Arranged to Marry Her Ex-Billionaire Lover

Chapter 9

Jinn

“Mr. Mancini, these are the analysis of the Shanghai project..” Peter said, handing over a bunch of files that I had to review before the end of the weekend.

“Thanks, can you please leave it in my car. I will check them over the weekend..” I asked him and rubbed my temples to ward off the throbbing pain over there.

“But sir..” He hesitated however a nod from me encouraged him to say whatever was on his mind, “Jinn, you are getting married tomorrow. Are you sure you can do it over the weekend?”

That reminded me of the most gruesome day of my life.

After the engagement, I hadn’t gone back to my family house because as much as to my dismay, Dahlia has started staying there, after much persuasion from Leo and Anna.

She seemed uncomfortable by their offer but only I knew that it’s all just a façade. On the inside, she must be really celebrating on such an opportunity. All her simplicity, innocence and good nature were all just an act to mask her true self and achieve her goal, which I am yet to figure out what it is.

Grandpa wanted the wedding to happen as immediately as possible and since I had no say in it, the date was fixed a week after the engagement. All I could do was beg him for a simple marriage ceremony because seriously, I didn’t have any intention to celebrate the day my life was officially going to be ruined by marrying the woman I hate the most in the whole world. And to my surprise, grandpa agreed to it.

“It is my wedding day, not my death day. So, I am sure I will be able to do my work. Ask Carter to come and take them.” I groaned and began to stuff my things into my briefcase to leave the office.

It was eleven-thirty in the night and I stayed in the office, completely forgetting about eating and sleeping. The whole building was empty except for a few guards who were on their night duties. While Carter took the files to the car, I spent a good few minutes relaxing by sipping on my cup of coffee. It helped me get rid of the headache to some extent.

When I exited the building, Carter was waiting for me and I instructed him to take me to my apartment.

“Sir, but your grandfather wanted me to drive you back home. Since you wanted the wedding to be simple, Mr. Mancini has decided that the wedding will happen in the morning at the mansion itself..” Carter spoke, looking at me from the mirror.

“Fine, whatever..” I mumbled, leaning my head against the headrest and closing my eyes.

Once we reached, I thanked Carter and walked inside. Considering the fact that it was too late in the night, the whole house was engulfed in complete darkness and total quietness. I silently made my way straight to my bedroom. Without caring to turn on the lights, I stepped towards my bed and slumped on it like a dead log.

From all my earlier weariness I thought I would fall asleep when my head touches the pillow but that wasn’t the case. I twisted and turned on the bed to find the right position for my aching back and while doing so, my senses alerted me of a presence beside me on my bed.

What the heck? Who is sleeping on my bed?

I hurriedly turned on the night lamp and when my eyes landed on the person lying next to me, I swear I had a mild heart attack to find Dahlia nicely tucked under the quilt.

All I could see was red and I didn’t know what possessed over me that the next second I dragged her out of my bed without giving her a warning. She startled awake and gasped to have been woken up like that from her sleep. 

I could literally feel her fast-beating pulse ringing loud in my ears. The raw fear was visible in her eyes and if it was for someone else, I would have felt somewhat guilty for waking them up in such a forceful manner but this was Dahlia we are talking about. I would never feel guilty even if I strangle her in her sleep. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, clenching my jaw and it took several seconds for her to grasp what was going on.

“J-Jinn, what’s wrong with you? Why did you wake me up like that?” She asked, still looking a bit disoriented.

“Well, to begin with, this is my bedroom and I don’t f*****g want you to be sleeping on it..” I rasped angrily and shoved her away, “Now, get the f**k out of my sight..”

I watched a wave of indifference coating her face before she sat back on the bed.

“Did you not get what I just said? Or have you lost the ability to hear?” I seethed at her. “This is my room and now..”

“This may be your room, Jinn but this is where I have been sleeping for the past one week. If you still have a problem you can talk to Anna because it was she who asked me to sleep here. And in case if you haven’t noticed, it’s one in the night and I cannot move out of here in the middle of the night. So, I would appreciate it if you behave like an adult and accept it..” She interrupted and retorted back at me in a humble tone.

