The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 8

Isabelle was taking in the spectacle unfolding before her when Jacob took her hand and led her towards the front door. Of all the ways she had expected Jacob’s visit to go, that was definitely not one of them. She could still hear her mother and sister’s grumbling as the door closed behind them.

Jacob kept his hold on her hand all the way to the front of the house. When he let go, he came to a stop and regarded her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to your parents’ house?”

She looked towards the door, half-expecting her mother to appear with more flattering words for Jacob. While she did, she jogged her brain for an excuse to give Jacob. It wasn’t as if she could tell him that she came to collect money that her parents had promised on account that she married him…

“Isabelle?” Jacob’s voice urged.

Looking away from the door, she faced him and said, “I’m sorry about that. When I left the house, I got a call from my father asking me to come by immediately. I didn’t have time to tell you.”

She remembered that when she left their house that morning, he had asked where she was heading to, and she had refused to tell him. Hopefully if he thought her trip to her family’s home came up after she left, he wouldn’t question her any more.

“You should have told me,” Jacob told her. “It looks like with me around, they wouldn’t have dared to treat you like that.”

Isabelle met his gaze for a few seconds and then looked away. She wished she could read him. Exactly how much of the argument had he heard? If he heard the part about her taking Naomi’s place to marry him, everything would crumble. She couldn’t afford that when her parents’ were already bringing up excuses to not fulfil their part of the deal.

“It wasn’t all that serious,” she said. Rubbing her arms, she asked, “How much did you hear, anyway?” She laughed awkwardly. “It’s so embarrassing that you witnessed my family fight.”

If she pretended that her major worry was saving face, he wouldn’t suspect that she was hiding something, right?

“Just your mother asking you to leave and your sister pushing you out of the door,” he replied.

She released the breath she was holding. Good. And it didn’t sound like he was lying. If he had heard more, how could he remain so calm? Plus, when he went into the house, the only issue he brought up was how Naomi and Lucy treated her. If he heard anything about how they switched brides, he surely wouldn’t have ignored that.

“They didn’t hit you or anything, right?” he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders and taking a step back to inspect her. He looked her over, from head to her shoes, as if looking for any sign of physical harm. As if he was ready to storm back into the house and raise more hell if anyone did hit her.

She shook her head, his gesture catching her by surprise. Was this all part of acting like a couple in public? “No, they didn’t.” When he released her, she asked, “Why did you defend me? You didn’t hear the entire argument. Maybe I was the one in the wrong.”

“You are my wife,” he replied. “I must take your side. It doesn’t matter to me who was right.”

“But we are just a pretend couple.”