Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 143: .It happens by accident.Archibald’s out of town again for work but tries to call in the evenings when he can and Isabella, consequently, does her best to be available despite the three-hour time difference. Dara can roll her eyes all she wants — and does — but keeps her smart remarks, if not to a minimum, then to an average.(“It’s part of our arrangement!” Isabella protests noisily as if the forty-five minutes she spends holed up in her bedroom have anything at all to do with those initial terms of their relationship and aren’t simply because she misses the man like a limb when he’s gone.Dara makes an unflattering snort and digs her elbow into Isabella’s side, stealing a pretzel out of her bag while she’s distracted.“Uh-huh,” she says, “Is that what we’re calling it now, Ms. Codependent?”“I don’t think I like you anymore.”Isabella, among other things, is a liar. A bad one.)It happens by accident because Isabella’s bundled up
Ditch the Ex and Date the Billionaire.Chapter 1: Break Up.*Isabella* Balancing the bento cake on my hand and the strings of red birthday balloons carefully, I walked quietly to the main entrance. I smiled to myself knowing that my boyfriend would never expect what was going to happen. It’s his birthday and I planned on surprising him after I got back from work.I bent the door handle trying to pushed it open but stopped realizing it was stuck. Alan wasn’t around? Tucking a strand of my curly dark brown hair behind my ear, I pulled out the spare key Alan had given to me at the beginning of our relationship and opened the villa's door.The lights in the sitting room were turned off as I looked around confused.Alan never leaves his lights turned off. He always complained of having a phobia of the darkness. I could see cereal boxes and popcorn tubs scattered around the floor, my brows creased while I fixed my gaze on the television which was on.What the ...?I understand that
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 2: Enjoy now .“You look so miserable”. Someone say hatefully into my ear just before I manage to sit down at my desk.I fought back a shiver at my coworker's gross invasion of personal space.Zoe is in her late 30s but it’s so ridiculously cringey that she seems to find joy in making my miserable life… a lot more miserable.I arched an eyebrow at her. “What are you talking about?”.“I heard the CEO’s grandson broke up with you.” She revealed with a glint in her eyes. “You do know that you’re only here because you are dating the CEO’s grand son, hm?. So which means illiterate Isabella will soon be kicked out of here like the unwanted trash you are.” She says clapping at her ridiculous statement. If I had the energy, i would remark on how childish Zoe was acting right now but I can barely go into a argument with my emotional stability in shambles.I hate the fact that the unit I was working made the coworkers have a shared cubicle. If not
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire.Chapter 3: A new friend .*Isabella*“Excuse me, Are you holding silent conversations with yourself? Should I be worried?.” I looked away from the mirror that i was staring into and turned to my left seeing Dara, a co-worker and coincidentally, the only nice person in this building.“Hey, Dara.” I say, my voice cracking a little bit.She sighed bringing up her hand to touched my forehead as she gave me a look.“Have you been crying all day, please tell me you haven’t ?.”I’m not sure if it’s the exhaustion of the different panic attacks I had today or the soft encouraging look from Dara that spurs me to suddenly be so open, but I’m too tired and I just feels like I’m failing.“I’m just tired, Dara... .” I rasped out blankly staring at my miserable self in the mirror. “It’s been weeks and I feel like I can’t catch a break in this company.” “Bella ... .” She mutters in response reaching out to hold my hand.“Would it be bad if I wanted to resign?.
