The Billionaire's Second Wife

Chapter 5

"I can't believe you are getting married in a week." Sophie said as they walked out of their classroom. She was still in shock and the first time Ella informed her that she had decided to marry this guy who had a two year old son, Sophie literally freaked out.

She thought that her friend must have lost her mind for agreeing to get married just because she didn't want the child to end up with a cruel step mother like hers.

'There are so many children out there with step-mother like yours. Would you be able to save them all? What are you? Their fairy Godmother?' That was the first thing she asked Ella.

'No, I wouldn't be able to do that but at least I will be able to give a better life for this one child.' Replied Ella trying to make her friend understand the reason why she was doing this. 'I know you may probably think that I am crazy for taking such a drastic step but I have been in Bobby's place and I know how it feels to be hated your whole life by the people whom you call family. I have wondered so many times if it is that difficult to love someone else's child as your own. I think God has given me a chance to find it out myself.'

Sophie stood staring at Ella for a minute before she sighed, 'You are unbelievable.' She exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air making Ella chuckle. She knew Sophie was just worried about her and that just made her heart swell with contentment for having such a great friend.

"Yeah, I am so nervous." Ella replied, pulling out from her own thoughts about her friend's initially reactions when they were half way through the corridor. She was glad that now Sophie was supporting her with her decision. 

"Have you talked your fiancé?"

"No.." Ella tried to look down to hide her blush.

"Oh my God!! Are you blushing?" Sophie squealed as she nudged at Ella's arm playfully.

"What..? No.." She protested against it with a pout on her lips.

Sophie kept teasing her friend until they heard Liam's deep voice behind them.

"Hey girls.. What are you two laughing at?"

Ella's laugh died down her throat the moment her eyes landed on Liam. She knew he had feelings for her and she was waiting for the right moment to give him the news of her wedding.

She shifted her gaze to Sophie who gestured with her eye to drop the bomb. She sighed when she thought that she had to suck it up and give him the simple invitation that Natasha had managed to design for her wedding.

"Hey Liam, I have something for you.." She pulled out an invitation and handed it to him.

Any trace of smile was washed off his lips, the moment he read the note, 'Justin Weds Ella.'

"I'm getting married in a week Liam. It all happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to tell you before." Liam's eyes were still fixed on the invitation. He didn't know how to react to it. Even after her rejection, he had hopes that she would one day agree to give him a chance.

He tore his eyes from the invitation and looked at Ella. He forced a smile on his face, "Congratulations.. I am happy for you."

Ella could see the dejection in his eyes and felt sorry for him. There was nothing she could do but she believed that he would get someone better than her as his life partner.

"Thanks.. It's a very simple ceremony and I have invited only close friends and family. I want you to come."

Liam smiled at her with a pained expression on his face, "I will be there, I promise."

"Thanks.."

Sophie heaved a sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Ella. Sophie's heart crushed inside her chest upon seeing the sudden gloom on Liam's face. She was aware that Ella had a special place in his heart and for the first time in these four years, she wished that it was her instead of Ella whom Liam liked. She would have readily agreed to date him.

Sophie drove Ella back to her aunt's house before waving at her, "See you tomorrow."

"Bye.." Ella wanted to tell her friend that it was okay if she wanted to date Liam but decided against it. She didn't want to rush Sophie into anything and wanted things to happen on its own pace.

She walked in and was surprised to see her aunt who was impeccably dressed.

"Are you going on a dinner date, aunt?" She teased her with a naughty grin.

"Yes darling.." She answered causing Ella's wide eyes to widen further. Of course she was a widow and she was free to date anyone she wanted but Ella thought her aunt wasn't just ready for that yet.

Natasha chuckled at her niece's cute expression. "I am just joking honey. We are going out for dinner."

"Oh.." Ella smiled back at her.

"Now get ready, fast." Natasha said pushing her towards her room. "Justin will be here in an hour."

Ella stopped on her tracks as soon as she thought she heard the name, 'Justin'

"Who is coming?" She asked as she turned around.

"Justin.. You haven't met him yet and there's only a week left before your wedding. So, I thought you two should get to know each other.." She noticed the sudden panic in Ella's eyes and quickly added, "but don't worry Sandra and I will be there with you guys."

Ella stood there fidgeting with her fingers until her aunt walked closer to her. "Are you nervous?"

"A little.." She said raising her eyes to meet with Natasha's.

