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Chapter 96
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Kimmie will be here until noon tomorrow," Rafael told Ruhi and went into his study to finish all the pending work that got disrupted because of the crazy happenings.
Ruhi went and stood by his study door. He was never intimidating like this; he looked like his dad when in a bad temper and snapping at everyone.
He wasn't able to get any work done and started digging into Derek's family business and their track record for providing the best security systems on the continent. Dylan wasn't much involved in taking up responsibilities and seemed to be happy managing one of the sister companies while Derek did the bulk of the work. There wasn't a single report of someone being able to hack into the systems built by them like it happened today.
"Ruhi..." Rafael got up from his chair and walked over to her. She looked lost and sad while he expected her to be scared.
"How long have you been standing here?" He couldn't believe h
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Rafael called his dad to come over the next morning to discuss something important. Antonio was about to meet with Derek about the hacking incident with their security system and wanted to have everything rechecked and redesigned for his home and offices if needed."What's the matter, dad? Aren't you well?"Antonio looked sick. He had never fully recovered from headaches and poor vision even after the third surgery."Just a bad headache...should be gone when I take a pill after breakfast.""You should just stay home and let Rafael meet with Derek," Ruhi told him, and she looked like she didn't sleep at all to him."I'll cancel the rest of my meetings if I continue to feel sick. But meeting with Derek is important, and I want to do it. Tell me first, are you doing okay? Didn't sleep last night?""Actually, we both didn't sleep. We had to do some digging. And that's what Rafael wants to talk to you about."Rafael told him about Dy
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 98
FLASHBACKTHIRTY YEARS AGOPerched upon the seventh floor in the middle of San Francisco downtown, Lucifer’s office offered a perfect view of the city, with not too many skyscrapers around. He gazed out of the glass building at the club across the street: The High Dive nightclub, owned by his dad.His dad was the boss of the Rivero Mafia family, and soon he was going to take over the reins. He felt more than ready to rule the continent and add to the chaos and mayhem his dad caused over the last thirty years.He called his stepbrother again, wondering where the hell he was. Gustavo Rivero, the capo, and the most feared man among the powerful crime organizations in North America and Italy.Gus inherited all his dad’s good looks and the intimidating aura, while Lucifer only got the intelligence. He hated Gus to the core, especially when his dad ignored him and called Gus his son a lot more often;asonborn to one of his wh
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 99
"Looks like I gave you enough time to finish your breakfast." Dylan held the gun sideways and pointed it at Antonio whilerollinghis sleeves up his forearm."What are you doing in San Francisco?”"You seem to look quite unfazed, Uncle Tony. Is it because you got your bodyguards right outside the door? Or did you expect me here already?"Antonio was sitting over an arm's length away from the bedside lamp. There was nothing in his reach which he could accidentally knock down to draw their attention without getting shot. Dylan moved closer, now aiming the gun directly at Antonio's head."Send your men away. Now!""What's gotten into you? You know I'm your unofficial Godfather and have always treated you the same as Rafael.""Oh, cut to the chase and do as I say. Now is not the time to get huffy." He waved his hand impatiently as Antonio took the phone out of his suit pocket without breaking eye contact with him."Where's
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 100
"I fucking hate you!" Fire blazed in Ruhi's eyes as she pushed Rafael's hand off her and slammed the door in his face.Hugging her knees to her chest, she let the tears flow down her face in abundance. The crushing pain in her heart was unexpected. Ignoring Rafael's pleasto open the door, shebroke into sobs until she choked on air."Ruhi, please. We knew there was a possibility that she could be mine."She knew Evacould be Rafael's, but she was banking on the possibility that shewasn't. She didn't want to panic until the test results came. It seemed to her that the universe had conspired against her.What she never expected was the strange sort of jealousy engulfing her. She hated herself for feeling this way against a little girl she had come to love so much, so quickly.'It's not Eva's fault.' No matter how many times she said this to herself, she couldn't help the feelings of resentment eating her up."
