Chapter 40: Isabelle

Book:The Billionaire's Contract Published:2024-5-1

Lucian’s POV
She really is done with me. I thought we would have a chance to sort things out. I frowned down at the text, an unbelievable amount of weight pushing down on me.
There’s no point staying here waiting here for Malea when I just got a confirmation that we’re officially over. I turned on the car and made my way back home. I’m not giving up. No matter how long it takes, I swear I’ll get Malea back.
I turned into my driveway and turned off the car before walking up the driveway to the front door.
I unlocked the door and slipped in. The whole house was dark. Maybe Isabelle’s asleep for once. I dropped my keys onto the small table near the door and slipped off my shoes before heading upstairs.
My room door was shut. Quickly, I opened the door and was immediately swamped in darkness. The room smelt of an overly sweet perfume. Unlike Malea’s. I frowned. Wait. I flicked on the light and froze.
The pure white sheets on my bed had been replaced with a sultry red color and in the middle of the bed was Isabelle, fast asleep, her blonde hair splayed across the red pillows. What is she doing here?
I glanced to my right and saw heels of different colors lined up against the wall. Her suitcases sat piled in the corner. I crossed the room to where she was, ready to pull her out of my bed and my room when I noticed that she really is asleep.
She yawned and rolled over, her bare back now facing me. Is she naked? I don’t want to find out.
I backed away from the bed and left the room, making sure to turn off the light on my way out.
“Where were you?” I stopped before turning back around to face Isabelle. She sat up on the bed and used the red covers to cover her top half.
“Why it your business? My whereabouts are exclusive to myself, family, friends and my partner. Last I checked, you weren’t either of those four categories.” I snapped.
She grinned, something I wouldn’t expect. “But I do fall into one of those categories.”
I’m so done with this. “Goodnight.”
“Where are you going?” She called frantically after me.
“To bed.”
****
Malea’s POV
I woke up to the sound of a knock at my door. I groaned and rolled out of the bed. I realized that I wasn’t even wearing anything so I reached for one of the robes the hotel provided, and slipped it on.
Someone knocked again. “Hold on.” I called with a roll of my eyes. I unlocked the door. I swallowed when I saw who stood there.
“I brought these for you.” Lucian grinned before walking past me and into the hotel room. He placed the breakfast meal onto the table along with the cup of tea. I had no way of knowing what was inside but I assumed Lucian brought me tea because he knows I hate coffee.
I spun around to face him and closed the door. “What are you doing here?” His gaze fell to my exposed chest and I blushed before tightening the robe.
“Bringing you breakfast.” He began to unpack the breakfast bag. He turned to face me for a second. “Would you prefer a breakfast sandwich or waffles?”
“Lucian—”
“Who am I kidding, everyone loves waffles.” Lucian turned back to the meal in front of him.
“Lucian.” He faced me then. “I can’t do this. And you know it too. You cheated on me, I broke up with you and now you’re bringing me breakfast? Don’t you get it? We’re over.”
“But you never let me explain what happened.” He replied, his voice strained.
“Because I know what happened.”
He shook his head. “No. No you don’t.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “There is no other interpretation of what happened!”
Lucian stepped forward. “Yes there is.”
I stood there. Hesitant, but wanting more than anything to hear his side of the story. “Fine.”
“Let me start at the beginning.” He sat down on the bed. “At the charity event, when you went with Adam, Isabelle danced with me. Suddenly, she kissed me—”
“Wait. Stop there. Isabelle told me that you kissed her.” Did she lie to me?
Lucian looked at me in disbelief. “I didn’t. She kissed me and when she did, I pushed her away and that was when I went to get you.”
That makes a lot more sense than what Isabelle told me. How could Isabelle kiss him and he couldn’t even tell me? “Did you ever plan on telling me that she kissed you?”
Lucian nodded. “Yes. Of course. I was planning on telling you but then Isabelle moved in with us.” He looked straight at me, his gaze unwavering. “When you went to the gym, I took a shower. And when I finished showering, I went into the room to put on clothes and then the door opened. I thought it was you at first but when I turned around, it was Isabelle. I didn’t know what she wanted or why she was even in the room, but she walked up to me suddenly and tried to pull off my towel.”
I couldn’t help it when my hand flew to my mouth in surprise. That conniving little bitch.
“She threatened to pull off the towel and said that if she did, she’d be seeing more of me more than you ever have. Isabelle then said that she would leave me alone if I kissed her. Obviously I said no, but she kissed me. Not the other way around and you walked in at the wrong time.” He stood up then. “Honestly, I screwed up big time and I couldn’t be more regretful and sorry than I am now. I would never ever want to hurt you, Malea, and Isabelle put me in a position where I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
I looked up at the ceiling to prevent the tears that brimmed in my eyes not to fall. What did I ever do to Isabelle? What did I ever do to deserve that? “Lucian.” I stood up and looked him in the eye. He frowned when he saw the first tear drop down my cheek. He leaned forward and wiped away the tear before pulling me into a hug.
“I have to think about this, Lucian.” I mumbled against his shoulder.
“Think about what?”
“Us. Whether or not I can give us another chance.” I couldn’t stop the flow of tears now.
“Don’t worry. Take all the time you need because I’ll always be here for you and I’ll wait as long as you need.” He rubbed my back and his reassurance only made me break down more. Lucian pulled away from me and pressed a kiss to my forehead before picking up his keys and his phone.
“I better get going. I have some errands to run.” Lucian made his way over to the door and paused there for a second. “Another question, Malea?” He asked as he tuned to face me.
I wiped quickly at my face and sniffed. “Yeah?”
“Why did you send me that text?” He cocked his head to the side in question.
I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. “What text message?”
“The one you sent me last night.” Lucian replied, with equal confusion in his tone.
“I never texted you. I mean I really wanted to text you, but I didn’t.”
Lucian stepped forward, concern in his face. “So you never sent me a text message?”
I threw my hands up inn exasperation. “How many times do I have to say that I didn’t send you a text?”
“That’s so weird because I got a text from your number.” Immediately, Lucian pulled out his phone and pulled up the messages app, and tilted the phone to me to read. With each word I read, the angrier I got.
“I never sent this,” I replied quickly, my pulse rising and my blood boiling in anger.
“Then who did?”
“I might have a pretty good idea.”