Falling for my billionaire ex-wife.

Nina's POV

" Mrs. Ryan," I waited with anticipation for what the doctor was going to say. My heart flipped when she held my hands, enclosing them with hers.

" You are finally pregnant with twins." The air stilled around me as the bag I was holding dropped to the ground, crystal welling up in my eyes, ones that I pushed away before asking in a hoarse voice.

" I am pregnant?" I asked again, just to be certain that my ears hadn't been playing tricks on me. That, indeed, I was getting my gift after all of these years when I thought all hope was lost, that it had come at the time when I needed it the most.

" Yes," she bobbed. " You are pregnant; you are in your early trimester, so you ought to be careful. Your husband would be delighted"

Squeezing the paper in my hands, my feet traipsed out of the office while I sank deeper in thought. Maybe, perhaps, this was what I needed to fix our relationship, mine with Ryan.

***************

My hands clustered around my phone while I watched the rain drizzle against the windowpane while I waited for Ryan to come home.

It was a milestone anniversary, and even though we had grown distant, I knew that he would come around and that today would be different because I had news he would love.

My heart soared when a piercing tone punctured through the air, and leaning my phone against my ears, I listened.

" Nina, I am leaving town tonight, and I won't be back, you should sleep in. I wouldn't be coming back in weeks."

I squeezed my eyes shut, my eyes moving swiftly to the spread on the table as I reminded him when the beeping sound greeted my ear.

" But it is our anniversary." I clenched my gown while my legs gave way underneath me.

I let the silence sob rock through my body before forcing myself up, not wanting to show weakness before the maids who were staring all about, sympathy coating their features.

Donning a firm expression, I sauntered through the foyer, the ring on my finger burnt so hard while I stared at the mirror in the room.

My eyes were sunken, and I had nightmares, nightmares of him telling me that I was never enough, nightmares of Ryan letting me know that what we had was a mistake, and although I tried so hard not to think about it, it drenched my thoughts, filled it until I couldn't think anymore.

With hallowed eyes, I flickered at the shelf that held the divorce papers, ones that I had seen, and I had hoped it wasn't for us even when the names on it burnt so bright that I was unable to think of anything else that would be possible.

The realization that Ryan had wanted to let me go and wanted to get divorced drummed in me until I couldn't breathe, but I thought everything would change when he came home tonight, and I handed the test report over to him. Let him know that I was finally pregnant with our child.

My heart pulsed while I waited for him, sitting on the couch, the bed forgotten. I couldn't say when exactly he had kept getting withdrawn, but everything had changed barely a year after our marriage. Everything had crumbled down to plain dust, and I had been left heartbroken with nowhere to go.

A shrieking sound resonated through the air, my eyes flickering to the phone, batting my eyes. I made sure that I was fine before leaning it against my ears.

" Nina, where are you?" Reina's voice came across. A scream stumbling through my face.

" I have been knocking at your door forever, and no one is answering, where are you? We ought to be outside celebrating, and you know that so what is going on?"

I sniffed in. " I am fine. Just tired. I have been sleeping, and I just woke up, but I am fine"

She snickered, and I could imagine her already standing at the door while piercing her gaze at me. Her love with Richard had seen hell, but she had come out unscathed with Richard obsessed about her.

"I said I am at the door, and you are supposed to come over, what is going on?"

Pushing myself up the couch, my eyes flickered through the room while I shoved anything that would give it away.

Donning a smile, which I had practiced against the mirror, I tried to hide everything so she wouldn't get worried. I didn't want her to know of the pain that I was going through, even though if she did, she wouldn't hesitate to help.

I yanked the door open to find her holding two bottles of wine, which she shoved on my face.

" Happy anniversary," she cheered happily before storming in, her steps halting in track at the dark room.

" What is going on here?" My hands ran through my hair.

" Why is the atmosphere so down, and what is wrong with you?"

If there was something Reina was good at, it was dictating emotions from miles away, and while I tried to come up with words to dismiss her question, my hands flung the drapes that pulled over from the top of the ceiling down to the side, letting the sunlight in.

" I instructed the maids not to. I needed to sleep in, and I had a lot to do"

Her hands were placed on her waist like she wasn't convinced by what I had just said.

" Ryan," she thundered, her feet picking up the pace while she stomped past me, making a beeline for the bedroom.

" Where is he!" She demanded. I moved, my steps quickening behind hers while they glided past to an empty room.

" Reina," I pleaded.

" Reina," I screamed again, stepping into the room only to meet her eyes on the bed, the test results all about.

" You are pregnant?" She revolved her eyes at me.

" You are pregnant, Nina," she said in a shriek, pushing me against herself.

