Forcing The Billionaire

Chapter 9

Girlfriend

Bullets of tears are starting to crawl down my eyes. I’m done. If he doesn’t want me, then I’ll leave. He rejected me a couple of times. I should have known that no matter what I’ll do, he won’t agree.

I stand in my place. I can feel the aching of my knees due to my kneeling position earlier. I wipe my tears away and look directly into his eyes.

“I already did everything I can. Since you rejected my offer, then I’ll stop here.”

His face slightly brightens up. He looks confused and at the same time, surprised.

I did not wait for his answer and turned my back on him. I grab my coat left on the couch and wear it. I walk straight out of his room, not giving myself a last chance to have a sight of him.

I’m done. I lowered my pride and threw away my dignity. If that isn’t enough, then I do not know what more he wants.

I am busy fixing my coat while walking fast. I can’t wait to exit this goddamn place.

Suddenly, a silver pair of heels stop me on my way. I lift my head and look at the woman in front of me. My back straightens. The woman who burst inside Hyko’s office room earlier is in my face, blocking me.

She’s wearing a long pencil skirt with a slit on the right side and paired with her long sleeve top. Her clothes are way too conservative compared to what I am wearing right now.

She eyed me from head to toe. One side of her lips rose for a smirk. “How do most girls today think that they can get men just by wearing revealing clothes and kneeling in front of them?”

My brows furrow. I know she saw the scene earlier and she already sensed what I was doing. She talks so highly yet degrading at the same time. The way she speaks sounds like I am an immature girl trying to fit into their adult worlds.

“I’m Leah… Leah Sandival.” She lends a hand to me. Even though I want to crush her hand and slap her face, I maintain a calm expression and accept her hand.

“I’m Ariette—”

“Levrinne?” she asks, cutting me off.

“Yes. I am the—”

“So, you are the heiress of the L. Corporation…” she pauses. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from talking back. I may stoop low in front of Hyko, but that would be the last time I’ll do that. I’ll maintain my dignity, no matter how tainted it already is.

This girl, Leah, never let me finish what I am saying and disrespectfully cuts me. But I will maintain my calmness and let her say whatever she wants to say. This is the first time I met her, but given her attitude, she’s the type of person that thinks highly of herself and often looks down on others—the type of person I won’t get along with.

“I wonder what you were doing inside my boyfriend’s office wearing that dress and kneeling in front of him.”

I feel like a bucket of cold water was splashed onto my body. Her smirk grew wider when she noticed my surprised expression.

“Girl, just a tip… Hyko wants it more when you don’t desperately offer yourself. This…” she points at me from head to toe, probably talking about my dress. “…disgust him.”

In the corner of my eyes, I found the secretary biting her lower lips and lowering her head in an attempt to hide her wide grin.

She walks past me. I could not force myself to move. I feel like my feet are glued onto the floor. I never felt this humiliated before.

I throw my head in her direction and she quickly fixes her stance.

“Mind your business, Miss,” I coldly utter.

I storm out of the room with my head held up high even though my insides crashing. I am good at acting. I can show how composed I am even though my world is crumbling down.

“D*mn it!” I curse and hit the steering wheel of my car right after I hop in. “Aw!” I grimace when I hit it a little too hard.

I don’t f*cking know he has a girlfriend. I never heard it on news nor read it n magazines and articles! How come I have no idea?

“Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!”

I am so dumb!

It took me about half an hour before I finally force myself to drive away from the building. When I got home, Emy welcomed me with a worried expression.

My heart started skipping. “What happened?” I ask while tossing my car keys to our guard and letting him park my car properly.

“S-Sir Luiz is n-not here, ma’am…” My brows furrow, wanting to meet each other. Where did dad go?

“He s-said he is going to meet a f-friend—”

“And you believe him?” I irritatingly said.

Dad doesn’t go out with his friends. If they hang out, he prefers doing it here in our house. And him using his friends as an excuse to go out is something we all know is not true. That is the same excuse he uses whenever he wants to meet mom.

I know it’s not Emy’s fault. My dad is a hard-headed person. It was obvious that my mom do not want anything from us anymore. That is why she left. After the years of sacrifices of my father for us… for our family… she still chose to leave us in our darkest times.

“What time did he go?”

“About 2 hours ago already, ma’am.”

Two hours! I want to laugh. Two hours earlier, I am kneeling in front of Hyko, begging him to help me. I’m certain that is what exactly my father is doing in front of my mom. Only that, he’s begging for love, while I’m asking for security and financial stability. We are both pitiful but not exactly the same.

I grab my phone and dialed mom’s number. She already left the house couple of months ago. If I’m not mistaken, probably 6 months already? I’m not sure because I already lost track of the time. Plus, I’m too mad at her to even think of the days since she left us.

“Come on…” I whisper to myself. The phone keeps ringing yet no one’s answering. When my call goes straight to voicemail, I frustratingly rake my hair.

“Maybe he indeed goes out with his friends? I h-heard earlier that he asks the driver to drive him to the nearest bank.”

Oh, hell no!

I quickly ended my call to my mother but she did not pick up. I quickly dialed my dad’s number. The only reason I can think of why he asked to go to a bank, is for him to withdraw money to use for the casino!