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 4: Encounter .*ISABELLA* “This is the First Friday night that I have been out without Alan. He’s usually the party type.” I say revealing to Dara.She groaned. “Alan this, Alan that. Isabella, you are not doing a very good job at moving on.”“I can’t move on if you and your boyfriend are giving each other googly eyes in front of me. It reminds me of when—.”“Alright that’s enough.” Riven pulled away from Dara putting some space in between them. “Is this okay?.”“No.” I sigh wistfully. “Everything else still reminds me of Alan. I hate him but I can’t hate the memories we had here.”“Sorry, Isabella,” Dara says, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand. “But I still don’t think putting yourself out there would hurt. Maybe give it a try?.” I gave her a look. “It hasn’t been a month since I found out that my boyfriend cheated on me. So just give me a break.”“I certainly didn’t call you over for a sob story. Your life really is mise
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 5: An Ally . *Isabella* “Wow, Bella. I didn’t take you for a gold digger.” Alan retorted.I didn’t have time to respond as handsome stranger - Archibald defended me immediately.“Watch your tone when speaking to her.” “She’s my girlfriend, I’ll talk to her how I want.” He shouted back before pausing as he realized what he said.“Was.” Archibald corrected him pushing me behind him so he could face his nephew directly. “She’s not your girlfriend anymore so I advice you scram away unless you want me to teach you some manners.” Alan lifts his chin a little, meeting my eye. “I see. Well, I hope you’re enjoying my sloppy seconds, Uncle Archie.”My face contorted into a surprised expression.Is he serious? Archibald huffs quietly, clenching his jaw and squaring up his shoulders.“I don’t even need to ask to know I am much more enjoyable than you ever were,” Archibald says coolly.Dumbfounded. That was what my face was giving.Alan laughs in
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 6: Big fish . *Isabella’s POV*That seems to be all the confirmation Archibald needs. He leans in, closing the tiny bit of remaining distance between us, lips pressing into mine, gentle fingers cupping my jaw. His mouth is soft, and kissing him is easy, just like all the rest of this has been. It’s not logical, but it feels like the right thing to do. He hums against my mouth, like he can hear my thoughts and he’s agreeing to them. It’s slow and cautious at first, it seems like neither of us sure how far to take it. We are playing a game with no rulebook. But my brain is chanting at me: more, more, more, so I tentatively sweep my tongue across Archibald’s bottom lip, and he reciprocates, opening up to let me in. I sigh into his mouth, and Archibald’s hand trails around to the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair. He pulls a little, tilting my head back for better access. I should probably not be surprised that my hot,
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 7: Schemes and Surprises .*ISABELLA* Big fish. I caught a big fish that would help me take revenge on my sister and my stupid ex boyfriend.I don’t need hear the rest from Dara. I’m already turning back into the bar as I frantically search for that flannel shirt in the crowd. Shit. Shit.I emerge on the other side of the dance floor and scans the booths lining the far wall, pushing up onto my tip-toes. The bar is so packed that it’s nearly impossible to see, and I am about to give up, but then I see him—he’s just about to sit down, joining a man and a woman who is already seated on the opposite side of the booth.The man looked like he was in his late thirties, handsome, with a strong jawline and deep-set eyes that seemed to hold a world of experience. He had a rugged look, with a bit of stubble on his face, but it only added to his charm. His smile was warm and inviting, and he carried himself with a confident grace that drew atten
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 143: .It happens by accident.Archibald’s out of town again for work but tries to call in the evenings when he can and Isabella, consequently, does her best to be available despite the three-hour time difference. Dara can roll her eyes all she wants — and does — but keeps her smart remarks, if not to a minimum, then to an average.(“It’s part of our arrangement!” Isabella protests noisily as if the forty-five minutes she spends holed up in her bedroom have anything at all to do with those initial terms of their relationship and aren’t simply because she misses the man like a limb when he’s gone.Dara makes an unflattering snort and digs her elbow into Isabella’s side, stealing a pretzel out of her bag while she’s distracted.“Uh-huh,” she says, “Is that what we’re calling it now, Ms. Codependent?”“I don’t think I like you anymore.”Isabella, among other things, is a liar. A bad one.)It happens by accident because Isabella’s bundled up
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 142: .See, if Isabella’s life was a movie, this is where it would end.A great romantic conclusion tied up with a neat little bow, roll credits, and scene.But this isn’t a movie, and this isn’t where it ends.“I’m thinking about going back to school,” Isabella says one afternoon during a lunch date. She doesn’t stop stirring anxiously at her gelato until Archibald reaches out to physically stop her before it turns to soup, and she won’t like it as much.“I think that’s a good idea,” he replies.Isabella is still basically unhireable, further blacklisted professionally by the drama that came out of her father’s quick but messy trial that put him in jail for years and ruined any good reputation any of them might have had.(The man left a single furious, frothing voicemail on Isabella’s phone that could be summed up as three straight minutes of death threats that included everyone from Isabella herself to the cat to the goldfish that had o
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 142: .“You know, I almost broke up with you last night.”Archibald’s steady calm, the largest holdover from last night, holds up even as he nods in agreement. “I know.”Isabella scowls at him.“How’d you know? I barely knew until I’d decided not to.”“Because I know you. You’ve been given precious few people in life who haven’t broken your trust, and I did that by going behind your back. It would have been an understandable reaction, and I wouldn’t have begrudged you—“Isabella slams that ocean blue tumbler down on the table with a clatter. Her eyes are bright with emotion, and her lips are turned down in an irritated scowl.“Maybe you wouldn’t,” she snaps, “but I’d sure as shit begrudge you if you just, what, let me break up with you without so much as asking me not to? What the fuck, man.”“You are an adult who can make your own decisions—““Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want you to just let me go when I’m about to do something stupid!