“So, you are willing to sleep with me?” I challenged her with a smirk. “Oh, who am I kidding? You are Dahlia Wilson and sleeping around with random men shouldn’t be new to you..”

I couldn’t complete my sentence as she quickly got up from the bed, with a pillow and the quilt in her hands. “I will be the matured one here..” She responded coolly which was too Alien to me because the Dahlia I knew would be too easily irked by an argument. “I will sleep on the couch..” 

I watched her walk to the couch lying across the room and climb into it before covering her head with the quilt.

Cursing under my breath, I threw my jacket roughly somewhere around and ran my fingers into my hair. Her presence was maddening me to the extent that I couldn’t put it in words. The headache was back now and I was sure this night would be long and distressing.

How come she could sleep so comfortably when she had ruined the peace of my mind?

I was thinking about it when my phone began to ring noisily, call it my luck or mere coincidence. A huge smirk found its way on my lips when I saw the caller ID.

“Harriot, sweetheart!!” I said extra loudly and from the little shuffling movement from under the blanket, I knew Dahlia was well awake. “Did you miss me, darling for calling me at such an odd time?”

“Jinn, I can’t believe that you are getting married tomorrow. How could you do this to me? I thought there was something going on between us after all these years we spent together..” I rolled my eyes at Harriot's whining.

If I didn’t have Dahlia’s presence around me, I could have asked Harriot to f**k off. She knew right from the beginning that I was into her only for s*x and nothing more. I had made it clear more than I could count that I had no intention to date her or have any sort of relationship with her. What we had was not even friendship then why on earth was she behaving like my ladylove?

Even though I was fuming with anger on the inside, I was aware that I had to keep my calm. “News travels faster than I thought, huh? But honey, don’t worry about it. It’s just a marriage of convenience and it wouldn't change anything between us..” I added in a weirdly soft voice which was strange to my own ears.

“What do you mean?” I heard her ask anxiously from the other side.

“I mean, I don’t love the woman that I'm going to marry, in fact, I hate her beyond explanation. I am only marrying her for Leo and Anna. She would remain my wife only on papers but you, my sweetheart, will be the one I will be spending my nights with like always..”

“But why do you have to marry that woman if you hate her so much?” Now Harriot was really beginning to annoy me with her non-stop questions.

I puffed some air out to cool down my boiling nerves, ‘..Because I cannot disappoint the people who have given me so much in my life.” I hissed through my teeth. “Listen, honey, it’s too late and I think we will talk about this when I come to your place tomorrow night..”

“Isn’t it your wedding night tomorrow?” She asked.

“That’s right. It’s my wedding night tomorrow but I promise to spend it with you and make your night unforgettable..” I added in a husky tone which was pretty loud to reach the other end of the room.

I kept my eyes lingering on the couch to get hold of a reaction from Dahlia to hear her fiancé talking like this to another woman but I turned away when there wasn’t any coming from her. Either she was too good in hiding her feelings or she didn’t have something called feelings at all, the latter suited her better.

I heard a loud giggle from Harriot’s side. “You naughty, bye now..”

“Bye, darling..” I felt like gagging to utter such words to Harriot but I did anyway. Throwing my phone carelessly on the mattress, I fell on it and drifted off to a disturbed sleep with lots of tossing and turning.

*

The next morning, I was woken up by my grandma’s naggingly loud voice.

“Jinny, come on get up now. Come on. Come on..”

“Uhff, grandma. Why are you up so early?” I grunted and sat up, rubbing the sleep off my eyes. From the heaviness of my eyelids, I am sure I must have fallen asleep only in the early morning hours.

“It’s your wedding day silly. I couldn’t sleep more than a blink last night from excitement and here you are sleeping like a dead dog. The ceremony starts at ten and by another hour I want you to be showered and nicely dressed, am I clear?” She ordered in her playfully authoritative tone which bought a smile on my face but just the thought of marrying Dahlia bought a bad taste to my mouth.

