Forcing The Billionaire

Chapter 10

Caught

If stares can destroy something, our TV would be probably broken into pieces right now.

‘Luiz Levrinne, the CEO of L. Corporation, was seen in a 5-star Casino despite the state of their company. Several businessmen know that L. Corporation is not stable in the past years. There are also rumors that his ex-wife, Aryan Mendez, was recently seen with—’

I grab the remote resting on the sofa seat and harshly press the switch-off button. I throw the remote back in its place, not minding if I’ll break it.

“F*ck this media!” I curse to myself.

“E-Ehem…” I aggressively turn in the direction of my dad whose sitting comfortably on the right side of our living room, drinking his tea. I narrow my eyes at him.

“See what you did, dad?” I am trying to stop myself from lecturing him. It is true that he did not spend a large of money last night. What I am worried about is the reaction of the board members and the people that we are in debt with.

“Media is media, hon. Don’t worry about it,” he says and took a sip of his tea.

I am not sure if I should be happy because he’s sober and not depressingly drowning himself in drinking or should be worried because he’s starting to take everything so lightly.

“I have an errand today. Do not leave the house,” I say in a warning tone. He only chuckles and nods his head while casually drinking his tea.

I shake my head before turning my back and facing Emy whose standing in the corner, silently observing us.

“Did you hide all the bottles?” I ask in a whisper tone. She nods her head at me and raises her three fingers, giving me an ‘okay’ sign. I nod. “Good.”

I bid goodbye to my dad and assigned some servants for him before I finally hop in my car. My dad is not getting any younger. It is not healthy for him to consume alcohol almost every day.

I grab my phone. An unread message flashes on its screen.

‘I’m already here. Willing to wait. Take your time.’

It was sent 7 minutes ago by Lowen Cujengco.

We decided to meet today. It’s now or never. I know the moment I’ll postpone it, I will have the time to think about it and I’m scared I’ll change my mind.

