A Billionaire's Vows To His Donor Bride

CHAPTER 9 A Speech

ALEXANDER

I am having my fourth drink since I got here an hour ago. My family is not here yet, but they should be here soon.

I am sitting with my best friend Liam Jackson, having light conversations, and I can feel myself getting tipsy. I am not drinking because I want to, but I have a lot of stress, and I just want to forget about my problems. One thing that I am happy about is this orphanage home coming to live. This was so important to me, and it has always been my dream to build an orphanage home someday. Now that this is happening, my heart is filled with emotions I cannot explain. It is surreal… a dream I do not want to wake up from.

“Uh-oh,” Liam comments as if he is seeing trouble.

“What is it, man?” I ask.

“Look towards the entrance. Is that not your family… and Ms. Attention Seeker, AKA your wife?” He mocks.

I swiftly turn my head back and look at the entrance with a frown on my face. I instantly notice her walking behind my grandmother, holding her hand as if she is diplomatic and has our family’s protection. Argh, why is she even matching with me? Is she stalking me? I hate woman like her who would do anything for money, power and fame, and I feel disgusted. Where is the shame?

“Woah! Did you perhaps tell her that you will be wearing a green suit with a white shirt? She has totally matched your outfit, bro. Is she planning to officially introduce herself as your wife?”

I clench my jaws, annoyed. If has nothing better to say, he better shut his mouth. I am already annoyed and pissed, so he better not make me worse.

I gulp the of what’s left in my glass before I get up, leaving him and head to my family.

“Son, hi. Oh, my God. This is amazing, and I am so proud of you,” My mother praises and hugs me as soon as I approach them. I kiss her cheek and thank her.

“You did a great job, Alexander. We are so proud of you, and I cannot wait to see this home fully operating with kids running around,” My grandmother adds. I hug her too and thank her.

“Congratulations, Alex. It is beautiful,” And lastly, Olivia says, stepping forward.

For a minute, I freeze on my step as my eyes lay on her. I run my eyes down to her feet before I slowly trace them up her body to her face. She looks so different and quite unexpected of her. She is beau… what the hell am I thinking? This girl makes me so angry.

“Why did you bring her? This is an important night for me, so why would you bring her here to ruin my night?” I scorn.

“Calm down, Alexander. I told her it was okay for her to come,” Catherine defends her.

“Our marriage is embarrassing enough as it is. Now you are bringing the whole embarrassment to the world so that I could be more embarrassed. Are you not ashamed?” I point at Olivia.

“Alexander! People are watching. Instead of bickering, why don’t you take advantage of this event and try to smile in front of people who are here to make a mockery of us? Why don’t you give them the unexpected because as you know, you have been making headlines for the past month, so why don’t you make them stop talking? Hold your wife’s hand, kiss her cheek, and when you get up there to give your speech, make sure that you mention your wife. Introduce her properly to everyone. Clearly, gossip is what drives Brooklyn, so I dare you to be different. Will you be okay, Olivia?” Without even waiting for her to respond, my grandmother grabs my hand and places Olivia’s hand on mine.

I spitefully yank Olivia’s hand off and tuck my hands into my pockets. I do not care how she feels. This could have been avoided if she stayed at home.

“If we were not in front of people right now, I would slap you in the face, Alexander! You are so cuckold and very rude, bustard. Megan, why are you not scolding him? To even think that Olivia is always finding good in you and tries to defend you; she does not deserve this,”

Catherine’s coercion arouses my rebellious psychology. I certainly cannot do anything right.

I grab Olivia’s hand and turn before I walk away, holding Olivia’s hand tight.

“Alexander, slow down. You are walking to fast,” She whines behind me. “And you are breaking my hand,”

“Bear it!” I tighten my grip around her hand and walk even faster, just to be vindictive. “You want to be here and be seen as my wife, right? Then you better keep up with it, or you can just go home.”