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 140:.There is coffee, kept hot in the kind of insulated tumbler that costs too much and coordinates with the beachy colors of the house. Isabella has a suspicion that it was bought specifically for her, because Archibald is a crazy person who thinks about that kind of stuff. It doesn’t stop her from drinking it.“Tell me what you did,” Isabella orders before she can talk herself out of it and in spite of the very large part of her that doesn’t actually want to know. “Something something something about buying out the board?” she elaborates with a pointed stare. Because Chantelle, of all people, wouldn’t be bailing unless the ship is sinking. The ship might already be sunk if she’s that willing to abandon what she sees as her birthright. A birthright that she’s always seen as a competition, even though she’d won right out the gate and Isabella’s so stupid that it took literally being disowned to see that she never stood a chance.“Oh, th
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 139: .Isabella and Alan had settled many a disagreement with an angry tussle in bed that was worth the drop afterward for being able to get a little of her own back, to feel seen and heard. Except that Archibald already makes her feel seen and heard, and right now Isabella just sort of wants one of them to hurt, and she’s not sure who.“Stop, stop, enough,” Archibald orders, kinder than Isabella deserves, and wipes the beginnings of tears out of the corners of Isabella’s eyes before she even realizes that she’s about to cry. “I know, baby. I know.”“You don’t know anything.” It comes out way less cool and way more pathetic when Isabella’s voice cracks on what is definitely an overtired, strung-out sob. “You don’t know anything.”“I know that you’re exhausted and running on fumes and that you’d rather have the kind of sex that’s not good for you and that you don’t even want than get what you need,” Archibald tells her. “I’d say I know pl
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 138: .The only tears Chantelle’s ever shed have been of the crocodilian variety, as purposeful a tactic as any insult. Even after she’d forced herself to learn how to stop, she’d never managed to wield emotion like a weapon. At times like this, Isabella sort of wishes that she had.Isabella trembles and wraps her arms around herself, chilled even underneath the blanket. The edges are getting wet with saltwater and crusted with sand, and she would bite anyone who might try to take it from her.Archibald doesn’t touch her, but Isabella can feel him practically vibrating with the way he wants to. Right now, Isabella would be happy to bite him, too.“I don’t think you’re stupid.”“Well, it sure feels like it.”Archibald literally wrings his hands in open distress, and even now, it doesn’t feel remotely like a win. Isabella’s gotten exactly what she’s asked for—space and someone else being the one to hurt, but it doesn’t lessen her own, not e
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 137:.It's still pitch black outside, but Isabella finds herself at the edge of the water anyway. The ocean doesn’t give a damn about Isabella’s battered foundation and rolls happily up the night-cooled sand, leaving only foam and bits of seashell behind.Isabella sits at the shoreline and tucks her knees up under her chin.She wonders, miserably, where Chantelle plans to go.God, she hopes her sister gets as far away as she can.Isabella's spent her whole life loyal, but Chantelle? She’s fanatical to a degree that Isabella could never quite manage, and she wonders if putting her loyalty into a cage match with her relentless drive to protect herself finally did what nothing else could—crack that fanaticism. She’ll never know; it’s not her place now, and even if it was, Chantelle would never let her.God, she hopes Chantelle got as far away as she possibly can.Mai, with much derision, refers to it as Isabella's "better place theory." Mom
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 136: .“Oh, please. Because your boytoy just woke up and bought half our board and their corresponding shares out from under us for some weekend summer fun? I didn’t think you had it in you, but I guess you had to grow a spine sometime.”Isabella’s brain goes blank. Chantelle’s words land with all the delicacy and grace of anvils, pinning her down under their weight like a butterfly in a box.“I didn’t—you’re wrong,” she protests.“Sure, okay. Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, don’t bother saving this number; I’m ditching the phone once my plane boards. Congratulations on your win, Izzy. We always knew you’d ruin the family, but I didn’t think it’d be like this. Have a good rest of your life, I guess.”There’s a click and then a dial tone. Isabella tries to call back, but it goes straight to a generic voicemail that she knows won’t ever be checked. At best it’s a burner phone; at worst it’s Chantelle’s regular phone that she’s willing t
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 135: .There’s the temptation after breakfast to go back to bed and find another way to entertain themselves, but Archibald shuffles her to go shower instead.“It’s about ten miles to get into town,” he says when Isabella protests in an appropriately dignified manner, definitely not pouting at having to put pants on. “You’ll like it.” Isabella does pout, then, and is rewarded for her bad behavior by being hoisted up onto the bathroom counter and thoroughly kissed until she’ll say yes to just about anything. And she does say yes, eventually, and delays the inevitable by about ten minutes by sticking her hands down the back of Archibald’s pajamas.Isabella’s never had this kind of domesticity in a relationship before, and it should feel strange but it doesn’t, just scaffolds its way up the norms built in by months of getting to know each other. It doesn’t feel weird at all for Isabella to snag Archibald by the wrist and tug him into the sho