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 101
Ruhi woke up in an empty bed the next morning and felt miserable. Feelings of discontent from yesterday seemed to have amplified now, and not being able to vent them out made her bottle up a lot of resentment. She had expected to wake up in Rafael's arms and talk to him about what was bothering herso much before he left forwork.Her actual plan was to bringit up before going to bed last night, but Rafael was busy with work until midnight because he was in the hospital most of the day. She couldn't sleep without letting it off her chest but found him passed out on the leather couch in the study room and didn't budge when she tried to wake him up.She couldn't wait until evening for him. Shecalled Lisa instead. With the myriad of strong emotions since Friday, she didn't trust her thoughts and actions to be logical anymore."Am I asking for too much? I feel like a terrible person...like some attention seeking drama queen when he's alre
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"Let's go ice skating after this, daddy!"Eva was on cloud ninein Rafael's company all day. He had spoiled her with too many toys and didn't say no to eating as many candies and gummy bears. She was now on her third scoop of ice cream, and it was only four in the afternoon.Ruhi couldn't help but watch the father-daughter duo in awe. Eva was overjoyed to have her join them for lunch and showed her everything she did whenRuhi was sleeping. Ruhi took several pictures of them together, trying hard not to let her jealousy get the best of her."Mom says you are great at ice skating.""Great? I just knew how to and your mom didn't."Ruhi got up to leave, not wanting to hear Rafael reminisce about his dates with his Kimmie."Can we go, pleeease!!" Eva danced in her place while Rafael mussed her hair up."Ruhi isn't feeling well. Let her get better a bit and we will go, maybe next week?""We can go next week with Ruhi
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 103
"Oh, my God! This place has my favorite Korean food. Have you tried this place before?""Nope." Rafael said, his lips twitching in a smile when he knew why she loved it so much. Everything on the chalkboard said spicy before the name of the dish."Allow me to introduce you to the best of the best!" She gestured dramatically while she ordered chicken katsu for herself and a beef bulgogi bowl for Rafael. He looked at her in awe when she placed the orderin broken Korean."You love Korean food so much that you even learned to speak their language?""I love Korean food and language because I love K-Dramas. You have no idea how sad I was when Ji Chang Wook had to leave for some mandatory military service.""Who the fuck is that?" He pulled his phone out to see how good the actor looked."Your jealousy fits are quite amusing." She pinched his cheek while he raised his brow at the google image search."Harry and Co. You won't be d
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 104
"Ruhi... Eva is here. Calm down.""You should have told her to shut the fuck up when she talked shit about my country."He pushed on the gas, knowing she was scared of speed,but she didn't care how fast he was going. She was throwing daggers at his ex, going on and on about how she should sue the makers of the slumdog millionaire movie for showing a slum in India to make it look like that's how the entire country looked."You are a broke ass charity case who---""Ruhi, that's enough! I don't care what she said. Evie is here and you needto stop, now!""Why the hell don't you care what she said. She started it.""I don't care because I wasn't even listening to her talk. Evie looks like she's going to cry. If you don't shut up, I'll throw you and Kimmie out to finish your argument.""Why am I the one you always ask to shut up when your exes throw insults at me? Alisha called me cheap trash and---""I don't remember wha
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The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 123
SEVEN YEARS LATER It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with some cooling summer showers pouringdown outside the window whileRafael spent a good amount of time in his study. He was lagging behind quite a bit because he spent all day at the water park yesterday and left work early even on Friday afternoon to attend his daughter's ballet performance. He got up from his seat and stretched before stepping out to see what Ruhi and his little Snookums were up to. Even though he wanted to finish all the piled up stuff, he had gone two hours without seeing them and it felt like too much on a Sunday. He walked down to the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about. Ruhi was watching something very seriously on her daughter'spink laptop while the little girl was busy whisking butter and molten chocolate. She got chocolate mousse on both her chubby cheeks while Ruhi got a good amount on her nose. "Papa! You were not supposed to come out until w
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 122
Rafael had always imagined death to start with some blinding light where all the best moments of his life wouldflash by him and then follow with an abyss of darkness. At least that's what he heard people say it would be like.The gunshots were still ringing in his ears long after the darkness, but the blinding light never came. The pain and the hopelessness sure felt like death.Among the many regrets he had, he regretted not being able to say a proper goodbye. Ruhi had never believed how unconditionally he loved her. He knew he did a poor job showing his feelings toher, except that he could prove that he would die for her, willing to do so over and over.He wanted to hear Ruhi's voice one last time before falling unconscious. His body was going numb, but a shooting painunfurled in the deepest pit of his stomach when he thought about the image of Ruhi lying on the floor.Was she conscious? He couldn't remember. Everything happened too quic
