Betrothed To The Billionaire Player

Jade

Tonight was the night my betrothal to Julian Davenport would be announced to the world.

"Suck in your gut, Jade." My mom instructed as she stood behind me tying up the laces of my corseted gown. "I thought school would have made you lose a little weight. But here we are still struggling to fit you into dresses."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, you bought this dress in a size 4. I'm a size 6. It's like you want me to look skeletal."

"No. I just don't like seeing all the extra fat on your arms and stomach."

"It's called looking healthy."

She pulled at the laces hard causing me to let out a squeaky gasp. "Don't talk back at me, young lady!"

I tucked in my lips to keep from saying something else in response and instead focused on the bubbles of excitement fizzing in my lower stomach.

I couldn't believe today was finally here. It was my twenty-first birthday and also the night of my engagement party to Julian Davenport.

Ever since I laid eyes on him for the first time when I was four, I had loved him and no one else. To me, he was perfect. The most beautiful man to ever walk the earth.

I had been counting down the days till today when I could officially call him mine.

He hadn't seen me since a year before I left for the university. He had always viewed me as a child. He never looked at me the same way he looked at all those other women who hung off his arm.

But all that was going to change when he saw me tonight. I finally looked like a woman and not like a teenage girl. My figure was all soft, feminine curves, with full breasts and rounded hips. And I had finally perfected the art of applying flawless makeup on my face.

There was no way he wouldn't immediately drop the skanky women he usually carried around the moment he laid eyes on me.

I smiled to myself and contained a burst of excited giggles.

"There, I think I'm done." Mom finally said after tying a firm knot.

I turned around to face the mirror to view my reflection. I could barely breathe and it seemed like I had been squeezed into the shimmery pink evening gown my mom had picked out for me. But aside from that, I looked really good.

Like I just stepped out of a modeling photoshoot set. Like I belonged on the arm of a man like Julian Davenport.

My makeup was done to professional perfection and my brown bouncy curls were styled in a half-up, half-down look. My skin was glowy with dangly pearl earrings in my ears. Then my designer shoes and clutch were in place.

I brought up my hand to admire the lights catching on the huge emerald-cut diamond around my left ring finger. It still left me in awe everytime I looked at it.

I was told Julian had personally selected it himself and because of that, it was my most prized possession.

"Your dad is downstairs waiting in the car." Mom told me as she turned towards my door to head out. "I'll join you soon. I need to touch up my makeup."

There was nothing wrong with her makeup. My mom just liked to appear perfect. Being her only child, I had been trained to never look anything less. Appearances were everything, mistakes weren't condoned, and I had to look my best at all times.

I raised up my dress and carefully walked downstairs to the waiting car. Dad was there like Mom had said, wearing a proud smile when I appeared.

"My darling girl, happy birthday. You're absolutely breathtaking." He smiled and outstretched his arms for a hug which I immediately stepped into. "Any man would be lucky to have you as his fiancée."

"Thanks, daddy." I stepped back with a wide grin, a blush staining my cheeks and my confidence at an all-time high now.

I had always been a daddy's girl, something my mom despised me for. Actually, she despised me for everything and that wasn't an exception. But her constant sour mood wasn't going to affect me tonight.

Bolstered by my dad's words, I climbed into the car with his help, determination in my heart to make tonight an unforgettable one.

I was certain tonight was the night Julian would finally realize his love for me, and we would live happy and obsessed with each other for the rest of our lives.

The car pulled up in front of Hotel Royale, the venue for our engagement party, and before we could step out to the flashing cameras, Mom pulled me back with a tight, warning grip, her eyes sharp and condescending on me.

"Today is a very important day. Act your part well and don't mess things up. The Davenports would expect nothing less from their future daughter-in-law."

"Rosa, you're being too serious." Dad cautioned her playfully, trying to diffuse the tension that had crept into the air. "When has Jade ever let us down by behaving anything but appropriate?"

The answer was never. I'd been a good girl all my life. Always followed everything my parents told me to. Dressed how they wanted, went to the school they wanted, studied the course they wanted.

I had been prim and proper and never disappointed them. But that wasn't enough for my mom. She always wanted to control every single thing I did. And I'd known for a while that she wasn't going to change anytime soon so I'd always had to make peace with it.

Especially on a night like this one when I didn't want anything to ruin my joy.

So I took a deep breath and patted the hand she was using to hold mine in a death grip. "I promise to be on my best behaviour, mom. You won't have to worry about anything going wrong on my end."

She released me, seeming appeased by my words for the moment. Then she pasted on a smile and signaled for the driver to come around and open the door.

We stepped out to the mass of reporters, posing a united front as we smiled and waved and headed towards the entrance of the hotel. The reporters were a normal occurrence being the only daughter of Frank and Rosa Starling, the owners of Starling Luxe, the billion-dollar luxury brand that dominated the world of high fashion.

