tossing and thinking of the right thing to do.By 4am, I made a con’s and pros list. With Nate, I was guaranteed consistency, no drama and happiness which was what every normal human wanted. The only con was that he didn’t make me feel the way Zac made me feel. With Zac, he made my world shake with electricity, I felt things I’d never felt before. The cons were a lot. Inconsistency, a future with a lot of drama and the major one which was the fact that he never saw me the same way I saw him. I took the engagement ring and attached it to my necklace like a pendant. I couldn’t bring myself to wear it on my ring and the guilt of not wearing it was consuming me. What was I going to do?I had no one to talk to about this. Papa and mama were busy sorting things out as they planned to reopen the restaurant and my friends weren’t the best option

67

In the afternoon, I decided to go see papa at the hospital. We had a lot to catch up on. Mr Vincent drove me to the hospital. Now, we were driving in one of Zac’s bullet proof cars. With Mr Burke still furious, no one could predict what he was going to do next. Papa looked healthier, his smile was bright just like it used to be and it almost brought tears to my eyes. There were no tubes connected to him, he could now walk by himself and the nurses said he had already made a few friends around the hospital. A few months ago, I thought I was going to lose him but seeing him now gave me hope. The doctors were just keeping him around for observation and he’ll be discharged soon.He pulled me in for a hug. I could tell he wanted to cry but he was holding himself back. “My daughter,” he smiled. “I’ve missed you so much. You’ve been causing a lot of trouble on the internet with that young man, huh?”I laughed. I knew papa was definitely going to bring up Zac. “I saw it on the news the

68

I decided to go to the office. Zac and I rode separately. I made an excuse of my tummy hurting and he eventually left because he had a meeting at nine. I had been avoiding him because I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to resist him. Everything reminded me of him. The plants he got because I mentioned I liked gardening, limited editions of books, even his clothes that I wore at the hospital. I didn’t return it and I wore it to bed almost every night because it still smelled like him even after washing it. I spoke with Dr Harisson again and she said out of sight, out of mind. However, I didn’t explain my living situation or more context to her because I figured she might know who I was. I had underestimated the level of popularity I had gotten from the scandal until when I went to the hospital to see papa and someone recognized me and asked for a selfie. It was awkward. Most people rolled their eyes at me or shot me dirty looks which I was now used to. Dr Harrison also recomm

69

I couldn’t focus on work, not when my mind was still on Zac. It was different , not being by his side at work. No stealing glances, little smirks or sharing of food. The ladies on the second floor were very pleasant, we talked about everything from work to hair and just girly stuff. Everyone was careful to not ask me about my relationship with Zac and I didn’t mind. To take my mind off things, I decided to look into my parents' land. Just like papa said, Mr Burke forcefully acquired the land and he said to the public that he was going to build a free hospital, of course that never happened. However, it was very strange that no one could say what was going on behind the tall gate. There were no recent photographs of the property. No progress reports. No construction permits filed, no one was awarded the contract after the initial announcement. Just old aerial photographs from years ago and a single blurry image taken from a distance of tall iron gates and warning signs posted every

70

Right after lunch break, we had a meeting at the boardroom. I sat across from Zac because it was the only seat left. He didn’t even spare me a glance, his jaw was locked like he was about to beat someone.I didn’t understand why he was upset. The ring was none of his business, he was practically in love with another girl for years. What was wrong with men? I pulled out my notepad and began scrolling to keep myself busy. We were talking about the market and analysis. “I want us to find out people’s responses in smaller regions before we launch the app. Remember we are trying to cater to everyone. By finding out people’s responses, we minimize any risks before we launch,” Zac said, addressing everyone.I began shaking my head. Zac’s suggestion was great but we had a lot of competition. Not to mention Mr Burke who ventured into tech recently because he wants to take down Zac’s company. I cleared my throat before speaking. “I don’t think we have enough time to be cautious. We need to

PREV

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status