I need this. Our company needs this. For my future and for my dad, we need this.

~~~

My fingers tighten around the steering wheel. I stare at the entrance of the coffee shop in front of me. The white and maroon theme of the coffee shop looks luxurious and enticing but I couldn’t find myself walking inside.

I am sitting here inside of my car for about half an hour now. Lowen Cujengco and I will meet today, right here in this coffee shop. My phone already received three messages from him but I did not open any of those.

“I need this… We need this… We. F*cking. Need. This.” I shut my eyes tightly and continue chanting and convincing myself to step out of the vehicle.

“Come on, Ari. He looks decent. Plus, he’s also good-looking!” I whisper to myself.

After several attempts of backing out, I find myself unbuckling my seatbelt.

I held my chin up high and gracefully walk towards the entrance of the coffee shop as if I was certain of what I am doing and never had a second thoughts walking in here.

I pulled the glass door and was surprised that it is being pushed from the other side. My eyes widen when I saw Lowen Cujengco in his suit and tie.

“Woah! I was about to leave. I thought you dumped me,” he smirk.

“U-Uhmm. Sorry, I wasn’t able to reply to your messages. I was driving and stuck in the traffic.”

“You can’t reply to my messages because you were driving?”

“Yes!”

“But it was traffic…?”

I bite my lower lip when I realized the flaw in my lie. I look at him apologetically.

His soft chuckle envelope the atmosphere. I somehow felt relieved. I thought he was mad!

“It’s fine. We don’t know much about each other. It’s understandable to have second thoughts about going in here.”

“N-No, it’s n-not that—”

“It’s fine. If I were a girl, I would also think twice about meeting someone I barely know. I won’t tryst men easily.”

A small curve on my lips appears on my face. I like that he got the point even though it is not exactly the reason why I am almost an hour late.

As someone who owns a 5-star casino and doing well in business, he’s probably busy. Giving me time to meet him here is something I should be grateful for.

“Excuse me…” said a soft voice from my behind.

I look at her and saw a group of high school girls wanting to enter the café.

“I’m sorry,” I shyly utter to them and step aside. We are still at the entrance of the café. We caught up in our small conversation that we forgot we were at the doorway.

They pay it with an awkward smile and slightly bow their heads as a sign of ‘thank you'.

“We should go inside. We’re blocking the way.” Lowen motioned me to enter the place.

Just like what I thought, the interior is indeed gorgeous.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything to do today? I thought you were about to leave?” I ask awkwardly.

He pulls a chair for me. I mutter a soft ‘thanks’ and sit down. We chose the table in the corner for privacy.

“I was about to leave because I thought you won’t go,” he says as he carries the chair and put it on my right side. “I hope you don’t mind. Tell me if you are uncomfortable.”

“N-No, no. It’s f-fine…”

To be honest, it is uncomfortable but I can’t find the courage to say ‘no’. He’s too kind and very gentlemanly. Also, there’s nothing wrong with sitting beside me.

“What do you want to order?” he asks after raising his hand to call for a waiter.

“This is my first time in this place. I’ll check their menu first.”

“Really? This is near the L. Corporation and other companies. I thought you were somehow familiar with this place.

“Yes, I am. I often drive past this. Only that, I do not have time to drop by.”

That waiter came and handed both of us the menu.

“You should try their cold brew coffee.”

“I’m not into coffee. I’ll probably get their frappe and cheesecake.”

“Oh… you could have told me. We can go to another place if you want—”

“No, it’s fine. I do drink coffee. What I meant was, I don’t feel like drinking coffee right now,” I smile at him and he nods, assured at what I answered.

I am nervous, okay? I don’t think drinking coffee will help.

“So… may I know what made you invite me?”

He asks right after the waiter left after we give our orders. I notice his small gesture of placing his arm at the back of my chair. Not a big deal. Maybe he’s just comfortable that way.

Did someone switch on the air condition? Why do my hands feel cold and sweaty?

“Uhm…” I don’t know what to say, d*mn it! Come on, Ari!

“I heard about your company.”

“Y-Yeah, I think everyone in the business industry already knows about it.”

“What are your plans then? If you’ll continue doing nothing, other companies in your line will take advantage of it. You know how business works.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Any projects in mind?”

“Yeah. We have an ongoing project but it was halted. We were planning to launch a 5-star restaurant. We are thinking of opening only one branch to test things out.”

The waiter appeared with our orders. He places it on our table before excusing himself. We started eating while continuing our conversation.

The cheesecake is nice but it’s too sweet and soft for me. They should adjust the measurement for the cream and sugar.

“Really? That would be nice. If I’m not mistaken, the target of your fast food restaurants is the middle class, right? You’re going to change it?”

“We’re not changing anything. More like, we’re reaching other classes.”

He nods at my explanation. I’m glad that we are talking as casually as possible. At least, the atmosphere between us isn’t awkward.

Our conversation goes on and I had already eaten half of my cheesecake when I felt his free hand resting on my lap.

I was a bit surprised and straighten my back. I glance at him and I saw him casually taking a sip of his iced coffee while his eyes are all on his food.

I am wearing a fitted halter white dress that falls inches above my knees. I can feel his warm hand brushing against my bare skin.

“So, since you cannot continue your supposed project due to lack of funds, what are your plans then?” His hand caresses my leg p and down. My heart started hammering.

I shouldn’t be surprised. The moment I ask him last night to meet me, he already knows what I am up to. Given the situation of our company and me, asking him to meet me, we don’t have to explain to each other’s what we are up to.

“I’ll look for someone who can fund me,” I straightforwardly said. He doesn’t look surprised tho. He’s already expecting it.

In the business industry, arrange marriages are very common. It’s not something people in our world give a d*mn.

Marriage is business. Only a few marry for love. Just like Ace, my ex-fling in college. Never did I imagine him marrying a janitress.

But who am I to judge? I told myself I won’t marry for money. But here I am, doing exactly what I once hated.

“That’s nice…” His hand crawls up a little. I bite my tongue to stop myself from stopping him.

I reach for my drink and took a sip when I felt him going into my inner thighs.

I don’t know if I can do this. I barely know him!

The moment I find the courage to shove his hand away, I was stopped by a hand pulling me up from my sit. Even Lowen was surprised by the sudden interruption.

“What the…” I utter.

I look up to see who the f*ck pulled me up from the chair. My eyes widen when I see a pair of hawk-like eyes all pierced to Lowen.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Hyko.

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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!