Nerves jiggled my stomach as we got closer and closer to the private suite where Julian and his parents were waiting. I was excited for his reaction but also a little tense. Dad noticed and drew me closer to kiss the side of my face, whispering once again that I looked beautiful.

That settled me a bit and I drew my shoulders back as we finally got to the door and dad gave a sharp knock.

It immediately swung inwards, revealing the handsome smiling face of Richard Davenport, Julian's dad.

"My, my, if it isn't my absolutely stunning soon-to-be daughter-in-law and her lovely parents." He pulled me in for a warm hug and kissed my cheek before waving me inside so he could properly greet my parents.

Celeste Davenport approached me when I stepped in and brushed a kiss on my cheek too, her expensive perfume swirling in the air. She was Julian's mom and a far better mother to me than my own ever was.

"I'm so happy that tonight is finally here." She smiled prettily and primped my hair. "I'll soon get to call you my very own daughter."

I smiled back, feeling more than a little giddy now that I knew Julian was only a few steps away in this suite. "I can't wait."

She patted my cheek and stepped to the side with a swish of her elegantly cut silk chiffon gown. "I'll let you and Julian have a few moments by yourselves."

I nodded and she moved on to join her husband in greeting my parents.

I stepped forward and rounded the corner out of the entryway and my eyes landed on the man standing in the middle of the room wearing an impeccably tailored onyx suit.

My breath caught when he turned around and settled his dark, stormy gaze on me.

"Hi, Julian." I said quietly, my pulse fluttering at a rapid pace.

How was it possible that he had grown even more good looking?

Julian stood over six feet tall. He had the body of a Greek god, all powerful muscles and an impressive build that he worked hard in the gym to get. Then there was his face that looked like that of a fallen angel.

His hair was inky black, his jaw was hard granite, his nose was arrogantly straight, his mouth was wide and full and sensual, and then his eyes were the most beautiful pair I had ever come across in my entire life.

Slate gray. Darkly intense. Absolutely captivating.

Sometimes I stared at his pictures on the internet and wondered how he was a real human being. Because he was simply too perfect.

And now he had gotten even better.

My heart pounded in my chest while I felt my panties growing wet with arousal just from being in such close proximity with him.

Everything about him was sexy. From the five o'clock shadow he was sporting on his jaw to his broad shoulders encased perfectly beneath his suit jacket to his strong veined hands hidden in the velvet-lined pockets of his pants, it was simply too much for my poor ovaries to take in all at once.

His gaze was steady on mine as I waited for him to say something, anything. Preferably comment on how beautiful I looked. Or wish me a happy birthday.

But nothing came.

"Um," I awkwardly cleared my throat, trying to eradicate the silence between us before it got too uncomfortable. "You remember me, right?"

That was a stupid question, and I regretted it the instant it left my mouth. I might have changed a lot in the last five years but I was still perfectly recognizable.

His gaze turned from being blank to being unimpressed.

Then he moistened his lips before he finally opened his mouth. "I see you're still the same dumb little girl I've always known."

His words struck me like a bullet, precise and hurtful. But I tried to hide my reaction with a forced smile because I had at least gotten him to talk, so that counted as a win in my book.

"I'm sorry. That was a foolish question. Let's just forget I asked it." I giggled lamely, trying to hide my nervousness.

He sighed and rolled his eyes like I was getting on his nerves so I immediately clamped my mouth shut so as not to offend him any further.

"Can't believe this is what I'm getting engaged to," he muttered in disgust under his breath but it wasn't low enough so I heard it and my heart squeezed inside my chest at his callous words.

"I-I don't understand." I stammered.

His mouth curled up into a sneer before he sighed again and closed his eyes. "Let's just get this night over with."

He brushed past me towards the suite's mini bar and poured himself two fingers of whiskey before throwing it back in a single gulp.

Gathering my courage, I took a deep breath and carefully began in a small voice, "You seem to be in a bad mood. Did something perhaps happen?"

"Yes. You misunderstanding what this is going to be is what happened," he answered sharply, confusing me further.

"What are you talk-"

He silenced me when he suddenly took a step forward, closing the distance between us in two long strides. I shrank back as he towered over me, near enough that his intoxicating cologne assaulted my senses and I could see the darker striations etched within the cool gray of his eyes.

"I don't want you looking at me with that pathetic little hopeful gaze of yours," he spat. "I'm not your knight in shining armor and this isn't going to be some sort of fairytale. I know this is what you've dreamed of for years but you aren't getting that from me. So I'd advise you to set your childish feelings aside so as not to get hurt because I'm not capable of ever returning them."

