The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

Burden Vs. Trust

SADIE

Something is wrong. I can feel it.

The tension building in the car was so thick it was choking me. It just reminded me that what I witnessed in the office had something to do with what was going on right now.

“What’s wrong, Beck?” He barely talked to me when he sent me to the office. When Linden and Devin drove Cenric to work, I had my doubts, but I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I will be working with Cenric until Friday.”

“What? Why?” I asked, confused. “Did you two get into a fight?”

“We’ll talk about this later, Sadie.”

“Of course.” I nodded.

I looked for Cenric as soon as I arrived at the Centh HQ. Maeve was already here for the first batch tour to The Travelers zone.

“Babe?” He looked surprised. Since we woke up in the morning, I noticed something different about him. He was guarded, and it felt like he was carrying the entire universe over his shoulder.

“Hey.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Whatever is going on between you and Beck, you two should talk it out. You are brothers. Misunderstanding happens all the time. Nothing can beat with a sincere apology.”

He sighed and nodded.

“I need your word, Cenric.”

“Okay, babe.”

“Good, now let’s go and show me around.” I held his hand. “I hope I didn’t take you from your meetings.”

“You are my wife. Theo is good at fixing my schedule, but I don’t get to see my wife visiting the HQ more often.”

I stopped and stared at the two in awe. My smile widened as Beck and Maeve stopped in front of my character, Kimia.

“Huh. So this is your entire plan all along?”

“The stars are aligned. I didn’t do anything. They just found each other. My job here is done. Let’s go and have lunch.”

At lunch, Cenric barely touched his food. Something was huge going on. Right now, it felt like he was about to shake and explode.

“Cenric?”

“Hmm?” He was even surprised when I called her name. His mind is somewhere far, far away from here.

“Just a sec.” I typed a message to Maeve that I’d be away for the whole day. Then I dialed Beck.

“Hey, Beck. So you met my assistant.”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Send her back to the office when she’s done. She knows I’m not coming with her.”

“Sure.”

“And Beck?”

“Yeah?” These guys sounded so melancholic it broke my heart in pieces.

“We can all get through this together. Don’t give up so easily. We are family, Beck.”

“I know.”

“Good. And Maeve is pretty. Ask her out.”

“Are you serious right now?” His reply was part annoyed and surprising.

“As a heart attack. If you don’t ask Maeve today, I’ll tell her your gay.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then prove it! Bye.” I ended the call. When I looked at my husband, he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“You are beautiful.”

“So do you, handsome. Let’s go.” I extended my hand. He gripped it and rose from his seat.

“Where are you taking me?”

I chuckled. “You sound like a girl. I don’t know, babe.” I texted Linden to know where he would drive us.

Once we were in the car, I leaned my head against him. “I missed my mom. I was still so young when she left. I barely got a chance to see her then.” I touched my necklace. I always felt her closer when I had it around my neck.

Cenric kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry, babe.”

“I know.”

“We’re here,” Linden announced.

“What are we doing here?” Cenric asked me as he got out of the car and looked around the park.

“I missed this. I’m sure you can’t remember the last time you’ve been in the park.” I dragged him away from the car towards the bike path. “I just wanna be with you, away from the office for a while.”

“You were with me last night.” He smirked.

“You wereinme last night.” I smiled wickedly.

“As a matter of fact.”

We walked hand in hand. “I want your body, mind, and soul with me right now, Cenric. I feel your burden, and it hurts that I can’t help you because you want to carry it alone. That’s why we are husband and wife. We face it together.”

“I’m afraid I can’t share this with you.” He looked down as if a spear of guilt had twisted in his chest. “Not this one.”

Suspicions crept back into my head. “What is it all about that you can’t even trust me?”

There was so much pain deep in those orbs, and I felt helpless that he didn’t trust me enough to share whatever was going on.

“I trust you, Sadie, with my life. You know that, but this is something I’d rather die than share this burden with you.” He let go of my hand.

I blinked up at him. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.”

He shook his head in regret. “I’m sorry, babe. You mean so much more to me than anything in this world. I can’t drag you into this. Go home. Devin will drive you back.” He turned around and walked away.

Every word excruciatingly cut through me. “So you’ll just gonna walk away like that when things get too complicated?”

He didn’t even pause or look back.

“You’re an asshole, Cenric!” I yelled out, but he didn’t seem to care. I just stood there and watched his back fade away.

“Asshole.” I looked up. My body was shaking. Tears just rolled down my face. “Damn it. Damn you, Cenric.”

“Sadie?” It was Devin.

I wiped my tears from my face before I faced him. “Take me away from here.”

“Let’s go.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he walked me away from the park.

I stayed quiet in the cab. Devin didn’t say anything on my side, but he kept looking at me as I saw his reflection through the window.

“I don’t wanna go home.” I frowned as I thought of what happened back there. I thought we were okay, even happier since we got married.

“Where do you wanna go?” Devin seemed to understand my dilemma.

“Where’s your place?” I looked at him.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Hotel then.”

He scratched his head. “Fine.”

“Don’t tell Cenric where we are. I’m gonna turn off my phone.”

“I don’t think we can hide from someone like Cenric. And I’d be in a lot of trouble. I’d lose my job and maybe my head as well.”

I glared at him. “Then I’ll go alone. You go back to him and tell him I knee you in your crotch.”

He snorted, making me more annoyed. “You know he won’t believe it, right?”

“Then either you stay without telling him where we are, or you go back. Alone.”

“You know, until now, you’re still a pain in the ass.”

I kept my mouth shut with his remark because it was true. He chose the King Hotel. After we checked in, he went out. But not after I warned him. I knew it meant nothing to him because Cenric was the one writing his paycheck.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

I changed to robe and ordered a bottle of wine and chocolate. It had been a while since I ate something sweet.

I was like a starving animal eating and drinking without a break. I was in my third glass when I heard someone unlock the door.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“You sound just like a drunk, jealous wife.”

“Who cares?”

“Apparently, my job is to keep you safe, and I still want this job.” He placed down some designers bags.

“Where did you get those?”

“Perks of working with the billionaire’s wife. Your work attire for tomorrow.”

“Thanks. You can go and waste his money. I don’t care. Check in to another suite, get a woman. Do whatever you want.”

“Sorry, lady boss, but I’ll stay where you are.”

I could barely roll my eyes. “No fun.” I was so drunk. My glass just slipped off my hand.