The Daring Billionaire’s Wife by Lypstical

Vanessa

Though I can't stand Carmella right now, my biggest fear is she'll say something she shouldn't in Mia's presence and it makes my heart beat faster.

Carmella gives her shopping bags to the three bodyguards behind her, crosses her arms and scornfully looks at me from head to toe then fixes her gaze on my stomach.

"Well, well, well, who the fuck do we have here?" She sneers.

Mia gasps in shock behind me.

Quietly stepping out of the elevator, I roll my eyes at the first thing Carmella said to me.

She takes a few steps back but continues to stare right at my stomach.

"I came to shop for a new dress," she says. "I have a date with my boyfriend in two hours. I didn't know my shopping spree would be ruined."

"Is my stomach that captivating?" I smirk.

She scoffs. "I'm just wondering why you're still not showing."

"It hasn't been that long. Are you that dumb?"

"You know what I think?" She pokes her cheek. "There's absolutely nothing in there and you're just taking advantage of Dominic. That's the only reason he came with you on that trip." I sigh. "That's where you're wrong. It was more than that."

"Oh, right!" She chuckles mockingly. "He came to spend time with your dad, that walking corpse!"

Triggered, I slap her across the face and she falls into the arms of her bodyguard, who drops his shopping bag.

Before she can even recover from her shock, I step forward, grabbing her by the collar for more slaps.

"How dare you disrespect my father?" My voice trembles with rage.

It makes no difference that she attempts to shield her face with her arms. Two more slaps still land right on her cheeks.

"Do something, you fucking idiots!" she yells at her bodyguards.

Glaring at all three of her bodyguards, I say, "Dare get in my way and you're fired!"

"Yes, ma'am!" they say in unison, including the one still holding Carmella.

After a total of five slaps, Mia pulls me away and says, "That's enough. This isn't good for you."

"Did you hear what she said about my dad?"

"I definitely heard every word and holy shit! I have so many questions, but you're pregnant. Please!"

I take a few deep breaths, trying so hard to calm down.

Carmella pulls away from her bodyguard, then pushes them all as she yells, "You're all useless. What the fuck are you here for if you can't even do one thing right?"

"Before they listen to you, they listen to me because Dominic is my husband. You're lucky they protect you from your ex-husband. Otherwise, I would've told them to go home right now." She raises her eyebrows in shock massaging her red cheeks. "How the hell do you know about that?"

"Dominic tells me everything." I smirk, my breath extremely heavy.

"That's impossible! You're not that special for him to tell you about my private life!"

"I just proved you wrong. What more do you need to hear?"

It seems that my response only angers her as she attempts to launch herself at me but before she can get too close, the bodyguards pull her back.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She grunts. "Let me go!"

I cross my arms, standing in place as Mia continues to hold me back but I pull away and step forward, staring right into Carmella's eyes.

"The next time you disrespect my father, I'll fuck you up so bad you won't be able to look in the mirror for a while. I dare you to give it a try right now. Come on." She grits her teeth, unable to utter a word.

"That's what I thought." I chuckle, doing my best to hide my pain.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

On the other end of the hallway, the elevator doors open and Dominic steps out, running towards us with concern. knew he'd be in town for his forced date with Carmella, just didn't think he'd come so soon and right where we are. Why is he even here?

Carmella looks back and smiles with relief as the bodyguards let her go, her eyes fixed on Dominic as he closes the distance between the two of them. "Babe, I'm so glad you're here!" she says to him, pulling her messy hair away from her face. "This bitch slapped me five times! Just look at what she did to my face!"

Despite how loud and clear she is as

Qu

she faces him for a clear view of what I just did to her, he runs past her and comes straight to me, placing his hands on my shoulders with concern and my heart skips a beat as our eyes lock.

Dominic

I don't care that Carmella's face looks so red right now, or that she's trying so hard to get my attention. Vanessa's face is so red with rage that I even fear to ask what's going on, but I'm so concerned that t place my hands on her shoulders and I can feel her tremble with rage.

"Hey, are you okay? What happened?" I ask her.

She looks away for a moment to compose herself, then quietly says, "She called my dad a walking corpse."

I shut my eyes tightly as I shake my head, hating that they met and Vanessa got to hear such hurtful words.

Though I want to lash out at Carmella, this isn't the time, so I sigh and hold Vanessa's hand, leading her to the elevator on the other side so we don't have to go past Carmella.

I don't even want to imagine what's going through Mia's mind after what she's just witnessed.

As the three of us get in the elevator and I press the button, Carmella yells, "Babe? Is that all you're going to do about this? Look at my fucking face!"

I clench my jaw and roll my eyes, only wanting to talk to her afterwards.

As the elevator goes down, I continue holding Vanessa close and I can tell she's holding it in just by how hard her shoulders still tremble.

We get to a more private balcony in the luxury store and Mia gives us some space, still looking shocked as she obviously has so many questions.

Now left alone with Vanessa, she pulls away from me and faces the balcony, tightly holding onto the rail as she lowers her head and closes her eyes. "Can you please give me a moment?" she asks quietly.

"No." I get closer and stand right behind her, my chest coming in contact with her back.

She raises her head and sniffles a few times before turning to face me with teary eyes, lowering her head again.

"I know Carmella's always been a heartless bitch, but how could she say that about my dad?"

She doesn't even look me in the eyes, so I hold onto the sides of her face to guide her gaze.

With a stuttered breath, she continues, "She just stood there and said it so casually like-" "Hey, listen to me," I say to her.

"Is she even human if she can think of that in her fucking head and say -"

"Hey-"

"Imagine how my dad would feel if he heard that and-"

I cut her off by covering her mouth with my hand and she widens her teary eyes at me.

"There's something you need to know, so just listen to what I have to say, alright?" I say to her.

She nods, now filled with curiosity.