I blinked as tears blurred my vision, my world crashing down around me. I hadn't expected him to be so mean. Since our parents were really close, I had spent a greater part of my childhood together with him.

He had been a surly teenager but he had always treated me specially. He protected me from bullies and comforted me when I cried about the stupidest things.

But it seemed that boy was gone now, replaced by the blunt, cold-hearted man standing in front of me.

"I'm sorry..." I started to say.

"Stop. Just stop. How many fucking times will you apologize?"

I sniffled and tilted my head back to prevent the tears from spilling. It was the one thing I hated about myself. I was always so quick to cry. And judging by the look of displeasure Julian was leveling at me, I wasn't the only one who hated it.

Footsteps started to sound, indicating our parents were done giving us time alone together and I tried to fix myself up so it wouldn't be obvious how devastated I was feeling on the inside.

"There you guys are. Oh my God, you both look absolutely perfect together." Celeste gushed as she came to stand in front of us with a look of adoration etched on her face.

On closer inspection, I could see tears glistening in her eyes.

"Mom," Julian's deep voice came from beside me, bathing my insides like warm honey even in my crushed state.

"These are tears of joy, I promise. I'm just so happy this is finally happening."

"Now now darling, don't cry." Richard slipped a steady arm across his wife's shoulders. "If you do that now, what's going to happen on their wedding day?"

I cringed when I felt Julian stiffen beside me, like the very thought of getting married to me absolutely repulsed him.

He brought up his hand to check his watch then stepped away from me. "The guests should have arrived by now. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Yes, yes. We should start to leave." My dad agreed eagerly.

My heart started to race when we all stepped out of the suite and headed towards the elevator. I kept glancing towards Julian, wondering why he was going ahead with this.

It seemed like this was the absolute last thing he wanted to do and I expected him to have called the whole party off the moment our parents stepped back into the room.

But he hadn't. And right now as we rode the elevator alone together, our parents having gone ahead of us to greet the guests, he seemed totally calm and composed, his face devoid of any kind of emotion that I couldn't be able to get a read on what was going through his head even if I tried.

He suddenly clasped my hand in his when the elevator stopped and I jerked my gaze to him in surprise.

"Smile and put on a show for the guests. It's what they would expect," he said, and the warm feeling that had started to grow in my chest immediately dissolved into disappointment.

I opened my mouth to say something but the elevators slid open at that moment, causing me to remain silent as we both stepped out into the rooftop garden where our engagement party was being held.

"Bells. You made it!"

My best friend turned around with a whip of her glossy gold hair and immediately squeezed me into a tight hug.

"Oh my God, Jades. Happy birthday! I've missed you so fucking much!" she said into my hair before releasing me and stepping back to properly take in my appearance.

"Let me see the ring." She grabbed my left hand. "Ouuu, look at that huge eight-carat diamond. I'm so jealous." She fanned herself with a dramatic lift of her plucked brows. "Saw you guys walk in together and the room's jaws collectively dropped. I see why BuzzFeed ranked your man high on that list now. You snagged yourself an Adonis, I'm telling you."

I tried to preen but it was just off and she immediately caught on to it.

"What's wrong, babe? You look a little pale." She set her drink back on the bar and leaned closer, abandoning the guy she had been flirting with when I came over. "Is it your corset? Did Rosa force you into a size 4 dress again?"

"Yes, but... it's not that." I waved her off, cautiously glancing around at the large number of people in attendance who had their eyes on my every move. "I can't tell you here but it's pretty serious."

"There you are." My mom suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a hand on my shoulder. "What are you doing not by your fiancé's side?"

"Hi, Rosa." Bells greeted her, saving me from having to answer her question.

"Hm, yes. I see you came." She turned up her nose in barely hidden distaste before returning her attention to me.

She had never liked my best friend, Isabella Garcia, which wasn't a surprise because she never truly liked anyone. Just tolerated them. Or sucked up to their asses like she did with Julian and his parents.

But she especially didn't like Bells because she had immediately devoted herself to her travel-blogging career the moment she graduated from the university instead of finding a husband and settling down like a proper lady of the society did.

Barf.

Because she was following her passion and doing what she loved, Bells was almost never around. She was always traveling from one country to the next, in and out of cities on most days. We hadn't seen face-to-face in months but she had promised to show up today which was why I had been so excited to see her earlier.

"Did you hear me?" My mom's grating voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "I asked where your fiancé is."

Of course she wasn't going to let it go that easily. "He was greeting his friends at the other side of the room when I excused myself to use the ladies."

"Well you aren't using the ladies now, are you? So get back to him. People are watching!" She hissed at me through slightly parted lips and kept her expression pleasant so people didn't suspect what was going on.

"I just came to greet Bells. Can't I do that?"

