All Chapters of BILLIONAIRE'S ARRANGED WIFE: ALWAYS THE SECOND CHOICE: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

"Nicola..." Melanie approached Nicola as she was having a glass of chocolate ice-cream milkshake.Nicola took a deep breath. This was it. The moment she had been dreading. "Yes, Melanie?""I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye on your marriage," Melanie began tentatively, "but I do hope you know that I only want what's best for you."Nicola took a spoonful of ice-cream, her eyes never leaving Melanie's. "And what's that, exactly?" she asked, her voice as cold as the dessert.Melanie took a moment before speaking, choosing her words carefully. "For you to be happy, of course."Nicola raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I'm not happy?""I know you feel like this is a good decision but you may regret it going forth." Melanie said."What are you trying to say?" Nicola dug her nails into her palm as she told herself to keep calm. This woman or this conversation was not worth it."All I am saying is that you are too young to have a child. You are only twenty-two.""So?'

A cackle escaped Nicola's lips which was so like her pre-teen self that Dominic's eyes widened as he peered over at her. She was grinning wickedly at the papers in her hands. "Is this necessary?" He sighed as he turned back to face the road. "It seems rather childish to me." "Says the most immature prick to walk the earth." Nicola rolled her eyes, determined to not let anyone get in the way of the satisfaction she was going to gain from throwing the papers in Melanie Grant's face. Dominic gaped at her. It was the first time in years someone had called him immature to his face. He thought he had done his best to hide that aspect of himself from the world. Though it was true that his true colors came to the surface when he was with his wife these days. But it did not seem like she cared at all to notice. "I am not immature! And did you just call me a prick?" "Yes and yes!" Nicola shrugged as she looked out the window. "STOP THE CAR!" Dominic was startled and stepped on the

Nicola seethed as she bounced her one-month-old sleeping nephew in her arms while Dominic had his arm around her, his thumb drawing circles on her forearm. Her brother-in-law had joined the party and all of them were in the living room, watching a stupid romantic movie. It was tradition - Saturday night - that Stacia and Malcolm watch a rom-com and they were not yet ready to relinquish the tradition even with the baby frequently interrupting them. As of tonight, they were letting Nicola and Dominic watch over their bundle of joy as they enjoyed their tiny indulgence. "You know what?" Dominic spoke up while Stacia had taken a bathroom break. "Maybe you could drop Rhys off at our place every Saturday evening." Nicola looked up from the sleeping infant with a frown on her face. "I don't suppose it would be too hard to care for him for a couple of hours. We will get some practice on child-rearing and you both can have your date night." Malcolm smiled nervously as he looked ove

"I am pregnant." The twenty-four members of the PaperCloud family stared dumbly at their boss as they took in the news. Nicola looked at her stumped team and then rolled her eyes. "And I am very very very happy about it." There was an immediate explosion of wishes and laughter and hooting and Nicola found herself in an iron grip with her feet off the ground. "Freddie, you are strangling me!" Nicola did not need to see the face to know which one of her idiots this was. "This is why you were sick?" Blair had tears in her eyes as Nicola was finally released to the ground. The emotional mother of one came forward and embraced Nicola in a tender hug. "I am so happy for you!" "My baby is all grown up and having babies!" George was next. And then there were twenty-one others. Heather, the intern, was the last one. "Am I allowed to post this?" She asked sheepishly as she pulled away from the hug. "Of course not!" George wiggled a finger in her face, "The internet is full of u

"Can we talk like adults?" Dominic had waited till Nicola finished a fair amount of her salad and sandwich before he started speaking."I don't recall using toddler jargon anywhere in our conversations," Nicola said drily.Her husband sighed. The sarcasm was never going to end.Did he want it to end? Of course not. But he would have appreciated it if she had put it on hold while he was trying to have a meaningful conversation with her."Do you really care what the media says?" He asked. "You never cared about what anyone ever said but now you are going to start caring about strangers' opinions?"Nicola dropped her sandwich and glared at him. Little did he know how much people's words had affected her over the years that she became a shell of her former self. But she was not about to let that happen again."It's not whether I care or not." She said pointedly. "It's that people have the audacity to say shit about others without knowing anything. They need to be taught a lesson."