***

OLIVIA

I took a deep breath and followed Alexander who cannot stop chastening me. Worse, he is prepared to even do it in front of the world, just to humble me. I almost fell several times as he drags me into the crowed, and he wouldn’t stop, so I had to be strong and keep up with his pace and pretend to be okay.

To be honest, I really want to be here and stand next to him as Mrs. Walker. This is an opportunity I do not want to miss, especially when something big like this is happening. I have always wanted to be there whenever he achieves something, and I am so glad that the dream he once shared with me has come to reality. But I cannot help but wonder if he thought about the girl, he shared his dream with when he started with this orphanage home, or he has completely erased me out of his memories?

…because I was the only closest person to him that he trusted with his dreams and secret. Is it possible that I am still somewhere in his heart?

We stand near the stage, and the crowed goes bizarre when they look at us. While little envy us, most of them cannot stop labelling me as a man-stealer, the woman who donated her kidney for money, the woman who donated her kidney to marry a billionaire, and the list goes on. I am seen as vicious and a villain. Nothing good is said about me despite that I saved my husband’s lover’s life.

“Are you afraid?” Even though he is whispering in my ear, his tone is very deep that it beats in my heart. “I bet it is too late now to turn back. This is the road you have chosen, so go ahead with it and see how you can get yourself out of the situation. I hope you can handle all the talks about you because I will not save you,”

And I know he means it. How can he not notice that the world could never hurt me the way he is doing now? No matter how much bad things every one can say about me in this room, he is the one that is hurting me the most.

Because I love him.

He gets on the stage and starts making his speech. Showing how much he invested his all into this orphanage for it to become a reality; he has even tossed his speech aside and says what is in his heart. I am really proud of him, and I am celebrating him. This project was long rooted in his heart and as he speaks, I can generally hear that there is a story behind it. A story that only I probably know about.

I smile, looking at him from down here. He is so handsome, courageous, composed, and elegant. I am surprised that we are even wearing matching outfits as if we spoke about it. Well, all I can say is, green has always been his favourite colour and I might have knew that he might wear green today, which is why I chose this green outfit for myself. Even if I do not exist in his memories anymore, I remember so much about him.

As I look back to the crowed, the guests just give me nasty looks. I do not expect them to respect me, because my husband is giving them the due by not respecting me himself. I will leave them for now, but one day, they will all talk about the good I have done, and I am afraid it will be too late then. I look back up at him and smile, but as expected, he returns my smile with a scornful look. Everyone else might not see it, but I can.

Gosh, I was deep in my thoughts I do not know why people are clapping their hands. Is he finish with his speech? Why is everyone looking at me? Did he say something to embarrass me? He is also looking at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Come, we are waiting for you,” He says, beckoning me up the stage. Wait, did he introduce me?

I am flustered and blushing right now. I cannot believe he is proudly going to make everyone aware of me.

I pace up on the stage and stand next to him, excited.

“Now that I am done with my speech, you can tell them how you tricked me into this stupid marriage. Make sure that you do not leave out important information,” He says, resonantly.

I gasp, staring at the guests who are staring back at me. I am not good in standing in front of many people looking at me, waiting for me to make a speech. I am very shy and uncomfortable, plus the cameras and the journalists are having no mercy on me. Now, Alexander is giving me the spotlight to embarrass myself because that is what he wants. How will I get out of this?

He steps aside away from me and deadly stabs his eyes on me. I have tears stuck in my eyes. I do not want to let them out just yet. It would be too embarrassing for me. Why is he doing this to me? Just then, I notice Catherine looking at me. She smiles and waves her hand at me. I breathe and smile. Her sweetness is really soothing.

I clear my throat and start.

“I was not prepared for this. I am nervous and my heart is thumping out of my chest,” My voice is even shaky. I steal glance at Alexander, and his eyes are bright. I bravery stare at him meanly, and he instantly looked ready for battle. He is warning me and seeing how he reprimanded me just by his looks, he smirks proudly as he walks up to me and whispers in my ear.