"Don't be.." She squeezed her palms convincingly. "Justin is a great guy and I'm sure he would like you the moment his eyes land on you." She winked at her and Ella flashed a small smile in return.

Within minutes she managed to shower and got neatly dressed in a knee length navy blue dress, that hugged her waist and flared at the bottom. She had never felt so jittery as she was feeling now, not even when she was asked by her chief doctor to make an incision on a pregnant woman's tummy for the first time. Her palms were sweaty and her feet had turned ice cold.

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When Justin reached home, his mother asked him to get ready for a family dinner with Ella and her aunt. Bobby was looking excited to go out as he stretched his arms towards his dad indicating to carry him.

"Mom, I am tired. Can we have it some other day?" he got Bobby from his mother's arms and kissed the top of his head.

Justin was glad that he didn't have to meet the girl for another week until the wedding, but his mother had to arrange this dinner thing, which he was least interested in attending.

"Oh no no no.. I have already informed them about the dinner plans and we cannot cancel it at the last minute." She got Bobby back in her hold and placed him on her hip. "Hurry up. We need to go pick them up."

"But mom, I am not ready for all this. If you don't remember, I already told you not to expect anything from me. Let me remind you once again, I agreed to marry her only for my son." His one hand was placed on the side of his hip while his other hand was rubbing circles on his forehead.

"Justin, what you are doing is totally unfair. Think about the girl. This is the first time that she is getting married unlike you. How can she learn to love your son if you are not a caring husband who showers her with love that she deserves?"

His mother had a point. What if she showed all her frustration towards his son? God, now he had to act like a caring husband!! He wanted to bang his head against the wall for agreeing to marry again at the first place.

Much against his heart's will, he got ready and walked out of the house followed by his mom who was carrying his son.

The drive to their place was traffic free, so they were knocking at Natasha's door within half an hour of leaving their house.

"Ella, They are here.." Ella's breath hitched at her throat as her aunt called her from the living room. She breathed in and out a few times to calm her nerves but when that didn't seem to work, she decided to walk out without delaying any further.

As she enters the hall, she found herself looking up into a pair of soft green eyes.

A little over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and thick black hair that was gelled back neatly, Justin stood at the door, warmly smiling at Natasha. He was wearing a jeans and button up white shirt.

Ella had met a lot of attractive men in her life but Justin was first of them to make her heart thump at her chest. His dimple on his right cheek were so prominently visible even with the slightest movements of his lips. Her earlier nerves were now getting replaced by butterflies that were fluttering wildly in her tummy.

"Ah meet Ella, my niece.." She could only hear her aunt's voice as she couldn't peel her eyes off Justin's face.

"Hi.. Ella.. I'm Justin.." She didn't know that she was staring at him until she heard his voice from somewhere very close to her. As she snapped out of her daze, she noticed he was standing in front of her with his hand stretched out.

"Hi.. Please to meet you.." She extended her arm to reciprocate his offer with a gentle smile.

She noticed the smile that he had earlier had somehow disappeared now, only to be replaced by a deep scowl on his forehead.

She didn't ponder much into it as she turned her attention towards Bobby who was sitting comfortably on his grandmother's hip. He took a few seconds to recognise Ella but when he did, his lips split into a shy grin.

"Hey Bobby.. Remember me?" Ella cooed at his ear as she softly tickled at his side, making him chuckle and bury his face into the crook of his grandma's neck.

"He's shy.." Sandra said rubbing Bobby's back lovingly. "How are you sweety?"

"I'm good Ms.Reynolds."

"Ah-huh, call me Sandra. After all you are going to be my daughter in law very soon." She patted Ella's arm with her free hand before suggesting that they should get going.

The drive to the restaurant was filled with Sandra and Natasha's constant talks. Ella was made to sit in the passenger seat while the others took the back seats. Justin was awfully quiet as he drove them to their destination.

Reaching the restaurant, they were led to their tables. Sandra made Ella sit next to Justin with Bobby on his lap. She knew this way they would get some chance to speak to each other.

Ella buried her face into the menu book in am attempt to hide herself somewhere. Her eyes were on the menu but in actuality she was lost. She was feeling nervous, awkward and uncomfortable all at once.

"What would you like to have?" Justin asked, which caused her to raise her eyes off the menu and look at him for a split second.

She lower her eyes back to the list of food items. She hadn't tried to decide yet and read the first thing on which her eyes landed upon, "Ehmm, I will have grilled salmon with rice bowl." when in fact she hated eating seafood.