" Yes," tears rolled down my cheeks while I held her hands. " I am finally pregnant, Reina."

Her eyes welled up with tears in them while she held me even closer to herself, her hands stroking my back in succession.

" Oh, Ryan must be so glad to hear of this, where is he, by the way?"

I swallowed the lump that had been stuck against the edge of my throat, slurping down.

"Work, he had something to attend to, and he would be gone for quite some time and..."

She shook her head when it dawned on her what exactly was happening.

" Hell no," she repeated. " There is no way he would do that. Richard is home, and he... Ryan...is in the city."

My heart plopped, my stomach twisted at the sudden word that I had heard, and my eyes filled with dots while I stumbled back.

Tears, scorching hot, burnt down my cheek, scaring my heart. Ryan didn't want to be with me. He knew he knew, but he would rather not be here. He didn't ... I shook my head when a hand held me firmly.

" Sit!" She ordered.

" Sit now!" Her voice came firmer than the last.

" The kids will not be hurt; you have to stay strong and tell me everything"

With my hands in hers, I relayed everything to her. Ryan's sudden change, his sudden silence, his withdrawal, and lastly, how he said he was on a trip and wouldn't be back.

" He wouldn't dare hurt you. He loved you even more than he loved himself," Reina sneered, standing to her feet when a voice spoke through the television, my heart tendered as it stroked my heart.

" We just won this case." My eyes burned holes through Ryan, who stood with hands wrapped around a stranger.

" My colleague and I have an announcement to make. We are in love, and we will be getting engaged soon. She has been a source of strength to me..." My throat parched as tiny needles jabbed my heart, blood spilling over.

" And I would rather not let her go," he added, and my vision darkened as Reina's cry echoed through me.

Nina's POV

My eyes flickered open in succession as I threw a glance across the room I was in; the air sipping in made my head swell.

I swallowed, running a glance around when I noticed that I was alone. Bile rose in my throat at the memories from earlier, and I sniffed in, pushing myself up the bed when the door creaked open, revealing Reina, who stumbled in, a doctor by her side.

"Nina," she shrieked out, rushing to hold my hands. " Are you fine? You shouldn't be out of bed"

I flickered my eyes up at the doctor who approached me while I tried to get his name, but my memory was muddled.

" Ryan..." I swallowed while I called. "Where is he?"

She stood and nodded at the doctor, who came closer; I reclined against the wall, a pillow placed at my back to aid me in sitting properly.

"I will be checking your vitals now, so you need to relax." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying so hard not to break down right away as it wouldn't be good.

My heart was punctured with needles as I tried to think about what exactly I had done so wrong for Ryan to do in front of the nation.

Everyone knew we were married ...my family swallowed when I recalled their decision to have me married to someone else who wasn't him, but I had been blinded and had insisted with the excuse that I loved him.

" Take in a deep breath," Reina's voice came through as she squeezed my hands, a sign of solidarity, maybe to show me that she was by my side.

I forced a smile at her, wondering if this was how she had felt when Richard had acted out of place.

I had never known she was feeling this way and.... I swallowed when the doctor stood, his height towering over me.

" Your emotions are unstable, but given the situation, it is warranted, but it would be best if you try to at least keep them in check," he chided.

" Can I leave now?" I forced myself up, standing upright. " I have somewhere to be"

" Yes... you can. But you shouldn't forget your situation, you are in your early trimester, and it would be best if you evade anything that would make you worry," he advised.

I nodded, letting Reina hold my hands as she led me out of the ward. Silence hung over us like a bomb that was yet to be lit.

When she shut the door to her car tightly, I sat down quietly when I saw Richard by the wheel.

" Reina...she told me about what happened, and I am sorry, but I am going to talk to Ryan. I will scold him and make sure that he rescinds whatever he said." He uttered to me.

All I gave him was a wry smile, one that didn't leave my lips while I shook my head.

" I wouldn't want you both entangled in this. I kept this away for a reason, and that is because I could attend to this alone. I can. All I need to do is talk to Ryan. Where is he?" I asked.

" Where exactly is he!" I demanded again when they both shared glances that told me whatever answer they were going to give me would break me.

Reina turned to me." Nina, you should go home, and we will talk to him, we will..."

" Take me there," I demanded.

" Please." I was at my wit's end, my head swirling with hurt while I tried not to think of what he might be up to.

Reina batted her eyes before nodding at Richard, they were a beautiful pair that I had come to love; their love was a story that I didn't want to go through, one that had crumbled, and they had gotten back together, but their love was firm.

" Thank you," I exhaled when Richard killed the engine in front of Ryan's law firm.