"You should be doing that with your fiancé." Her eyes shot daggers at me. "Now, not another word. Go meet him right this instant. You're causing a scene."

She was the one causing a scene but I didn't dare mention that or she was going to make me regret it.

Bells gripped my hand and gave me a sympathetic smile. "We'll catch up later," she told me with a reassuring nod.

Usually, she wouldn't just allow me give in to my mom's demands this easily. But she knew we were in public with flashing cameras and wagging tongues. The slightest hint of drama and they'd all pounce on it like rabid dogs and twist the story when it gets splashed across gossip tabloids all over the country.

So I gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand before releasing her and walking away with my mom, apprehension stiffening my every step.

The rooftop garden shimmered under city lights, presenting an opulent space that radiated quiet grandeur and effortless luxury. I stopped and smiled every once in a while to greet guests while a string quartet played in the background, ninety-five percent of them strangers to me.

My palms started to sweat when I spotted Julian. He turned around from the group of businessmen he was chatting with and gave me a dazzling smile that would have blown me away if I didn't know any better.

The man was just a really good actor.

"Sweetheart, what made you take so long?" He slipped his hand around my waist when I came to stand beside him, pressing a lingering kiss to my temple that caused a shiver to race down my spine.

"Um, I just-"

"It's time to open up the floor with your first dance." Mom interrupted, her entire set of veneers on blinding display.

"Shall we?" Julian led me onto the dance floor amid the applause of the guests, staring down at me with such an endearing expression that my heart began to pound painfully in my chest, hoping if only it was real.

Pulling me closer when the music started up, he leaned down towards my ear with a smile only for the cameras and whispered harshly,

"You need to stop looking at me like I killed your puppy."

No. He did much worse, which was crush my heart into pieces.

I said nothing, just tried my best to smile through the dance steps. Despite his warnings and my broken hopes, my body still buzzed in his arms as his touch ignited me in ways that caused a permanent blush to linger on my cheeks, the feeling of being in the right place with the right person washing over my entire being.

He held me like I was the most precious thing to him and it sent the wrong signals to my brain. If I could only ignore the fact that he was acting, this would easily be the happiest moment of my entire life.

Other couples joined us when the first song ended. Later, a lavish buffet was served, then our parents gave their individual speeches, acknowledging the high-ranking guests in attendance.

Expensive gifts and heartfelt well-wishes flowed freely as Julian and I made rounds thanking the people for their generous donations while cameras captured every moment from the sidelines.

Until we finally left in his Mercedes Maybach, Julian acted like the most perfect fiancé, always touching me in some way. Kissing my cheek, squeezing my waist, pretending to whisper sweet nothings into my ear while I shivered from the deep, husky tone of his voice.

Now though, the night was over. The charade was done and he was back to his usual cold self.

Plastered to my side of the backseat, I silently watched as he talked business on his phone, completely ignoring my existence.

My own phone pinged from my clutch and I immediately grabbed it to check who it was, thankful for the distraction.

Bells: Hey, sorry we didn't get another chance to talk better. Your fiancé was so impatient to drag you out of there, whew. Can't wait to hear all the details tomorrow. Most especially the size of his dick. We need to finally put the speculations to rest, xx.

I immediately clicked off my phone, horrified at reading that kind of message while Julian was seated just a few inches away.

Speaking of inches, I wondered how many his own would be. Seven? Eight? Ten??

Bloody Bells. Her and her dirty mouth was what had put these thoughts in my head.

I was feeling all kinds of hot and bothered now, constantly shifting around to try and alleviate the ache that was steadily building between my legs.

I imagined how his mouth would feel on my skin, how his cock would feel invading the most intimate part of my body.

Would he be rough or gentle? Would he take me in all kinds of positions or just one? Would he put his mouth on my pussy? Make me scream and squirt on his face while he whispered the filthiest words and called me 'good girl'?

"Hey." Fingers snapped in my face and I jerked out of my dirty fantasies, turning with pink cheeks to see Julian staring at me with an annoyed expression. "What the hell are you daydreaming about?"

My blush deepened and I fiddled with the diamond ring around my finger. "It's technically nighttime already so I don't think you can say daydreaming any longer." I tried to joke and cracked a smile but he didn't even move a single muscle in his face in humor.

Jeez, tough crowd.

"We're here already. Get out."

His expression was so hard and a bit scary-looking that I couldn't help but immediately scamper out of the car so as not to trigger any harsh words out of him.

Just as I was about to close the door, I realized he wasn't stepping out from his own side.

I lowered my head back into the car. "Um, aren't you coming?"

"No." He wasn't even looking at me. "Stop asking stupid questions and shut the door."

I stepped back and did as he said then watched as the car drove off without hesitation, leaving me standing in front of our new house alone.