Taken By The Arrogant Billionaire

Twenty-five minutes ago.

Valerie arrived at the venue. She looked around the hall looking for Sandy, but she could not find her.

“Excuse me” she beckoned a waiter over. ” Do you know Sandy Cornell?” He shook his head. “She a bit petite and very pretty and has a very small nose and…” She tried very hard to explain. “Oh! And she is pregnant”

The waiter tried to search his memory. “She is also Mr Dylan Smith’s wife.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I cannot take you to them. I can only tell you where they are ”

Valerie managed to find where the waiter described. She found Sandy and was about to call out her name but stopped. There were many people there and the atmosphere looked tense. They were surrounded by scary bodyguards. But what made her suspicious was Jane. She looked as if she had lost ten years of life.

“Psst” she tried to call her. “Sandy” she whispered. No reaction. Her subsequent attempts proved abortive. Just as she was about to turn around, Sandy happened to look up and caught a glimpse of her. She was going to shout her name when Valerie quickly stopped her by placing her index finger on her lips. She beckoned her over with her hands. Sandy excused herself.

“Where are you going?” Dylan wasn’t willing to let her out of his sight.

“I just want to use the restroom”

“I will go with you”

“No”

He knew how mad she could get if he did something she disliked.

“Then take a bodyguard with you”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? I want to go to the restroom. You want me to take bodyguards with me? Men!”

He called someone over. Specifically, a handsome woman. If it had not been for her feminine face, she would have had no idea she was a woman. She even had muscles!

“She will come with you” Sandy’s lips thinned.

“Fine” she said and turned to leave. She finally met with Valerie.

“I need to see my friend before going to the restroom” she said to the bodyguard who nodded.

“Hey! I missed you”

“Me too”

“I didn’t see you inside the hall do I came to look for you. Why are you out here? You were with your….. uh…. family-in-law, so I couldn’t go in. I’m sure I cannot even get past the guards. Is everything okay?”

“Not really”

“What happened?”

“It’s Jared”

“What about him?”

“He isn’t here yet”

“What! But the ceremony has started already”

“Yes. We are trying to find a solution. He is not even picking our calls. This may be a stain on the Smith family’s reputation. We have no idea where he is”

Silence descended over them. Sandy suddenly thought of something.

“Valerie”

“Hm”

“I know this might sound crazy, but….. why don’t you call him?”

“Me? He isn’t even picking his brother’s call. Why would he pick mine?”

“We cannot know if you don’t try”

“That’s absurd. I don’t have his number”

“I do”

She gave her Jared’s contact and she dialed it. He picked up on the third ring. Sandy could not hide her shock.

“Hello” Valerie felt her heartbeat quicken when she heard his captivating voice.

“You should come to the ceremony now. Everyone is waiting”

There was silence on the other end for sometime. “Do you want me to come?”

She was speechless. She was even more stunned when she realized a part of her didn’t want him to.

“It’s your engagement party, sir. You should be here. It’s only right”

“Okay” the line was disconnected.

“What did he say?”

“He’s coming”

“What the….. You convinced him with just a phone call? Does he-”

“I’ll like to return to the hall now. You can join me when you are done”

She retraced her steps back to the hall.

A servant ran to where the family were gathered.

“Mr Smith has arrived”

“Oh my!” Sandy muttered under her breath.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

“Where is he?”

“He went into the hall”

Valerie was glued to her seat, her eyes never leaving the couple that went around greeting the guests.

“Aren’t they so cute together? They are the perfect example of a match made in heaven” some ladies behind her whispered.

“Of course. I can’t even imagine how their children will be. Very beautiful and handsome. She is so lucky. How I wish I could find someone has perfect as him” she sighed wistfully.

Their conversation made Valerie’s stomach churn. She didn’t know what she was feeling at that moment. Was it pain? Anger? Jealousy? Maybe the three combined. When it was time to eat, Valerie stacked her plate with food and shoved it into her mouth as she struggled to fight back tears.

“Why am I even crying?” She sniffed, taking another mouthful.

“Yo man! Congratulations” Mike slapped his back with a smile and only received a deathly glare.

Pete and Blake were also there. Jared turned back to his object of interest. Valerie.

“Man, I noticed you have been staring in that direction for quite some time. What are you looking at?”

“It’s none of your business”

Valerie turned and caught him staring at her. She swallowed and quickly went back to eating.

Blake watched all these with narrowed eyes.

Valerie’s heart didn’t stop beating fast. Why was he staring at her? Openly at that?

“Hi Valerie” Jane approached her with a smile. “I’m sorry I had to inform you the party was postponed at the last minute”

Valerie nodded. “But how did you get my number?”

Jane laughed. “Did you forget? The man I’m marrying is your boss. Oh right, is the food here to your liking?”

Valerie knew better than to assume Jane was being nice. She was rubbing her engagement in her face. That only meant one thing. She knew that Jared liked her.

“Just look at my ring. Isn’t it amazing? I’m sure it will be very expensive. About five times your salary. I cannot believe Jared would spend so much just to give me this” What Jane didn’t know was, Jared had transferred all the duties to Will. Will had bought the ring and Jared had even refused to look at it.

“I’ll take my leave now, so you can enjoy your food. You don’t get to eat that everytime” Her work here was done, so she turned to leave. Valerie clenched the fork in her hand and for the first time in her life, she felt like killing someone, and that person was Jane. But she could not. She didn’t have the heart to. Instead, she began to stab her food, imagining Jane’s face in it.

“Woah! Someone is being violent”

Valerie turned to the speaker and saw a man she didn’t recognize. He took a seat beside her. “And you are?”

“I guess you don’t remember me. I’m Ryan. Ryan Taylor. We met at the café opposite Smith corporation”

“Oh! I’m so sorry. I tend to forget people I don’t see often”

“Them I should come see you often?”

“No that wasn’t -” she wasn’t in the mood to explain everything. “Have it your way”

“You look upset. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine”

“You’re sure? You don’t look so”

“I said I’m fine. Even if I’m not, it is not your place to know!” She snapped.

“I’m sorry if I upset you more”

Valerie sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. Excuse me” she snatched a glass of champagne from a passing waiter who frowned at her rudeness, but she cared less. She met Sandy on the way.

“I was just going to come to you. Come” she brought her to a secluded area. Sandy turned to the female bodyguard who had been following her around and said with gritted teeth. “Can you please give us five minutes of privacy?”

“I am sorry, Madam, but I’m under strict orders not to let you out of my sight”

Sandy seethed. “Fine. But, can you move back a little? That is the least you can do for me” She wasn’t going to budge anyway.

She moved six feet back.

“You have changed” Valerie commented.

“Really? Well, I have to. Now, here’s why I called you here. What is the deal between you and Jared?”

“Deal? What deal?”

“Does Jared like you?”

Valerie kept quiet.

“Is it true?”

“I don’t know. But it looks like it”

There was silence for a while.

“Then….. do you like him?”