Bobby was being very active trying to grab everything that was placed on the table. Justin was having a difficult time trying to divert Bobby's mind from the cutlery in front of them. This was the first time after his wife's death that he was having dinner at a restaurant and hence he had no idea that Bobby could become to energetic just by looking at the spoons and forks.

Justin was feeding Bobby his soup when he flailed his little hand wildly in the air, causing the spoon full of hot soup to land on Ella's upper body and some on her lap.

"Ouchh.." Ella jumped on her feet, while Justin stood up, giving Bobby to his mother.

"I'm so sorry.." He grabbed some tissues and handed it to Ella.

"It's alright. Please don't worry.." she assured him as she took the tissues from him and started wiping the orange stain from her dress. Much to Justin's surprise Ella reacted very naturally, more coolly he would say when he was expecting her to snap at his son for ruining her dress.

"I didn't know you could be so handful." She grinned at Bobby who giggled as if he understood what she meant.

"Are you okay? I'm extremely sorry for that.." Justin apologized as they took their seats back.

"No problem." A smile grazed at her thin pinkish lips. Justin thought she looked pretty when she smiled like that but unfortunately nothing would make him attracted to him, he kept telling himself mentally.

In a while, their food arrived. Sandra and Natasha kept conversing to fill the silence that was lingering in the air.

When Sandra realised that Justin wasn't going to talk to Ella, she kicked at his leg, causing him to look at his mother.

She made some eye movements at her grumpy looking son, gesturing him to make a move, causing him to roll his eyes.

"So Ella, you are a student right?" He asked her even though he knew the answer for his question. His tired to keep his eyes fixed on the plate that was in front of him.

"I am working as a house surgeon at the General hospital." She slightly shifted on her seat so that she could face him and noticed he simply nodded at her reply. She kept twirling the spoon in between her fingers, anticipating another question from Justin but she was disappointed when he didn't say or ask anything else and kept focusing on his steak.

"What do you do?" She didn't know from where she gathered so much courage all of a sudden to question a complete stranger.

"I run a construction company." He didn't want to go into the details about his career and kept his answer as blunt as possible. She nodded at him before lowering her head.

After that the uncomfortable silence was back between the two. Ella wondered what he was thinking while Justin just wished for the dinner to get over as early as possible.

When they were done with their desserts, Justin summoned the waiter to bring the bill.

Ella kept playing with Bobby until they reached her aunt's home. Justin and Sandra got down from the car to wish them goodnight.

He bid farewell to Natasha and turned to Ella, whose heart fluttered as her hazel eyes met with his green ones. She could feel her pulse raising and her throat constricting with each passing second.

"It was nice meeting you, Ella." He said with least to no expression on his face.

"It was nice meeting you too." She said looking down at her feet.

"Alright, see you later. Goodnight." He didn't wait for her response as he quickly turned on his heels and walked towards his car, making her a little upset. She had expected him to ask for her number or at least give his own.

Seeing the disappointment that was clearly etched on her beautiful face, Sandra held her hands gently in hers.

"I'm sorry for his rudeness, Ella. He still needs some time as he is still mourning over his wife's death. All I'm asking from you is to be a little patient with him and give him some time. And I promise that with time, he will learn to love you."

Ella nodded her head as she tucked her loose locks behing her ear. They heard an impatient honk from the car which made them turn towards it together. Sandra wanted to smack his head was his rudeness, "I think Bobby is feeling sleepy. I should be going now." Sandra hugged her before she got into the car.

"What else were you expecting from him, Ella?" She asked herself. She didn't know why she was feeling disappointed with him. "He is a windower and he must have loved his wife so much to still be mourning for her." She thought as she made her way into the house. It was very clear to her that he wanted to marry her just because his son needed a woman to take care of him and she promised to herself that she wouldn't expect anything more from him.

"Did you really have to be so rude with her, Justin?" Sandra asked him angrily.

"That wasn't being rude." He argued.

"Did you see the disappointment in her eyes?"

"Oh really, mom? What else were you expecting from me?" He asked annoyed at her mother's interrogation.

"Justin, you are not being fair to that poor girl."

"Mother, please give me a break. I am becoming tired with this drama of yours." He threw his jacket on the couch before walking away. "This is why I did not want to go for the dinner." She heard him mutter as he walked passed her.