Page 70 of In Love with a Cruel Billionaire

“Go on,” he told her. “Answer it. You can call me after – if you need to. I am always here for you.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing it was effective to ward off the pain of knowing Damen should have been the first one to call her, not Ioniko.

“Thank you,” she choked out.

“It is nothing. Now, no more delays. Answer the call.”

And so she did.

“Mairi?” Damen’s voice came out controlled.

The more worried he was, the colder his tone became, but Mairi did not know this. All she knew was that he had called her too late, and he didn’t sound like he cared.

When she didn’t answer, Damen’s heart dropped to his stomach.She already knew.He had a feeling the announcement would be made today, but he had delayed calling, not knowing what to say.

I did not have any reason to make Alina refuse the invitation.

It was the truth, but it sounded incredibly lame and more suited as a reasonable lie.

The silence lengthened, becoming tense and awkward.

He gritted out, “Mairi, speak to me, please.”

But she didn’t and even now, Damen could not figure out what to say. He tried to come up with something else to talk about. “Were you talking to someone before I called?”

This one, Mairi gained a little pleasure in answering, never mind if it was not fair. “Yes,” she whispered. “I was talking to Ioniko.”

Damen stiffened. “And?”

“He asked me...if I was okay with what would happen tomorrow.” She then asked bitterly, “Are you having second thoughts about asking the same thing?”

Damen knew now was the right time to explain, but he just couldn’t get past the fact that she had been talking to Ioniko Vlahos. It was his worst fears realized, and as the fear mingled with pain, he said with unconscious sharpness, “What did you tell him?”

“Nothing.”

He snapped, “You didn’t tell him about us?”

She snapped back, “Isthere an us?”

Damen cursed. “What does that even mean? Don’t fucking play games—-”

The sheer unfairness of Damen’s words had her crying out, “You’re the one who’s playing games! Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

She had the right to ask him that, he knew. But guilt was still not an emotion he was used to feeling, and so was jealousy. Together, the two was a dangerous combination, effectively messing with his head.

“Mairi—-”

“Cut the bull and answer me!”

His temper heated up, and he growled, “You are not my fiancée to have a right to make me answer your question!” The moment he said the words, Damen knew they were completely the wrong thing to say.

Her skin took on a sick pallor at his words. She thought he had changed. She had really believed he had.

“I wish I was in love with Ioniko instead,” she whispered, just to hurt him as much as he was hurting her.

The words were like a gunshot directly aimed at his heart. It made every cell in his being burn with fierce possessiveness and jealousy. A part of him knew that things had probably escalated out of their control. They were hurt and had both said things they didn’t mean.

He wanted to be fair and take it all back, but he couldn’t because in his mind he still heard her saying that she wished she was in love with Ioniko instead.

---