“People are waiting. You are a doctor, I am sure this is nothing harder than that,” He mocks before he moves away.

I have a lot to say. I know much about Alexander’s desire to open orphanage homes, and I used to help him a lot to get all the information he needed about opening a home of children. To be honest, riding a tiger is difficult. How do I tell everyone that I was there when he drafted his ideas? Not only will I be embarrassing myself, but I would be also making the family a laughingstock. What does a doctor like me who came into the family five minutes ago know about the family or their company?

Breathe, Olivia, breathe… I tell myself before I start my speech.

“You never judge a good person by only his looks, but you judge them through their actions. I was not born knowing this man, but when I met him a few months ago, it felt like I knew him forever. I was not in a good space when we met, but he came and helped me out in a very uncomfortable situation, and with just that, I just knew that this man is a good-hearted man,” I bet they all are waiting for me to say one wrong word so that they can laugh at me, but I will keep my speech short and make it about the reason we all are gathered here.

“When I learned about the opening of this orphanage home, I couldn’t be more proud of him, and this is really close to me because I was raised in an orphanage, but unfortunately for me, I did not leave and become successful with good memories from there, but there was always one good person I will always take with me in my heart that made my stay there easy, and as for that, I know that this orphanage will replace all the sad memories from my past with great new ones. Alexander has sure put his tears and sweat to make it a success today, and I believe in him. I believe that all the kids who will be living here will be happy and love it here, all because of him. As his wife, I will always support him,” And I end my speech.

I wipe my tears and look at Alexander with a smile while everyone applause me. I wonder what he is thinking about. He looks a little calmer, but the trace of doubt is unmissable. If my speech does not give him any hints about me, then I don’t know anymore.

I walk down the stage and Catherine meets me halfway with her arms open. I engage in them for a hug and look at her.

“You said it well. So much for a doctor, I did not expect to hear that. If you get involved in the orphanage, it will mean a lot to me, and I am sure the kids will love you. Please think about it,” She says.

“Thank you. I will,”

Megan for the first time is speechless. I wonder what she is also thinking about, but she looks less mean. I hear a lot of compliments. What happened to the nasty comments? Wow, so I did well after all, huh?

***

ALEXANDER

I am fazed by Olivia’s speech. Honestly, when I called her up here, it was to embarrass her, but she actually turned the table and put me into my place. Honestly, she bruised my ego, but I cannot help but consider every word in her speech. It was simple and short, yet so powerful. I conflict with my emotions right now. I have a lot of questions because a lot that she said completely clashed with my views that I never mentioned to anyone. It makes me wonder if she has been finding information about me, or this was just coincident.

“Who knew that behind that façade would be a smart woman. Her speech was touching, don’t you think? I think I want to be in her circle and know more about her,” Liam comments as we eat our dinner.

I am immersed in Oliva’s speech, and I cannot help but wonder,

“Do you think that there can be two people in the world that think exactly the same?”

Liam looks at me suspiciously and shrugs.

“Are you asking about yourself and your wife, or…”

“Or nothing. I just asked you a simple question, so just answer me,” I spit.

“Well, I already know why you wanted to open an orphanage, but she repeated it to me today in her speech. Did you not ever tell her about it?” He questions.

“No, never,” I deny. I would never tell a girl like her my dreams.

“Or, maybe you did last night. You did say that you slept at home and shared a bed with her. It can only make sense why you two are wearing matching outfits today because you probably spoke about it last night,”

He is having fun teasing me today, and I don’t like it.

“f**k you, Liam!” I chuckle and shake my head at his ridicule.

I turn my head and look around for Olivia. I frown seeing her laughing with other men while having a glass of wine.

“Is that not your wife sitting with men? She is quite popular tonight,”

“Not that it is any of my concern!” I sneer, agitated.