The Billionaire’s Pretend Fiancée

Roman’s POV

“How come Nana hasn’t come to see me yet?” I asked Damien as he cut up some apples for me.

He halted, placed the half sliced apple, and knife on the plate before exchanging glances with Nathan.

Nathan had come to visit me earlier with some of my staff, but my staff had already left.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“I noticed something. Each time I ask you about her, you stylishly change the subject. Did something happen to her?” I darted Damien an accusatory stare.

I had asked him about my grandmother the first time he came to visit me after I regained consciousness, but somehow, he managed to change the topic to the rising stocks of my company.

Back then, I didn’t really pay any attention to it.

But when I asked him the question again a few days ago, he excused himself from the conversation and claimed he had to take an emergency call, even though his phone hadn’t rang in my presence.

“Is she dead?” I whispered, feeling a lump of bile clog my throat.

“She’s not.” He replied, and I heaved a deep sigh of respite.

However, my relief was short-lived when I noticed that he still had a solemn demeanor.

“What is going on, Nathan?” I hurled at my assistant who just ducked his head.

“The cancer metastasized again.” Damien chipped in.

“What?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“It metastasized to her stomach and colon. And the doctor has confined her to strict bed rest. She recently underwent surgery to get rid of the cancer but things don’t seem to be improving. She can’t even get up or breathe by herself, she’s on life support, so she definitely can’t come to see you.” Damien spilled.

I scrubbed my face with my palm as various unbridled thoughts and possibilities ravaged my mind.

“So she doesn’t know about my situation then.” I muttered.

“Exactly. The doctor advised us against telling her so. It’s too risky and it may worsen her condition.”

I just nodded because my mind was both blank and overstimulated at the same time. “When do I get discharged?”

“Tomorrow, sir.” Nathan responded.

“Have you gotten any evidence on Lana yet?” I asked Damien who shook his head in negation.

Fiery, red-hot anger stirred up inside me as I clenched my hand into fists.

“That wench hasn’t left the country yet, has she?”

“No, she hasn’t. She’s still a suspect in your case, so she’s technically not allowed to leave until all charges against her have been dropped.”

“Good. That’s good to hear.” I nodded.

“Alexander Guilon still refuses to testify against his beloved daughter, right?”

“Yes. That old man just doesn’t want to cave in. We’ve offered him everything yet he still remains adamant. They’ve even started torturing him but he said he’d rather die in custody than to ruin his precious princess’ life.” Damien made air quotes with his fingers.

“Who could have thought he was such a doting father?” I scoffed.

“We are also looking into each and every move of his business associates. They could also be hiding something but be rest assured, Roman. You have the best team of detectives and prosecutors on this case. We just need to find a loophole.” Damien said.

I just nodded before swerving my attention to Nathan. “Why are you still here? Do you have something to tell me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Damien looked from Nathan to me before grabbing his bag. “I almost forgot I had somewhere else to visit. I’ll be on my way now, Roman. Take care of yourself, man.”

“Alright. Thanks for everything.” I said as he clapped my shoulder.

Afterward, he left.

“So what is the problem?” I narrowed my stare at my assistant.

“It’s not really a problem, sir. You just have to sign on some documents.” He said, unzipping his briefcase.

I sighed in dissatisfaction. “You could have just used my seal, you know? Instead of bringing them all the way here.”

“I know, sir. But you stringently instructed me to always bring the documents over for you to do a final review before I use your seal, sir.” He replied, bringing out a huge pile of paperwork.

I scowled at him. “Do you think I’d be able to review all these today?” I watched him retrieve more and I shook my head.

“You really brought a truckload of paperwork, didn’t you?”

“I reviewed them already, sir. And they all seem okay but you should assess them again because I may have missed some things.” He said.

“Give me a pen.” I said and he handed me my favorite silver pen.

I never thought a day would come that I’d wholeheartedly admit that I had missed working but I guessed a person never knew what could happen next in their lives.

“When is Sofie coming?” I asked, handing him the first pile of paperwork that I had just signed.

“I don’t think she’s coming today, sir. She told me she has an exam this afternoon.” He responded.

“Wait, is she in college?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, sir.” “How come I never knew about it?” I mumbled to myself.

“She said she didn’t want to bother telling you about something so trivial.” I felt a sense of betrayal at Nathan’s answer.

How could she think of anything related to herself as trivial? Even though I currently had no idea who she really was, she was still important to me.

Both her and our baby.

The both of them filled up a void in my heart.

“I want to go for a walk.” I declared, after I had finished signing the paperwork.

“Let me get a nurse, sir.” He said, and made to leave the room.

“Don’t bother doing that. I’m not going for a long walk. I will just walk from here to the lobby. I don’t need a nurse, you can escort me.” I uttered.

He nodded and put the signed documents away before coming over to help me onto a wheelchair.

“I don’t need a wheelchair either. I can walk on my own two feet.” I scoffed, slowly getting up on my feet.

He watched in awe as I took two tentative steps toward him.

“You just have to help me with that.” I motioned to the IV pole.

“Alright, sir.”

Afterward, we headed out of the ward and made our way to the reception.

I stopped in my tracks when I suddenly heard the alarming sound of a gunshot, coming from the television which was mounted against the wall of the lobby.

A sharp agonizing headache suddenly gripped my temple which caused me to lose strength in my legs and fall to the ground.

“Are you okay, sir?” Nathan’s alarmed voice wafted into my ear but I just shook my head fervently as the ache in my temples intensified.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clasped my hands against my temples to alleviate the extreme anguish I was currently feeling.

It felt as if my head was being pried apart with an axe.

I gasped when my mind opened into a new world and I saw myself lying unconscious in a pool of blood, which I assumed was my own, while Sofie was tied to a pole and screaming at me to wake up, and Lana was holding a gun.

In my mind’s eye, I could also see Alexander Guilon smoking and smiling as he watched me writhe helplessly on the floor.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and take my last breath, my mind rewinded back to the day Sofie and I met at the club, our one night stand, our contract and our first date.

Lana coming back into my life, me suspecting Sofie and Damien to be cheating on me, me committing the biggest mistake of my life by taking Sofie without her consent, Damien and I having a shout-out in my office, him revealing Sofie’s pregnancy and Lana kidnapping Sofie.

My lost memories instantly rushed back to me, and caused my headache to escalate, to the point where my breathing became labored and my chest felt tight.

“President Giovanni has collapsed!” That was the last thing I heard before keeling over.