CHAAPTER FORTY TWO
Mia had been going crazy because of someone who was behaving a lot weirder as each day passed, and she felt like the old, cold guy was better.
At least he never confused her.
“Mia, I forgot to inform you. I have a meeting in Paris next week, so we’ll be leaving on Sunday. I’m not going to leave you both here, so get your bags ready.” This was two days ago, he ordered her, and there was no room for any further discussion.
Today was Friday, and she still wasn’t sure if he was being serious.
“Bryan, baby, what do we do? Should we pack our bags or not?” She asked Bryan, who was busy playing with his toys.
Huffing she sat on the bed and wondered why she was hesitant about going with him. She was thankful that he wasn’t around, or else she would’ve been a mess.
After he had asked her to call him by his name, she could only stare at him, dumbfounded. If he has never objected before when she was used to calling him Mr. Ian, then why now? What changed? And she is not comfortable with the first name basis.
Her phone rang, disturbing her chain of thoughts.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
“Hello?” His voice came through.
“Are you done packing?” He asked, and she sighed as she massaged her temple.
“Mr. Ian, do you want us to come?” She asked and heard nothing from the other end.
“Mia, I told you to call me Alex. And if you don’t want to come, then I can only take Bryan with me.” He sounded annoyed, and Mia scoffed on the phone. He is such a monster!
“Fine, I’ll pack our bags.” She said it angrily, and he smiled.
“And by our, I meant mine and Bryan’s, not yours.” She said as she hung up after that, and he smirked slightly, keeping his phone aside.
Why is he doing this? He had no idea, but he couldn’t just leave them behind. Even when there are no known threats right now, he can’t take chances.
He knew it was going to be a lot more difficult once he exposed them to the world, but he knew he had to. Sighing, he shook his head before going back to his work. He would take care of all that when he was home.
When he got home at around eight, he found Mia reading a book and Bryan watching the song ‘Baby Shark Do Do’ on her phone.
He also noticed the bags kept on one side of the room.
He freshened up and sat beside Bryan, who was still engrossed in the phone.
“Hey,” Alex called Bryan, who didn’t pay attention to him and continued to watch his favourite song. Alex called twice, but Bryan became angry and let out a scream, shoving his father away.
He heard a chuckle and turned to Mia, who pretended to be reading, but the smile was still visible on her face.
He narrowed his eyes, and she sat straight up, staring at her.
Mia knew he was purposely doing this to make her uncomfortable, and after some time, when she couldn’t take it, she shut her book and gave him a pointed look.
“Will you stop staring?” She demanded, and he raised his eyebrows in question.
“Well, when my wife and my son aren’t ready to give me attention, then what else can I do?” He shrugged, but in a teasing tone, which made her stare at him.
Without another thought, she shifted closer to him as she touched his forehead and then sniffed him.
“Are you sick? Or maybe drunk?” She asked in a confused tone, and he gave her a bored look.
“And why do you think that?” He asked back, and she stared at him with a weird look.
He was asking me that. Why is he behaving so differently and weirdly?
“Mr. Ian…..” she called by mistake, he gave her a mistaken look, and she stopped immediately before clearing her throat.
“Alex,” It sounded foreign to her ears as his name rolled off her tongue.
“Don’t you have any work? You are usually busy,” she said, and he sighed, looking back at Bryan, who was jumping excitedly on his place, looking at the screen.
“I’m just trying to spend time with my family.” He said that, and she scoffed the next second.
“What family, Alex? Did you forget we had agreed to this marriage only for Bryan? Neither you nor I were willing to fulfil your husband’s duties, nor did I agree to fulfil my wife’s duties. Then why now? What changed?” She said, as she didn’t intend to sound so harsh, but if he was acting bipolar at that moment because they’ve never even had a proper conversation since the time she’s known him, then how can she believe him so easily?
“My family includes Bryan only, so don’t get any ideas, Mia. Just because I asked you to call me Alex doesn’t mean that I’m getting attracted to you. You can never be my type.” He concluded icily and stormed out of there, leaving her in tears.
Of course, she wasn’t his type, and she knew it.
Bryan, completely ignorant of his parent’s fight, turned to Mia, rubbing, indicating that he wanted to sleep. She took him in her arms and fed him until he was fast asleep.
As she placed him in his crib and walked back towards the bed, she stopped abruptly, not wanting to be in the same room as him.
She got out and walked towards her room. She knew she had left Bryan alone, but Alex will be back in a few minutes, and they will sleep peacefully.
Laying on her bed, she kept tossing and turning, remembering his words.
Sleep was far away, but just when she heard footsteps, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Alex opened the door and found her sleeping soundly. With a sigh, he moved towards her and observed her for a few seconds.
“Stubborn woman.” He mumbled under his breath before scooping her into his arms and carrying her to his room.
He didn’t know why he was doing this, but when he found the room empty, something didn’t feel right. He tried to sleep, but when, after a few minutes, he couldn’t, he straight away came to her room.
Mia panicked as soon as he picked her up, but she couldn’t or maybe didn’t have it in her to wake up at that moment and ruin it all.
So she kept pretending until he placed her on the bed and covered her with the blanket.
Why is he doing this now after he clearly said she wasn’t his type? What is he trying to prove?
The bed dipped, and she felt him beside her as his fingers lazily pushed her hair away from her face. Her heart started beating crazily, and she just prayed that he didn’t notice that.
“I don’t know what is happening to me, nor am I able to understand these emotions, but I know it’s all your fault. You’re the only one responsible for this mess.” He spoke softly, although he wasn’t blaming her, but his voice was so soft that anybody could have melted right there, and she definitely did before she slipped into darkness.
Sunday came by quickly, and they were all set to leave for Paris. With lots of security and precautions, they reached his private plane, where Mark and Chloe were already present.
“I’m gonna miss you.” Chloe pouted, hugging Mia along with Bryan, who giggled between them.
Mark hugged Alex before moving towards Mia and Bryan.
“Don’t miss me too much.” He grinned, flicking Bryan’s nose, which scrunched up immediately.
“Please tame this monster.”Mark said, jokingly looking at Mia, who smiled and shook her head.
After bidding bye to them, they were ready to take off while Alex looked at Mia, who seemed nervous. She held Bryan tightly against her and shut her eyes as the plane took off.
“I’ll take Bryan.” He uttered, and her eyes snapped open as he moved forward to take him from her lap, but she just pushed his hands away and glared at him.
“He’ll stay with me.” She frowned before hugging Bryan, who seemed busy playing with Mia’s hair and making noises.
“Well, excuse me, he’s my son too.” He said it dryly, and she gritted her teeth to control herself.
Alex smiled to himself, seeing her getting distracted.
“Ba.. Ba.. Baa.” Bryan babbled, trying to move towards Mia, and Mia stared at her son in disbelief while Alex smirked, fueling her anger.
That tiny traitor!
When they landed in Paris, the car was already waiting for them. Mia was kind of excited because she has never been out of her state, much less her country.
She was just glad that her son was there with her. She was staring at the place they were going to stay. It was a freaking mansion. Does he own this?
“I do.” He replied, and she realised that she said that aloud and looked away, embarrassed.
Bryan had fallen asleep in Alex’s arms as they entered their room. He placed him on the bed carefully and looked at Mia.
“You can sleep now if you want. I’ll be leaving for some work and will be back by evening.”He informed her, and she nodded quickly.
Later that evening, when he came back, he wasn’t expecting to see what he saw.