The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 43

The next day, despite finally receiving her first salary at work, Isabelle still felt low because the amount was just a tiny fraction of the surgery fee.

It was quickly dawning on her that she needed to look for other sources of income.

If she didn’t hurry up with the payment, Ruth might end up losing her chance for the transplantation. If she had to wait again to find another kidney that was a match, it might be too late.

At the moment, she didn’t know what to do, and it frustrated her to no end. A thought crossed her mind that maybe she should ask Jacob for help, but she pushed it aside. She knew that Jacob would be willing to help her, but she couldn’t risk him finding out the truth about Ruth and her family.

Also, it would be incredibly selfish of her to ask his help when she was lying to him about her identity.

She had to forge ahead alone, and this time, she would be more careful compared to when she had wanted to take part in the drug trial.

She was about to leave the office when her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Seth calling her. She received the call and after the greetings, Seth asked,

“Do you have time tonight?”

When he asked that, Isabelle knew that he was hoping to hang out together. It dawned on her that since she joined the company, she had never really taken time to thank him for his help during the interview. She felt that this was a good time to repay his kindness.

“I am,” she replied, “would you like to have dinner together?”

“Oh, sure? Yes, I would be glad to,” he replied cheerily.

They agreed to meet at the front of the building, and after that, they went to a restaurant not far from the company.

“Who was the man that came to pick you up the other day?” Seth suddenly asked after the hostess had shown them to a table and handed them menus.

“What?” she asked.

“That day I came to your office after work to ask if we could hang out. You received a call and left, and a man picked you up.”

“Oh,” she muttered, now remembering what day he was talking about. That time Jacob had come to take her to see their new apartment. She had no idea that Seth had seen him.

She didn’t know what to tell him. If she told him that it had been her husband, what if he started asking questions about how and when they had met? Given their friendship, it was obvious that Seth would be curious about that.

Fortunately, her phone rang, interrupting the moment. She checked the phone and saw that it was Jacob calling. Excusing herself, she left the table and walked a little ways away to receive the call.

“Hello?” she answered the call.

“Hello, are you still at work?” he asked.

“No, I already left,” she told him, wondering why he was calling to ask her that. They didn’t have any plans for the evening together.

“When will you get home? I’m waiting for you to have dinner together. I’m hungry,” he told her, his voice dropping to a fake-whiny tone.

She found it sweet, and it made her smile, but she bit down on her lip when her situation registered. Jacob wanted to have dinner together at home, but she was already at a restaurant with Seth, about to dine together.

“Actually, I’m having dinner elsewhere,” she told him, casting a short glance at Seth. She had no idea how Jacob would react when she told him who it was she was dining with, but she figured he would understand when she told him why.

“You are?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m buying dinner for a colleague of mine. Do you remember the guy I told you about? My college senior. I thought I should buy him dinner to thank him for helping me with the interview.”

Jacob’s snort that came through the line was quite loud. “I sure remember the guy,” he replied.