Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 36

Chapter 36

VENUS

“You should’ve at least given me a heads-up,” I muttered under my breath as he typed like he was hacking into NASA. “My mom, she-”

“I have professionals taking care of her. She’ll be fine without you for a week.”

My head snapped toward him. He said it so casually, like he wasn’t slicing straight into a wound I kept stitched tight.

Tell me about yourself, my ass.

I never told him about my mom’s condition. Not once. Not the hospital. Not even her name.

“How did you know? About my mom?”

He looked up from his laptop, wearing that maddening, unreadable expression. Cool. Unbothered. Vaguely amused.

The I’m Aaron Sinclair, and I know things you haven’t even admitted to yourself look.

He didn’t answer. Of course he didn’t.

Instead, he reached into the compartment beside him and pulled out a small black box. Handed it to me like it was no bigger deal than passing a stick of gum.

I took it, cautiously. Opened it.

A ring. Not just any ring. This one had a diamond sitting so high and smug it could’ve had its own zip code.

“Is this real?” I breathed, eyes wide.

Dumb question.

He gave me that look again-the do-l-look-like-l-do-fake stare.

“We’re in a fake relationship,” I said, trying again. “You should’ve gotten something fake.”

He didn’t blink. “I’m Aaron Sinclair. You know it’s fake. They don’t. Looks, appearance, reputation-everything matters. Fake or not And I don’t do anything half-assed.”

God.

I didn’t even want to ask how much it cost. But curiosity is a bitch, and I’m her favorite client. “It must be… insanely expensive.”

No answer. Of course not. Why would a god humble himself?

I slid the ring on slowly, hesitantly. What if I lost it?

“I’ll get you another one,” he said without looking up.

“I didn’t realize I said that out loud.”

“You did.”

“Rich people,” I muttered under my breath.

“You’re one of us now,” he said, fingers still flying across the keyboard. “Act like it.”

Yeah right one of you.

Silence settled between us-warm but fleeting, like the eye of a storm.

“So…” I started again, because the quiet made my thoughts too loud. “Why Rome?”

“You really can’t appreciate silence, can you?” he said, not even glancing up. “You were more docile when you were my PA.”

“I heard that,” I shot back, narrowing my eyes. “And what can I say? There’s something freeing about not being under you.”

He didn’t respond to that. Coward.

“Why Rome?” I asked again, this time slower.

“Because it’s Rome,” he said with a slight shrug. “Do I need a better reason?”

“I’ve never been outside New York before,” I admitted, voice softer, fingers playing with the blanket on my lap.

He paused. Just briefly. Then finally looked at me

“Then you’re in for a treat.”

Successfully unlocked!

Ding.

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