I already caught him several times throwing money even though we are in the middle of a crisis. I was once spoiled but between us two he’s the worst. My father was a good handler of money. But ever since my mom left and the company is slowly deflating, he goes to casinos to somehow forget his problems.

I did not take it seriously at first. I thought it is just his way of coping with problems. But now that he’s addicted to gambling, I’m having a hard time disciplining him.

“Contact me if dad is already home,” I command before turning my back to Emy and asking our guard to give me back my car keys.

There are only a few casinos here in our city. I’ll start at the nearest one.

I start the engine of my car and drive.

He is not in the first two casinos. Those are the casinos where I usually caught him. Fortunately, in the third one, I saw him.

He is sitting on one of the chairs encircling the rounded table with a woman beside her. His head falls back as he laughs when the woman whispers something to him. If our company is doing well, I will let him have his fun. He’s gone through a lot and I know he needs this break. But then, he already spent almost all of our savings on his gambling. Plus, there is no income entering our banks!

“Dad!” I call.

His eyes widen when our gaze met. He quickly drops the cards back on the table and walks towards me, leaving his game and the woman.

My eyes narrow when I notice his slanted way of walking. I glance at the table and notice a glass of whiskey near the woman. I raise a brow to her. Based on her red tube dress, red bold lipstick, and long wavy hair all on her right shoulder, I am certain that she’s a CCA.

I remove my eyes at her and look straight at my father’s eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I raise a brow.

Guilt crept into me when I see the sadness in his eyes. If only I can spoil him the way he spoiled me.

“Ari…”

“Dad, you know our situation.” I lower my voice and remain calm.

He sighs and nods his head. “I did not withdraw a large amount of money. Just enough bills for a little fun tonight.”

I bite my lower lips. “You were here for about three hours now. Is that enough? Can we already go home?”

I reach for his arm and gently pull him, asking him to listen to me. I sigh in relief when he nods his head.

“Okay, I’ll say goodbye to my… friends.”

He walks back to their table and gently taps the shoulder of one of the men sitting near him earlier. Even though he tried to hide it from me by blocking my view with his body, I see how he pulled out some cash and handed it to the woman.

I sigh. Of course, he has to pay her. It’s not her fault that we are financially struggling and was hired by my father.

“Let’s go.” My father hooks his arm on mine. I caress his arm as I help him walk straight. I can smell the alcohol from him but luckily, he isn’t drunk… although his eyelids are sometimes closing.

My eyes are all on my father when I bump into someone. I lift my head and glared at whoever it was. D*mn! Can’t this human see that I’m having a hard time helping my father?!

“I’m sorry, Ms… Levrinne?”

To my surprise, the man is familiar. I tightly hold my dad’s arm while I tilt my head, trying to remember who he is.

He probably notices my expression as a soft chuckle escape from his lips. “Lowen Cujengco.” He lends a hand to me.

My jaw slightly drop. How come I did not recognize him? Lowen Cujengco—the owner of a 5-star casino. I mindlessly accepted his hand for a firm hand shake.

But, as far as I remember, this isn’t his casino. He noticed the confusion on my face so he explains, “I used to visit my competitors’ business sites. It helps me know what to improve in my business,” he winks.

Oh, yeah. Checking your competitors. That’s exactly what our company misses!

“Need help?”

“U-Uhmm…” my throat felt dry. I was silent the whole time and this is the nth time I felt embarrassed today.

“Let me.” He walks to the other side of my dad and helps me walk him to our car. I did not complain when we both walk towards the exit with my father in between us since I know I can’t hold my father until we reach the parking area.

He went here with our driver. Fortunately, I did not have a hard time looking for him. When he saw my father sleeping drunk, he immediately helps us.

“Sorry, ma’am. I don’t know he’s drunk,” said our driver while helping Lowen with my dad. I want to point out that he is not drunk, just tired and sleepy, but I don’t find it necessary so I zip my mouth.

“It’s fine. Next time, inform me about the plans of my father so I’ll know what he is up to,” I say.

He nods his head and utters a soft apology. “Drive him home. He’s probably tired,” I say.

The driver obeyed what I said and hop on the driver’s seat. Mr. Cujengco stands beside me while we both watch our car fade in our sight.

“Why didn’t you go with them? You’re still going to play?” he asks.

I shake my head and smile. “No, I don’t gamble, Mr.”

“Just call me Lowen,” he smiles.

“Lowen,” I reiterated. “I’m Ariette—”

“Levrinne,” he continues and smiles. Of course, he knows our family. I am sure he is aware of the state of our company. I wonder what he

I stare at him longer than I should. He’s wearing the usual attire the businessmen wear. Long sleeve top folded up to his elbows and dark slacks. Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind.

“C-Can we meet t-tomorrow?” I ask without thinking twice. I suddenly regret it. What the hell, Ari? How many times should you embarrass yourself?

Confusion crosses his face but it is quickly replaced by a chuckle. My face turns red. I want to run towards my car which is parked meters away from here.

Oh, gosh Ari! I mentally slap my face. What am I doing?

Just when I’m going to take back what I said, he says, “I’m completely free tomorrow. Great!”

My jaw drops. F*ck!

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Forcing The Billionaire

by: Joanne Cristel

©2022

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Note: Unedited. English is not the author's first language so expect grammatical errors. Thank you!