Chapter 8 Billionaire's Betrayal: A Love Lost

"Ck! Why isn't Daniel answering my calls?" Bella grumbled, feeling half-annoyed because she had been standing under the scorching sun for a while. Bella didn't order online or anything, hoping that Daniel could pick her up there.

But Daniel hadn't answered her calls yet, which made Bella furious.

"It's not like him at all," Bella continued to grumble as she tried to call Daniel again, which she had done more than ten times by now.

"Shit! Why was it rejected?" Bella exclaimed with surprise when her calls to Daniel were rejected, leaving her slightly shocked because Daniel had never done that throughout their one-year relationship.

"Why, Daniel? Is there a meeting? But no matter how busy Daniel is, he will always make time to answer my calls. But now, why is it different?" Bella mumbled again, puzzled, as she stared at Daniel's number. Sensing something amiss, Bella decided to send a message to her boyfriend.

"Definitely, there's something I don't know," Bella muttered when she saw that her message had been read by Daniel.

Feeling slightly uneasy and confused, Bella decided to go home by taxi so she wouldn't have to wait long. Because Bella thought she couldn't expect Daniel to answer her calls or messages.

Bella ended up going home by taxi, her mind still focused on Daniel, who seemed strange to her. 'We just had lunch together earlier, and he didn't seem weird at all. Is he still mad because of my outfit?' Bella thought, gazing out of the taxi window she was now in.

Bella ended up speculating on her own about the cause of Daniel's behavior. Maybe later, if Bella wasn't busy, she would meet Daniel again to make sure about his anger towards her. Perhaps Bella would be the one to apologize because she realized that her behavior during lunch was always contradicting Daniel's requests.

***

Unbeknownst to Bella, on the other hand, Edward wasn't actually in an important meeting. The message Edward received wasn't about information regarding an imminent meeting; rather, it was from someone else.

"Why did you come here? You're disturbing!" Edward said sharply, his face unfriendly, as he spoke to a woman who had once taken care of him when he was sick.

"Sorry, Edward, I was just asked by Mommy to come here to meet you, and I brought lunch for you. Have you eaten?" the woman replied with a gentle voice that sounded familiar.

However, her gentle voice couldn't melt Edward, who still displayed a harsh and unfriendly expression. "I've eaten! You'd better take the food back!" he replied easily, without even glancing at the woman.

Edward seemed busy again with his work, not considering the woman who was now sitting on the sofa, about to take out a lunchbox.

"But, Edward, I've prepared all of this for you," the woman replied sadly. Her face looked dejected upon hearing Edward's words, especially seeing Edward's indifferent attitude towards her.

"I don't care! I didn't ask you to come here, so why did you obey my mom's orders? You'd better leave my room right now!" Edward's voice sounded slightly intimidating to the woman who was still sitting on the sofa that Bella had previously occupied.

'Edward never really considered me his fiancée,' the woman thought as she gazed at Edward with deep eyes. Even though she was only met with indifference and busyness from him.

Fiancée? Yes, it turns out Edward already had a fiancée, and her name was Gisel. The two of them were engaged because of their parents' insistence; it could be said that they were arranged to be engaged because they didn't know each other before, only their parents were friends.

As a result, Edward never regarded Gisel as his fiancée, and he casually maintained a relationship with Bella as if he had no relationship with any other woman. Moreover, Edward's parents were not yet aware of their son's behavior.

Besides, Bella didn't know anything about Edward's forced engagement. Because Edward remained silent about it.

"Edward, can't you just appreciate me this one time?" Gisel asked with a sad expression, standing near Edward's desk.

As for Bella, it seemed that she still didn't know about Gisel yet. Besides Edward being smart at hiding it, Edward's relationship with Bella had only been going on for a month, so no one knew about it yet.

"No! I'll say it again; you can leave now! I'm focusing on my work, and your presence here is disturbing!" Edward reiterated his statement. He didn't hesitate to say words that could hurt his interlocutor, but Edward didn't care about that.

"Mommy will definitely be angry with you for kicking me out like this, Edward," Gisel said, still standing near Edward's desk.

Mommy, as referred to by Gisel, is Edward's mother. Gisel is indeed very close to Edward's mother, which has made it easier for Gisel to get closer to Edward and make it very difficult for Edward to escape from this forced engagement.

"To hell with it! You leave now on your own or I'll kick you out myself?" Edward spoke like that this time with a sharp gaze piercing through Gisel. The one being looked at like that felt a little scared, as Edward's gaze felt terrifying, as if it could make his enemy disappear.

Gisel remained silent for a moment before she sighed patiently and walked towards the sofa to retrieve the food she had brought earlier. With a disappointed feeling, she looked back at Edward.

"Okay, I'll take my leave now, thanks for not kicking me out violently," Gisel said before she actually left Edward's office.

The kind-hearted woman who appeared gentle left Edward's office feeling disappointed and somewhat hurt by Edward's expulsion using hurtful words. However, Gisel felt relieved that Edward didn't treat her harshly.

After Gisel left his office, Edward snorted harshly and briefly glanced at the door before he refocused on his work.

"Huffhh! Disturbing my time with Bella!"