One that he had painstakingly built with me over the years, I had dropped in my views when he needed it, and even when he hadn't asked, had asked my family to help, they resented him, but they did it anyway for me.

Shutting the door behind me, I nodded at Reina, who instructed that I come to her whenever anything went wrong before the car drove away, the dark eating it up.

My steps quickened when I traipsed into the elevator, teeth clattering while the numbers beeped.

When the elevator dinged, Ryan's floor, which was at the top of the building, came into view; my feet halted at the lewd sounds coming out of his office, brows kissed while I shook my head.

I let out a chuckle, accompanied by a sneer, while I contemplated walking away.

" Yes, please....fuck me, Ryan. Gosh, don't stop"

I ran a hand across my cheek when something whetted it as crystals cascaded down my cheek.

I shook my head, trying so hard not to stomp in, yes, he wouldn't be the one in; it might be someone else who bore the same name, and he was the one in there. I said in denial.

With clambered steps, my hand turned the knob clockwise, peering in when my eyes caught with Ryan's, who halted and threw his face away like he wasn't the one.

I inhaled gasps of air, trying so hard to breathe in properly while I sauntered back, with a hand clasped over my mouth, my feet glided across the floor until I was in the elevator where the bottled-up tears in me erupted out.

A faint smile crept across my face at the first time we had met, battled it out, where I had called him a snitch from the onset, but he had retaliated, what we had was something that had blossomed out of rage, and it was supposed to be our happy ever after until this.

I waited when I got out of the elevator for him to show up, for him to get across to me and explain why exactly he was asking for a divorce, why the divorce papers weren't hidden, and why he had placed it boldly enough for me to see.

I wanted answers to my questions, the ones that besieged my head, and when seconds spun into minutes and minutes into an hour, I knew that I wasn't going to get any.

No matter how long I stood here, it was going to be the same thing: he was going to tell me to my face if he resented me and didn't want me close by.

My feet shook while I halted a cab, his company fading with every inch it sped away. The realization that whatever it was that we shared, what I felt we had was gone.

" Thank you." I shoved a dollar bill at the cab man who drove away, speeding off into the cold night.

Meandering through the foyer to the room where the papers lay on the shelves, I drew it out, running my signature across it before I placed it on the bed for him to see.

My knee gave way underneath me as they buckled to the ground, a hand on my chest while I screamed out in pain until I felt numb, my hands shook as I glided over my phone, leaning it against my ear while I bellowed at the number crested across of it.

" Mother, I need you to pick me up. Right now." My hands squeezed around the phone, my hands wrapped protectively around my stomach while my shoulders shook in agony.

When minutes later, a helicopter swept across the compound, the noise drumming in my ear, I pushed myself up, stalking out until I was in her arms.

"I want to go home, away from here, mother. Getting married to him was a mistake, and I want him to pay for hurting me this way. I want him to pay Mother," my plea sieved through.

Leaning against her outstretched arms, I took a last glance at the house that had been my home for five years, and when I walked up the air stairs, I stared at it until it was all a memory to me, Ryan and all that we had shared was gone.

Ryan's POV

" Get out!" My voice thundered against the wall while I waited for her to stomp off, I had seen her.

Nina stood there, and oddly, at that moment when I thought that I didn't love her, that it was going to be fine if I hurt her, my heart thumped harder, and I felt bad at the betrayal.

Dezreel's face contorted into a frown as she clawed her nails at me, holding my wrist. "What are you talking about?" She frowned. " You know what you promised my grandfather, that you were going to give him a grandchild soon, that was your end of the bargain, so why exactly aren't you keeping it?"

I stalked to the window, the dark slamming back into me, while I wondered what Nina would be doing right now. Would she be asleep? On the couch, like she had been for years now?

Would she be waiting at home for me to give her an explanation? My little fluffy bear. I thought it was gone; I thought staying away was going to kill whatever emotions I had for her, but I just couldn't do it.

It was a deal, a bargain, and I had to see it through.

When Dezreel's hands wrapped themselves around my waist, I squeezed my eyes shut, fist clenched while I tried not to shove her away. She would report to her grandfather, and everything I had done so far would go down the drain, this was a little price to pay for what I wanted.

I could do it. I didn't know what Nina was going to say or how she was going to feel about the publication on TV, but I knew that she needed something strong, something to kill the love she had for me.

I knew that I wasn't supposed to keep the secret from her, I shouldn't, I wasn't supposed to, but I couldn't help it.

Love could be found with someone else, and I could build my company to how I wanted it. Love wasn't going to make me powerful; it only made me weak.

