Mr. Billionaire's Lovely Wife.

Chapter Eighteen.

I grab Aiden's arm in a panic and he looks at me.

"What happened?" He asks. I look at him and try my best to calm down but nothing's working. Nothing at all.

He raises his eyebrows, expecting a reply but I can't form words. This is going to be bad.

"Nothing. I was going to slip." I lie. He looks down at my feet, then shakes his head.

"Do you want to change your shoes?" He asks.

"How am I supposed to do that?" I ask him, he looks at me.

"I can call Tessa and tell her to send another pair for you." He says. Of course, he has a solution for everything. I shake my head.

"No. I'll be okay, I have you to lean on." I blurt out without even realizing what I just said because I'm panicking. 

He keeps on looking at me for a few seconds before nodding.

He starts walking towards the table and I try to leave his arm, but he places his hand over mine indicating that I should keep it there.

A blush creeps up my cheek and I slip my hand in his. We walk together like a real couple, which we are but this feeling is new to me. The individuals sitting at the table stand up upon our arrival.

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Hayes." William offers me his hand, I smile and take it. He flips my hand over and kisses the back of it.

What a gentleman. For a moment I forget that two more individuals are standing right next to William, and one of them was the main cause of my panic. I try not to look at him at all, hoping with all my might that he won't recognize me.

"Call me Marilyn, please. It's nice to see you again too." I tell him, he smiles back at me and leaves my hand.

I leave Aiden's arm and look at him.

"Marilyn, this is Ethan Parker, the CEO of Parks Enterprise, we just sighed a project with him. He wasn't there for the meetings but we're going to work together." He gestures towards that person I was hoping to avoid, I turn towards him still not meeting his eyes. "Ethan, this is my wife and my secretary, Marilyn Hayes." Aiden continues introducing us to each other, even though I don't need an introduction to him.

I know him too well for an introduction. 

I finally look at him and instantly know by the look on his face that he's recognized me.

Please don't make it obvious.

Please don't say anything.

Please do-

"Oh, Marilyn. It's been a while." He extends his hand and says.

How I wish I can kill him.

I take his hand and he shakes it. Thank god he doesn't kiss it or I would have barfed.

"Do you guys know each other?" Aiden asks, looking at me.

I nod slightly.

"Yes. Marilyn and I were best friends back in college." He's lying.

"We were friends." I correct him, refusing to look in his direction. I see something changing in Aiden's eyes as if he senses my discomfort.

"That's good. Old friends reunited, this is going to be fun." William says and I fake a smile at him. Because what else am I supposed to do?

"And this is Joanne Henderson, Ethan's secretary." I look over at the young woman standing beside Ethan and holy shit...

Suddenly I feel ugly in front of her.

I scoot closer to Aiden as if trying to protect him from her. Because she's the definition of gorgeous. Her dress, her hair, her makeup, her posture. Everything is perfect.

I shake hands with her expecting her to smile at me but she doesn't. Next, she shakes hands with Aiden and gives him a bright smile, bright enough to light up a room. This makes me a little uncomfortable but I shake away all the weird thoughts and we sit down. I sit between William and Aiden. I turn my head towards William.

"Do you work with Aiden?" I ask him, he smiles at this and nods.

"We're business partners." He tells me. Oh, so his best friend is his business partner too. There's so much that I have to get to know.

"I have to say, I was quite disappointed that I didn't receive a wedding invitation. I got to know about your wedding through Elle, by the way." Why the fuck is he talking to me?

I control myself from rolling my eyes, then look at him, everyone is looking at us. I have to be nice. I have to be nice to him. He's going to work with us.

I have to be nice to him for Aiden's sake. This project is going to bring so much to our company. 

"I just invited close friends," I reply to him.

I just can't be nice to him. I just can't. 

"That hurt." He says, a sickening smile is plastered on his face, I know he's enjoying this.

I just look at him with no expressions on my face. Knowing Aiden, I'm a hundred percent sure he knows that there's something not right between me and that asshole sitting in front of me.

"Well, congratulations." Upon getting no reply from me, he tries again.

I smile and take Aiden's hand in mine.

"Oh, thank you so much." I can feel Aiden's eyes on me. I know he's surprised by all the skinship that I've been doing tonight. 

I ignore Ethan for the rest of the night and he doesn't try to talk to me again. But I keep my eyes on Joanne who's throwing flirtatious looks over to my husband, who of course isn't paying any attention to them. But this makes me feel insecure.

William and I talk for a long time, and it would be safe to say that we've become friends. He's a nice guy. I wonder for the second time how he and Aiden became friends, given the immense difference in their personalities.

I plan to ask William this the next time we meet.

After dinner as everyone waits for dessert, I excuse myself for a minute because I need to pee.

I make my way towards the ladies' room, unaware of the fact that someone decided to follow me. Trying to repeat history.

It's not until after I relax my bladder and get out to wash my hands, I realize that there is someone in here with me who shouldn't be here in the first place.

"You look so damn hot today, I wish I could take this dress off." He says, with that smile of his.

This can't be happening again. 

I can't let this happen again.

I'll be damned if I let this happen again.

I still carry that scar he gave me that night.

The scar he gave me because I didn't let him do what he wanted to do.

The scar which I wish would fade away.