“Alright..” I spoke with a frown, after which thankfully, grandma did not pester me and left me alone. I slumped back on the bed, lying there with my eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. My mind was clogged with a hell lot of thoughts.

When I looked around, Dahlia was nowhere to be found in my room and I couldn’t be any gladder about it. I didn’t want my day to start with a foul mood by looking at her ugly face.

Ugly face? You got to be kidding me. Right?

‘Argh shut up..’ I mentally groaned and shut off that annoying voice in my head.

After a nice and long shower, I wore a three-piece suit which obviously wasn’t new since I did not have time to buy one and even if I had time, I wouldn’t have taken the pain to buy a new one. After all, I was least bothered about this day.

I styled my hair back with gel and with a grey tie, I completed my look. I sprayed my cologne and was wearing my shoes when grandma once again came back to check up on me, grandpa also joined her, wheeling his chair behind her.

“Ohh, aren’t you the most handsome groom in the world?” I fought the need to roll my eyes at the way she was hyping things. It was clear that she was thrilled. Even beyond overjoyed about me finally tying the knot.

“Jinn, come here..” Leo called me and I went down to kneel in front of him to keep an eye level with him.

“Yes, grandpa..”

“I know you are not very happy with my decision but you will thank me for this decision that I have made for you one day. Lia is a wonderful woman and if you try to know her deeper, I am certain you will fall for her again and again..”

I narrowed my eyes at him on hearing that. Why do I feel like this old man knows something that I don’t and he is trying hard to keep it from me? And what the heck is he talking about falling in love with her?

‘Again and Again? I had fallen in love with her once and God, I can’t imagine the consequences of falling for her again.

“Just have some patience, Jinn and don’t be too harsh on her..” He added and I smirked mentally.

‘Harsh? I am not just going to be harsh with her. I am going to make her life miserable and make her regret her decision of coming back into my life.’

I wonder how that cunning woman had wrapped my dear ones around her little finger. I guess she must have good acting skills and many more inborn talents at fooling people.

“Yes, grandpa..” I assured him, even though I am not going to obey any of his words.

“Alright, let’s not delay any further. The guests should be here by anytime and we should be there to welcome them..” Grandma said, patting my arm and soon we three went down to the party hall of our mansion.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I will no longer be a bachelor but a married man, who foolishly agreed to marry the woman I dislike so much. My stomach began to roll into knots at the thought of it.

The ceremony began once the guests had arrived. Keeping my request in mind, grandpa had invited only a few close friends and family to attend the wedding.

Everyone settled as the Violin played the here-comes-the-bride tune. Since I did not have any close male friends, I asked Peter to be my best man and he readily jumped at the offer. I was standing at the altar, my hands linked in the front. And when I turned around by the sound of the clicking of heels behind me, an unexpected gasp escaped my mouth.

Dahlia walked down the aisle, looking radiant in her rose gold dress. The dress was hugging all her curves that were etched in my brain like a favorite song. The deep neckline gave me a glimpse of her cleavage and her structured collar bone. Her simple yet glimmering makeup intensified her features and she ended up looking stunning.

“Jinn, you might wanna close your mouth..” I didn’t realize I was gaping at her until Peter gave me a jab on my ribs.

Did I tell you Peter was also my classmate and an old friend from my high school? That gave the bastard all the right to make fun of me outside the office.

“But I have to say..” He whispered into my ear, smiling sheepishly. “..she looks gorgeous today..”

“Shut up..” I hissed lowly. I cursed under my breath for choosing him as my best man out of all the men in the world.

Dahlia walked arm in arm with the guy I saw with her earlier at the engagement. I pondered why he was the one to give her away. Where was her dear father?

I could feel her body going stiff the moment she came to stand beside me.

The priest flashed a warm and gentle smile at us. “Jinn Mancini and Dahlia Wilson, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to each other in this holy matrimony?”

“Yes..” We spoke together.

My face contorted anger and coldness as the priest motioned for me to repeat after him. The tone of my voice held no feelings and words were ushered out without unveiling a single emotion.

I, Jinn Mancini, take you, Dahlia Wilson to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward: for better, for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us apart.