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"Oh, I seriously loved what you fed me. I don't know what this is.""Well, let me fix something light so that you don't go hungry. The doctor will be on his way if you throw up again." His voice trailed off as he walked back into the kitchen.Pushing the stray locks of her hair out of her sweaty forehead, she looked at the time on her phone and groaned, her head still slightly spinning. She slept for almost ten hours last night after getting rid of her dinner and felt exhausted at barely ninein the morning.Rafael stepped into the bedroom with a bowl full of chicken soup forty minutes later, and she was in for another surprise. She wished she knew how to cook a soup withthat perfect consistency and flavor he achieved seemingly effortlessly. Watching the heavy raindrops hit the window panes persistently, she stared out at the dark sky while sipping on the warm liquid."Huh, so no sightseeing today?" She asked Rafael, who was looking at her with
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 120
No matter how much Rafael hated to move to a different room, Ruhi was super adamant, and hehad no other option but to leave the room. He hoped the next morning to be better and planned a day full of fun things to do. He missed the good old times where all she wanted was to eat a good meal with him at a restaurant and make him watch some kids' movies.She answered his call after deliberately missing it the first two times. He assumed she was sleeping. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. Without him by her side, she tossed and turned until the stormy predawn sky gave way to some daylight outside the huge glass windows."Wake up, sleepyhead. We have reservations for breakfast at a lakeside cafe here.""What makes you think I'm still in my bed. I ate breakfast already."Rafael's face fell when he heard that. It was barely 9 AM and Ruhi was still in bed on weekends, so he didn't expect her to be out already when on vacation."Where are you
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 119
"Do I really want to talk to her? I don't think so." Ruhi crumpled the paper with Adira's number on it."Well, we can't trust anything she says, but I think we should hear her out. Also, I need to track her location. So just talk to her for a few minutes and---""I don't want to help you kill her, Rafael."Rafael entered the number into Ruhi's phone and made the call before turning the speaker on."Ruhi... I-I'm sorry. Please, please, help me. There are some half a dozen men with guns chasing me. I feel scared. Ruhi? Are you there?""How could you lie to Gus about something like that? Don't you know he still hasn't moved on?" Ruhi asked reluctantly,confused about how she felt when talking to her sister. She never wanted to talk to her again after finding outshe wanted Gus to kill her."It was... Um, it was Alisha's idea. I just told her Raina had a sister. She came up with this idea to make a deal with him
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 118
It took a lot of courage for Ruhi to utter those four words, knowing full well Rafael wasn't going to let her go that easily. If he was a person to reason with and walk away with mutual understanding, she would have never tried so hard to run away from him. As she expected, his eyes flared, smoldering with what seemed to be fury, and his body grew rigidabove her, taut with tension."What?"He rolled onto his side and forced her to meet his gaze."You heardme. I can't live like this anymore. I want out, and I mean it."He flinched slightly at the steely resolution in her eyes. His gaze was feverishly raking her up and down, with disbelief clearly written all over his face. She was equally baffled that he hadn't seen this coming. She wondered if he was being deliberately dense."Ruhi, I know you didn't deserve the treatment you got from me." He stroked her cheek back and forth with hislong thumb. "It's not fair that I make a mistake
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 117
"A honeymoon..."Ruhi quietly pushed Rafael's hand away and put her seatbelt on. He expected her to put up a fight orrun out of the car and was shocked to see her stare out of the window in resignation.Zack approached the car but was blocked by Harry. He handed Ruhi's cellphone, laptop, and money back to Harry. Rafael told him to hold on to them as he believed Ruhi wouldn't run without those things. He also wanted to make sure she didn't call her sister and ask her to run instead."Drive!" She told him in an impatient voice when he stalled inside the car, checking his work emails quickly."Ruhi, I don't mean to force you into---""What part of my intentions isnot clear to you? Doyou really think I'd run away from you to show you I want to go on a honeymoon? What kind of logic is that?"Rafael opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he saw the look on her face. She was royally pissed, unlike all those ot
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 116
"Are you serious?" Ruhi couldn't believe her ears.He ignored her and focused on his phone when Zack texted and then called him."No, no weapons and none of his men. He can go back if he doesn't agree."She waited for him to finish talking on the phone while peeking into the coffee mug he left on the table."Was that dark rum or black coffee? Didyou really mean it when you said I can go?""Pack your stuff before I change my mind."She darted upthe stairs but stopped when she heard Zack enter the house with a pissed off face and announce something to Gus. When did he ever look happy? She wondered and turned back to the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she heard Rafael's name.Climbing back down the spiral staircase, she walked towards the door to listen to their conversation."Just one then. Check thoroughly.""Check who?" She asked Gus, who ignored her again and went to grab some stu
The CEO's Pretend Wife Chapter 115
"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k