" You should leave. I have made the announcement today, and everyone knows about it already, and that is about your father also, so leave." I peeled her hands off my waist, fastening the belt around my waist while I sauntered to the edge of the table when her voice came through.

" Where are you going? To that woman you call a wife? You agreed with me, and you can't break it right now!" She raged.

I turned around on my heels, rage coating through me as I swirled around, pinning her against the wall with a hand around her neck.

" Haven't I done what you wanted? What did you and your father want? I have made the announcement, everyone knows. She will sign the papers, and you will get it soon. So get out"

It was aimed to get her to shake in fear, but when she rolled her tongue on her lips, her eyes closed again. I shoved her off my office, storming off until I couldn't hear her voice anymore.

The first sight that greeted me when I walked in was the dinner, cold and stale, and no one on the couch. My heart raced while I walked toward it, a dainty note leaning against one of the covered dishes from Nina.

'I have something to tell you, a surprise you would love to hear, happy anniversary'

My heart plummeted so fast that I stormed in, searching for her. She wasn't on the couch like always, waiting for me. She wasn't anywhere to be found, and today had been our anniversary, the day that we got married. Our fifth anniversary.

" Gladys.... Gladys, "my head swarmed with thoughts while I meandered to the kitchen where the housekeeper had her back turned to me. A sullen look on her face.

"Where is my wife?" I asked, my eyes searching all about as I waited for her to give me an answer, she didn't move an inch from where she stood before directing my gaze to the ring I had given her. That shone even brighter than before.

I stood, not moving an inch, wanting this to be false. " Who owns that ring?" I asked, in denial, it couldn't have been hers.

Nina would never walk away without her ring, she would never leave it for me to find this way, but when my hands grasped the cold steel, the stone on it illuminated my eyes. I knew it was hers.

" Where is she? Where. Is. She?!" I wrapped a hand around her neck, yanking her up.

" A helicopter, a helicopter, took her away," she answered.

I placed her down, trying to think. A helicopter, a helicopter, there ought to be just someone I knew who had one. Richard. Would Richard side with Nina over me? His friend? His best friend? Would he do such a thing?

My feet swept through the room, my eyes glazing through as I yanked the door open, papers flung across the room, ones that caught my eyes, and when I picked the divorce paper up, I shook my head.

She had fucking signed it. I knew...I knew...that I wanted this, but I didn't want her gone, not from my life. I sank to the ground, my eyes sweeping around when I saw something crumpled against the door. A paper that had been crumpled into a ball.

Pulling open the ruffled part, a chim erupted in my head while I burst out into cackles. "Hahaha. You are a mess, Ryan. She was fucking pregnant, that was the surprise she had intended to tell me".

I broke into a race, sliding into the Porsche while I navigated through the city, I had to get her back. Tell her I was sorry and be a better father for our kids and a better husband for her as well.

I killed the engine in front of Richard's house, the white mansion springing into view while I tapped at the door earnestly.

The door cranked open, revealing Reina, who stood at the door.

" Nina, where is she? I know that you are holding her in here, please...please ask her to come out. I need to speak with her"

Reina's face was a sea of disbelief as she leaned closer.

"What are you talking about?"

I leaned back, watching her closely, but I knew that was an act. " I need my pregnant wife, don't tell me you are going to keep her away from me right now"

A voice rang from inside. " I hope you didn't just talk to my wife that way?" Richard stood beside her.

Grateful at his appearance, I tried to walk in when he pushed me back.

" You messed up, don't come into my house," he said to me.

I nodded. I knew that I had.

" I know... I know, but give me a chance to talk to Nina, to explain things, and I will never go back on my word"

Reina fidgeted, staring at me. " What are you talking about? We dropped her off at your company, what are you talking about right now!"

I ran a hand through my hair, a scumbag, that's what I was.

" The housekeeper said a helicopter took her from the house, and I thought you both were the one. Richard... Richard '' I stared at him.

Disgust ran over his face; he was disgusted at me. " You have one, so I thought you did, and I came straight away for you to hand her over," I panted heavily while explaining.

"Reina isn't here," he announced, and my world darkened. " I made a mistake, and I thought you would learn from it, but it seemed you didn't"

I shook my head, headache splinting through. " You won't understand, I had to do it. I had to do it. It was necessary"

His hands shoved me against the wall. "Whatever you did was at the detriment of her happiness; you hurt her, and you broke your promises. We are no longer friends, Ryan. I don't want you close to me".

His hands loosened around my neck while his door shut to my face. Slipping on the ground, I yelled out as my knees kissed the ground.

" I will find you, Nina. I will, no matter how long it will take. I will get you back," I swore.