The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 25

Isabelle blanched at his words. Get this out of the way? If somebody heard him, they would think he was talking about something like doing the dishes.

“I cannot have my wife do something as dangerous as participate in a drug trial,” he said. “Out there, everybody knows you are my wife. So if I have to act like a gangster to stop you from doing something stupid, I will.”

A gangster? What did he mean?

His hand shot out again towards the zip of her dress. She held her hands in front of herself to stop his advance. “Okay, fine! I won’t take part in the trial.”

His eyes dug into hers. “Are you only saying that so I’ll let you go?”

Well, yes, she didn’t like how he was acting, and she was going to say anything to get him to back off. “You’re right, it was not the best idea,” she told him. “I’ll stop.”

“If you’re lying, I’ll find out,” he warned her.

Isabelle glared at him silently but said nothing. She exhaled in big relief when he stepped back and buttoned up his shirt again.

What a day!

***

On Monday, Isabelle left for work early, avoiding contact with Jacob. He had been busy on Sunday and hadn’t spent much time in the house, which she was glad for. Things were still awkward after what had transpired on Saturday night, and she wasn’t any happier about being back to square zero in her efforts to earn some extra money.

After going to bed that night, she had put some thought into the drug trial thing and realised that maybe Jacob was right. Maybe she was taking too much risk for too little. Two thousand dollars was a good payment, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover Ruth’s treatment.

To earn enough money for Ruth, she would have to take part in many drug trials. That only increased her chances of suffering dangerous side effects. Also, if Ruth found out that this was how she had earned the money, she might not accept it.

When she got to work, she went through her emails first. There was one that had been sent that morning, and she opened it right away. It was an order from a client who wanted her to design an emerald necklace for him. Getting an order was enough to lift her spirit, but when she saw the amount he was offering for the design, her excitement skyrocketed.

He was offering to pay fifty thousand dollars for the order! That was twenty-five times more than she would have earned with the drug trial!

She did a celebratory dance in her chair, and it took a lot of restraint to not get up and dance around the office in happiness. She couldn’t believe it. Fifty dollars was a hefty sum to pay for the design, something she never could have expected to earn at her level.

Besides, she was only a new employee at the company, so why the client had chosen her to design the necklace was beyond her. But it didn’t matter. She was determined to do the best job she had ever done to make it worth his while and money.

For the rest of the week, Isabelle worked on crafting the design to the client's preferences. Even when she got home from work, her mind remained in work-mode, shifting through ideas. Her frustration about looking for money was gone. Now, she was only excited about the necklace.

Finally, on Friday, after making what felt like a hundred changes to the design, Isabelle sent the final draft to the client. She kept her fingers crossed, hoping he would like it. Because if he didn’t, all her hard work would be in vain.