Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 17: Affections . *NORMAN VILLA* "Isabella, you look beautiful!" exclaimed Dara, her eyes lighting up with admiration as she put the final touches on my outfit. I smiled gratefully at her, feeling a surge of confidence. "Thank you, Dara. You're the best!" Dara grinned back, her hands fluttering around me like a butterfly. "Oh, stop it, you're making me blush. But seriously, you're going to dazzle everyone tonight." As Dara adjusted the folds of my dress and smoothed down my hair, I felt a sense of excitement bubbling within me. Tonight was the company party, and I was determined to make a good impression.I donât know if Archieâs father was actually going to go ahead and introduce us to everyone but I just had to dress the part just in case. I didnât want the case of a surprise sprung on me. And tonight, I was going to be Archibaldâs date and I seriously couldnât wait. Weâve been closer after the family dinner night that we ha
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 18: Mine . *Isabella* âDara, I think thatâs enough makeup youâve put on.â I say cautioning her. She shook her head not listening to me. âNo I have to dress the part, there will be a lot of hot billionaires and millionaires at this party.â âYou have a boyfriend!.â I remind her outraged she would say that. She chuckled glancing away from the mirror to look at me. âWell who said I canât be in a relationship and be a sugar baby at the same time?.â I donât even have the time to address what she said as she immediately grabbed her bag after reapplying her lipgloss for the tenth time. âOkay Iâm done!.â âFinally.â I said exasperatedly. âWhy are you in such a hurry?.â She asked as we left my room. âYou donât even like parties like that, I think I saw you in the last one looking like you were forced to be there.â âThatâs because I was forced to be there.â I remembered the Bancroft company party last year. My father had forced me
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 19: A New Addition .You can do this, Isabella. You can do this. I try to motivate myself from not getting too nervous as Archie squeezed my palm to help me. As Archie and I made our way through the crowded room, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sea of faces surrounding us. Even when I usually attended events when I was still living and abiding by my fatherâs rules, I still couldnât just adjust to this lifestyle.Itâs just so overwhelming. Being in a room full of people that are better than you. People that know that they are better than you. Makes one self esteem low. And I already have a low self esteem to begin with. But it seemed like my experience at this particular anniversary party was going to be different because people were smiling and greeting us warmly, their voices blending into a cacophony of sound. I clung to Archie's arm, seeking comfort in his reassuring presence.He sensed my unease and leaned in c
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 20: Attention, everyone . As I sat at the table with Archie's family, I found myself surprisingly at ease, thanks to the lively chatter of Archie's niece. We giggled and shared secrets, talking about boys and girly stuff as if we had known each other for years. It was a welcome distraction from the tension that hung in the air, and I found myself genuinely enjoying the moment.âOkay okay but wait I have to tell you about the time Uncle Archie was being an absolute rebel to grandfather, that was the most hilarious moment of my teens.â Aileen said as she giggled while taking a sip of her drink. Archie groaned, obviously having had enough with our gossiping. âIâm sure no one wants to hear about that, Aileen.ââHmm I donât know.â I shrugged giving her a wink. âIt seems like a very interesting story.â I say and we both throw a fit of laughter again. I honestly didnât expect to feel at ease while sitting with Archibaldâs family. Wha
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 21: The CEOâs future wife . As Chantelle introduced me to the guests, she twisted the truth, calling herself the legitimate daughter and labeling me as the illegitimate one. Anger bubbled inside me, and I stormed out of the party, unable to bear the humiliation any longer. Outside, tears streamed down my face as I struggled to control my emotions. But Archie followed me, which I didnât expect him to do at all. "Isabella, wait," he called after me, his voice filled with concern.I turned to him, my eyes brimming with tears. "I can't take this anymore, Archie," I choked out. âIsabella.â He whispered softly pulling me in for a hug as I sobbed loudly. âI canât live like this anymore. Living in the shadow of my sister, letting her treat me anyhow. I have had enough of this.â I cried out. âI canât take it anymore, Iâm tired.ââItâs okay, let it out. Let it all out.â He said stroking my hair gently. âWhy does she derive joy in see
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 22: Backup . Isabella stood in the center of the room, surrounded by a throng of well-wishers, each offering their congratulations on her recent achievement. If the achievement meant congratulations on getting e engaged to Bancroft heir then she would gladly shake their offered hands and accept it. Her face radiated with joy and pride as she graciously accepted the compliments, her eyes sparkling with gratitude. She didnât expect this moment at all, she didnât expect Archibald to suddenly bring this much attention to her, she certainly didnât expect him to acknowledge her like that in front of all these important people and now, as the accolades poured in, she felt a profound sense of validation wash over her.But amidst the sea of smiling faces, there stood a small cluster of figures who looked decidedly less jubilant. They were Isabella's family, a collection of individuals whose relationships with her were fraught with tension an
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 23: a confession . Archibald strolled around the hall trying to avoid greeting people as he looked for Isabella when someone poked him harshly on his back. He turned around to see his nephew with a glare on his face. âYou liar!.â Alan yelled as he pushed his uncle backwards. Archie felt a knot form in his stomach as his nephew, Alan, cornered him in the dimly lit corner of the room. âWhy didnât your pants catch on fire with all those lies you were spewing in your ridiculous speech.â Archibald sighed. âAlan, I donât have the strength to deal with you. I have a girlfriend to look for.â Alan's eyes glinted with a cold determination as he stepped forward, his words dripping with venom. "Listen here, Uncle Archie," Alan spat, his voice low but laced with malice. "You think you can parade around with my woman, pretending like your little romance is real? Well, let me tell you something â it's not fooling anyone." Archie's jaw
