The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 78

When Isabelle got to work later, she sat down at her desk and sent a short straightforward message to her father. She wasn’t asking him for permission or his opinion.

She simply wanted to give him a heads up that soon, Jacob would be aware of their scheme. A part of her felt like she was being unfilial, especially because Francis and Lucy had adopted her from the orphanage and raised her in their own home.

Lucy and Naomi might not treat her like family, but at least Francis did his best. It was for his sake that a part of her felt awful about revealing their secret.

But she couldn’t keep allowing them to use her for their benefit while deceiving another innocent person in the process. She felt that even if they had kept their promise, she wouldn’t have been able to keep deceiving Jacob any longer. Not with the way things had turned out to be.

After sending the message, she put her phone aside and turned on her computer. Britney appeared at her desk then. “Oh my God, girl. I heard that you were sick and that’s why you missed work yesterday. Are you okay?”

Isabell smiled at her and nodded. “I’m good now.”

Britney nodded. “You do look okay.” She leaned over Isabelle’s desk, taking a closer look at her face.

Confused, Isabelle asked, “What is it?”

“What do you use on your face? You are glowing.”

Isabelle touched her face with the back of her hand and smiled. “Oh, thanks. Nothing special.”

“I want that nothing special,” Britney said.

Isabelle wasn’t sure what her coworker was talking about. She hadn’t changed her face products lately. She ended up giving Britney a list of the products she used.

“You also look happier,” Britney said, narrowing her eyes. “Is that the secret? Happiness?”

“I suppose,” Isabelle joked. But she knew Britney was on to something. Since that morning, she had been fighting a battle against the spontaneous smiles that kept cropping up on her. And she knew why. From the moment she had left Jacob’s bed, she seemed to have an abundance of feel-good hormones in her body. Was it the sex? Or was it the guy? Both?

“Or maybe your husband gave it to you real good this morning,” Britney said, her eyes landing on the ring on her finger.

Isabelle blushed fifty shades of red and hid her hands on her lap. “What?” she asked, feigning innocence.

Britney laughed, and then straightened. “Thanks for this,” she said, waving the post-it note with the list of products. “Let’s have lunch together today.”

“Sure,” Isabelle said, waving her goodbye.

She looked at her phone, but there was no new message from her father. He must be busy. She knew that the moment he saw her text, he would call her right away.

Hours later, she was hurrying up to finish a bit of work before going to lunch when her phone rang. She expected it to be her father, but it turned out to be the hospital where Ruth was admitted.

Her insides twisted with a sick feeling. The last time the hospital had called her, it was to tell her that they had found a kidney match and were waiting for the surgery fees to be settled before proceeding. She was still to pay the money.

“Hello, am I talking to Isabelle Cruz, Ruth Daniels’s guardian?” the person on the other side asked.

“Yes,” Isabelle replied, “it’s me.”

“Please come to the hospital right away. Ms Daniels is in critical condition.”

Blood drained from her face. “What?”

“Please come as soon as you can.”

“I…I don’t understand.”

“You’ll talk to her doctor when you get here. I have to go.”

The person hung up, and Isabelle’s phone slipped from her hand to the desk. It made no sense. Critical condition? No, they must be wrong. She had talked to Ruth on the phone yesterday, and she had been doing okay. She sounded fine. She was getting dialysis while she waited for her transplant. She should be okay. What were they talking about?

Her head was swimming as she got up from her chair and made her way to Grace’s office. She was trembling as she asked for an emergency leave. Grace approved right away, pointing out that she looked pale and asking whether she needed help.

Isabelle assured her she was okay, and then rushed back to her desk. Quickly, she shoved her phone into her bag, turned off her computer, and left the office. She hailed a taxi at the front of the building and got in. The ride to the hospital was ten minutes long, and that sounded like forever to her.

Her phone pinged in her bag, and she reached for it to find a new message from her father.

Don’t do this, Isabelle. Let’s talk first. I’m abroad right now on business. Wait until I get back.

She didn’t have enough time to dwell on that when another message arrived. She bit her lip when she saw it was from Logan Larson.

Hello, Ms Cruz. Please see me in my office right away.