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire .Chapter 24: in the gardens ."Archie?" I called out, my voice tinged with a hint of desperation as I scanned the vast expanse of the crowded hall. But he was nowhere to be found, and a sense of unease began to gnaw at the edges of my consciousness.I hated standing alone in this kind of party. And just my luck that I couldnât even find Dara too. Where the hell was my best friend? After she had Aileen had defended me in the restroom, I left to go back to Archieâs side but I didnât see him again. And Archieâs sister wasnât even of help, she only eyed me and scoffed.I groan to myself standing in one place. I couldnât just run away from this party. I was kind of the main character here.All thanks to Archibald who made that announcement this evening and his father who thinks that Iâm going to get married to him. Lost in my search, I was suddenly accosted by a guy who seemed to materialize out of thin air, his smirk oozing with cockiness. "Hey t
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 143: .It happens by accident.Archibaldâs 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 â and does â but keeps her smart remarks, if not to a minimum, then to an average.(âItâs part of our arrangement!â 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 arenât simply because she misses the man like a limb when heâs gone.Dara makes an unflattering snort and digs her elbow into Isabellaâs side, stealing a pretzel out of her bag while sheâs distracted.âUh-huh,â she says, âIs that what weâre calling it now, Ms. Codependent?ââI donât think I like you anymore.âIsabella, among other things, is a liar. A bad one.)It happens by accident because Isabellaâs bundled up
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 142: .See, if Isabellaâs 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 isnât a movie, and this isnât where it ends.âIâm thinking about going back to school,â Isabella says one afternoon during a lunch date. She doesnât stop stirring anxiously at her gelato until Archibald reaches out to physically stop her before it turns to soup, and she wonât like it as much.âI think thatâs a good idea,â he replies.Isabella is still basically unhireable, further blacklisted professionally by the drama that came out of her fatherâs 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 Isabellaâs 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: .âYou know, I almost broke up with you last night.âArchibaldâs steady calm, the largest holdover from last night, holds up even as he nods in agreement. âI know.âIsabella scowls at him.âHowâd you know? I barely knew until Iâd decided not to.ââBecause I know you. Youâve been given precious few people in life who havenât broken your trust, and I did that by going behind your back. It would have been an understandable reaction, and I wouldnât have begrudged youââIsabella 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.âMaybe you wouldnât,â she snaps, âbut Iâd 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.ââYou are an adult who can make your own decisionsâââYeah, but that doesnât mean I want you to just let me go when Iâm 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 doesnât stop her from drinking it.âTell me what you did,â Isabella orders before she can talk herself out of it and in spite of the very large part of her that doesnât actually want to know. âSomething something something about buying out the board?â she elaborates with a pointed stare. Because Chantelle, of all people, wouldnât be bailing unless the ship is sinking. The ship might already be sunk if sheâs that willing to abandon what she sees as her birthright. A birthright that sheâs always seen as a competition, even though sheâd won right out the gate and Isabellaâs so stupid that it took literally being disowned to see that she never stood a chance.âOh, 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 sheâs not sure who.âStop, stop, enough,â Archibald orders, kinder than Isabella deserves, and wipes the beginnings of tears out of the corners of Isabellaâs eyes before she even realizes that sheâs about to cry. âI know, baby. I know.ââYou donât know anything.â It comes out way less cool and way more pathetic when Isabellaâs voice cracks on what is definitely an overtired, strung-out sob. âYou donât know anything.ââI know that youâre exhausted and running on fumes and that youâd rather have the kind of sex thatâs not good for you and that you donât even want than get what you need,â Archibald tells her. âIâd say I know pl
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 138: .The only tears Chantelleâs ever shed have been of the crocodilian variety, as purposeful a tactic as any insult. Even after sheâd forced herself to learn how to stop, sheâd 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 doesnât 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.âI donât think youâre stupid.ââWell, it sure feels like it.âArchibald literally wrings his hands in open distress, and even now, it doesnât feel remotely like a win. Isabellaâs gotten exactly what sheâs asked forâspace and someone else being the one to hurt, but it doesnât 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 doesnât give a damn about Isabellaâs 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? Sheâs 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 couldâcrack that fanaticism. Sheâll never know; itâs 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: .âOh, 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 didnât think you had it in you, but I guess you had to grow a spine sometime.âIsabellaâs brain goes blank. Chantelleâs words land with all the delicacy and grace of anvils, pinning her down under their weight like a butterfly in a box.âI didnâtâyouâre wrong,â she protests.âSure, okay. Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, donât bother saving this number; Iâm ditching the phone once my plane boards. Congratulations on your win, Izzy. We always knew youâd ruin the family, but I didnât think itâd be like this. Have a good rest of your life, I guess.âThereâs a click and then a dial tone. Isabella tries to call back, but it goes straight to a generic voicemail that she knows wonât ever be checked. At best itâs a burner phone; at worst itâs Chantelleâs regular phone that sheâs willing t
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire .Chapter 135: .Thereâs the temptation after breakfast to go back to bed and find another way to entertain themselves, but Archibald shuffles her to go shower instead.âItâs about ten miles to get into town,â he says when Isabella protests in an appropriately dignified manner, definitely not pouting at having to put pants on. âYouâll like it.â Isabella does pout, then, and is rewarded for her bad behavior by being hoisted up onto the bathroom counter and thoroughly kissed until sheâll 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 Archibaldâs pajamas.Isabellaâs never had this kind of domesticity in a relationship before, and it should feel strange but it doesnât, just scaffolds its way up the norms built in by months of getting to know each other. It doesnât feel weird at all for Isabella to snag Archibald by the wrist and tug him into the sho